A Gunfighter's Pledge (2008)

Oh so familiar western plot in this made for TV western but it's competently done most of the way.Starts off well, but then gets bogged down in standard procedures.Builds up to a shoot out finale, that suddenly becomes muddled when bad land grabber C Thomas Howell suddenly has a conscience attack.Luke Perry has done quite a few westerns and a few good films, this isn't one of them, it's too uneven but it's not too bad.

When his family is killed by escaped convict Kim Coates, ex-lawman Luke Perry tracks him to a lawless town where he mortally wounds a Spanish landowner who was attempting to enlist the help of the outlaw to prevent land baron C. Thomas Howell from taking his ranch. He promises the dying man that he'll protect his family. Meanwhile, Howell taps Coates to go up against Perry.Luke Perry is quite watchable as a western hero and C. Thomas Howell a lot of fun as the sophisticated, refined villain. He looks like a cross between Lee Van Cleef and Blazing Saddles' Hedley Lamar. Coates is an excellent character actor and is always entertaining, especially when he's playing nasty low-lives. Here, he doesn't have as much to do as I'd have liked.This looks as if it were filmed at one of those western themed tourist traps. However, a good script makes up for lack of detail and the costumed look of the wardrobe.The climax is good but Howell's abrupt change in attitude is quite baffling.

In playing Matt Austin in A Gunfighter's Pledge Luke Perry channeled both Alan Ladd as Shane and John Wayne as Cole Thornton in El Dorado as he plays a former sheriff who's both on a mission to get the guys who killed his family and paying a debt to a family whose provider he accidentally killed.Luke's long outgrown the sideburns he made famous as Dylan McKay in Beverly Hills 90210, in fact he's now got a three days growth of beard on him. Like Wayne in El Dorado where he kills the youngest son of a family being threatened by a cattle baron and whom he becomes the protector of, Perry in killing one of the two men kills the brother of a widow whose ranch rich landowner C. Thomas Howell wants because it's the source of water for the valley.Howell himself has outgrown his brat pack days and makes a fine villain. Francesco Quinn, son of Anthony Quinn is a nasty crooked sheriff doing Howell's bidding. Also note Jaclyn DeSantis as the widowed sister of the man Perry kills and who he becomes the protector of.One really glaring error in the film. I believe the original intent was to have a sadder ending, but a happier one was shot and tacked on at the last minute. I won't explain any further, but if you see the film, you'll know exactly what I mean.A Gunfighter's Pledge is a good western, the kind we sadly don't see on the big screen any more.

A classic western plot -- a bad guy wants to grab off a small landowner's land and only a laconic wanderer can save the pretty ranch owner -- having killed her man by accident -- runs along in its well-greased way. Luke Perry is fine as the scruffy, squinty, hoarse hero. Jaclyn DeSantis is good as the woman he tries to help and while there are few surprises in this one, it plays nicely to the strengths of the classic western, including some fine camera work by James Wrenn.It is the old-fashioned camera work that is most notable about this picture, and the color choices that hearken back to silent days, with blue tints for night scenes, an overall sepia wash to the day scenes and an amber touch to the interiors. There are lingering shots when people are riding horses, giving a leisurely but inevitable air to the entire proceedings. A very pleasant TV movie.