User Reviews

Two thieves/ murders (Andrew Simpson, Richard Doyle) end up at the home of a China man (Boyuen) and his family during the anti-coolie period, although the exact date is a bit confusing. This appears to be post Civil War era, but from the dialogue the law which passed in 1862 was not yet enacted. Ignoring this fact, as it seems everyone has ignored it, the movie itself was different.

On the plus side the acting was good and the scenery, sets, and costumes seemed realistic enough. However, the film moves from a western into the "home break-in genre" with bad guys vs. bad guys, leaving us to root for Saul (Andrew Simpson) the nicest of the bad guys. The story revolves around some missing gold which people suspect is hidden at the China man's home. We end up with the two thieves, a US Marshall, some slim balls who who represent the poor banker, plus the sheriff and his sidekick. This was one of those films that seems to drag for some unexplained reason.

Parental Guide: No f-bombs, sex, or nudity. The "R" rating I think was a bit too much.

There's an interesting juxtaposition in the IMDb ratings for this movie; it merits only a 5.2 from the general population who rated it (as of 6/1/16), but five out of the six reviewers here before me gave it a ten. That's kind of interesting because I find myself in the company of those who offered comments on it. I wouldn't give it a ten necessarily, but it's an above average Western with a story line that's a bit different from your run of the mill sagebrush yarn.

That's not to say there aren't some confusing elements in the story, along with credibility issues with some of the situations. However I find them outweighed by the raw beauty of the cinematography and the gritty aspects of the characters. Perhaps the biggest twist coming out of the story was how much of a schemer Kun Hua (Gwendoline Yeo) turned out to be. Once she revealed to Saul (Andrew Simpson) how her husband Zhen (Boyuen) rescued her from a life of prostitution in San Francisco, but didn't love him, my radar immediately triggered, wondering if anything she said prior or going forward had any ring of truth to it at all.

I think that's why the movie was so fascinating. Many of the characters had hidden motives or were downright mysterious. For example Moses Burke (Michael Robert Brandon) - after hearing him claim he was a U.S Marshal, and after Kun Hua related a tale of knowing him as a Marshal, when all was said and done I couldn't tell with any certainty if he actually was a lawman or not. The only certainty it seems, was that every single one of the interlopers at the 'Gallagher' Ranch was after a stolen cache of gold, but even there, the story leaves it a mystery as to whether the gold was legally obtained or not.

As far as confusing elements, there was Saul shooting at his partner Bill (Richard Doyle) riding away from the ranch the first night, Bronco (Jesse James Youngblood) emptying the chamber of his firearm and then getting shot by the same gun, and Saul shooting Paco (John A. Lorenz) during the same scene, seemingly dead but showing up again in the story. Maybe the thing to do is watch this film a second time and see if any of the confusion clears up. But in the meantime, I'd have to go with my first gut reaction that this was an entertaining Western with a distinctively different story line, and if your tastes lie in the direction of nasty shootouts, it's got it's share of that too.

Exciting and unexpected. This movie thrills and chills and keeps you on the edge of your seat through the final credits. There is no other western like it. A true one of a kind that reflects the mindset and desperation of post-civil war America and the gold rush that change the nation. The music pulls you into the story during the opening credits. Unique characters that are so individual you always know who they are but never know what they will do next. I love the tension, the unexpected twists, the timing and the suspense. Breathtaking cinematography of wildly beautiful fall colors, horses and untamed locations surround and juxtapose against the serious and dangerous games desperate people are willing to play to find a fortune nobody is sure even exists.