Ride With The Devil

[traveller]

Since there seems to be quite a discussion going on about Quantrill, I was wondering what anyone thought of "Ride with the Devil". I caught the last part of the movie about a year ago, and I am wondering if it is worth renting.

Traveller

[unionblue]

Rick, Rent the movie, as I think you will find it enjoyable and somewhat informative.

Unionblue

[redeye]

Rick, I saw it at the theater when it came out and liked it very much, maybe because it was a part of history I knew little about. Tobey Maguire and Jim Caviezel are very good in it. I learned about the situation of German immigrants (like the protagonist) during the war. There are some good scenes: at one point the guerrillas tear open some Union soldiers' letters looking for military information, and end up discussing the writer's illnesses, the conditions of the family farm, the quality of the land... It's a movie that somehow stays inside, despite a certain superficiality and coldness that struck me for some reason, though I don't remember why (it's been a while since I watched it). One of the theses of the movie is that the war's philosophical point was not just abolitionism vs. slavery, but, in a larger sense, modernity vs. narrow-mindedness. When the rebels storm Lawrence, the first thing they burn is the school. I wish I could watch it again to remember something more.

[matthew mckeon]

It's definitely worth renting. The dialogue(at least to me), is genuine 19th century speech. When a psycho comrade threatens to kill the hero, the hero pulls his gun and says, "And when are you going to accomplish this fearsome deed? Would right now be convenient?" Written down it sounds stilted, but on screen it works better then Dirty Harry snarling "Make my day."

[sockknitter]

I will add another vote in favor of renting or buying it. I had to watch it a couple times to appreciate it. The first viewing made me feel I was missing scenes of historical battles and people, but the (I assume) fictional characters are well worth watching. It is amusing to see Jim Cavaziel, star of "The Passion of the Christ" as the top, hellraising raider Black John. It also got my attention in full when I noticed much of it was shot on the grounds, house and factory of Watkins Mill State Historic Site in northwest Missouri. The dialogue with its absence of contractions sounded quite 19th century to me but I'm no expert. I don't especially like Tobey Maguire but he and Jewel and the others did very well in the movie. I also own the soundtrack CD and listen to it frequently and recommend it. Few period songs, mostly recent compositions except for "Old King Crow", "Sally in the Garden" and "Miss McLeod's Reel", but exciting and able to bring back memories of the movie.

To conclude, it is the best video representation of the horrible fighting in the Missouri-Kansas area that I know of. It's good to take a break from reading. But now I'm on the lookout for the book it's based on, "Woe to Live On" by Daniel Woodrell.