This is a great depiction of the war in the west. I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to see life through the eyes of a Missouri boy who grows up because of the war. The inclusion of black Confederates is especially great. It's about time they quit skirting around history because it makes them uncomfortable.

The movie was great and I loved it up until the last 30 minutes. It was extremely anticlimatic and somewhat disappointing. The best way to describe the ending is like when you light a sparkler and your expecting this great show and then it just kind of fizzles, pops and then goes out. Spoiler.... Your expecting this intense shoot out between Toby McGuire and the guy who's hunting him down and in the end all that happens is Toby points a gun in his face and the guy goes on his way... They built up this tension between them until the end and the movie TELLS you that the guy is hunting down toby mcguire, they finally meet again and literally nothing happens - toby gives him a cup of coffee and points a gun at him. A major let down. Other then the last 30 minutes it was a great movie.

Great picture - seemed to me to be characteristic of the times. I'm a part-time Civil War buff and was searching for some movies with that genrre and this is one of the better ones I've seen for realistic action. My only (mild) complaint was I thought it ended a bit abruptly and could've tied off some loose ends better. But still a great picture (I've watched it 3 times already!)

When the film ended, all I wanted to do was go back and watch it again. Great acting! Great cinematography! Great directing! Great everything!! I love the style and tone of the film as it envelops a type of southern folk western. By far one of the greatest films I've ever seen.

It was great to work on this film. It was filmed in kansas. It was my pleasure to get to know those guys before they became famous. Before spiderman, The mentalist.......

I stumbled onto this film on cable a few years back, I have seen it half a dozen times since. Just a really good story, direction, acting, and production value. Everything you would expect from this level of cast, crew, and director.

AMAZING!!! This is what I call great entertainment! Ang Lee provides us with such a great and powerful adventure story. It's even packed with great battle scenes, and a wonderful cast led by Tobey Maguire. I thought the real eye opener of the film was Jeffrey Wright, giving a huge, uplifting performance as former slave/rebel, Holt. Please, SEE IT!!! You will applaud it!