Nonureva Really Surprised!

SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

ChicRawIdol A brilliant film that helped define a genre

Plustown A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

sbailey7-820-782361 Written by Steve Bloom and Robert Rodat, and directed by Ornie Orsatti, Tall Tale stars Nick Stahl, Patrick Swayze, and Scott Glenn. Released in 1995 this Action/Adventure film takes place in an old western town at the start of the twentieth century and focuses on the modernization of America.In 1905, Daniel Hackett (Nick Stahl) lives with his mother and father on the farmlands of Paradise Valley. As the film progresses the audience learns that Daniel is growing sick of his life on the farm and expresses his bitterness to his father, Jonas. Daniel's father tells him repetitive stories of folk heroes, Pecos Bill, Paul Bunyan, and John Henry, in whom Daniel no longer believes. Meanwhile, J.P. Stiles (Scott Glen) enters town with his gang of wealthy men and his modern machinery with intent of buying the land in order to develop it. When Jonas stands up to stiles and refuses to sell his land he ends up being shot, but not before he hands the deed to his land to Daniel. Jonas survives but is badly injured, Daniel meanwhile runs and hides in his boat, where he falls asleep. When he wakes he finds himself in a dried up lake bed in Texas, where two men try to rob and kill him, only to be rescued by legendary cowboy Pecos Bill (Patrick Swayze). The two of them later meet up with famous lumberjack Paul Bunyan and ex-slave John Henry. The team gets into a tough battle with Stiles, whose greediness threatens the strength of the folk tales and the livelihood of the farmers.The acting by the Stahl, Swayze, and Glen was very impressive. They were able to capture the feel of the early Midwest and made the audience feel as if they were part of the story. The compelling acting brought out the excitement of the folk lures that every child reads when growing up. Gender clearly played a large part in casting actors for the film because men play all of the dominant roles. This can be attributed to the fact that women didn't have a large role outside of the home during this time period and unfortunately there are not many women folk heroes.The costume design and set design also played large roles in creating a convincing story. The costumes were dead on for what viewers would imagine Pecos Bill, Paul Bunyan, and John Henry to look and dress like. The costumes really brought out the feeling that this film was based in the early Midwest and the set was designed perfectly to give the feeling that the audience is involved in a folk story. For example Paul Bunyan's log home was exactly what you would imagine it to be, along with his blue ox, Babe.I would highly recommend this film, as I have loved it since I was a child. It is a great movie for children and for families, and should be watched by anyone who enjoys adventure films.

kralspam Just saw this with my daughter on cable. I'd never heard of it until now, but it is an interesting parable.I'm surprised nobody has mentioned it.It's about as subtle sometimes as an anvil on the head sometimes (Paradise Valley, the train from a Harper's Weekly nightmare), but it is an interesting take on the co-opting of traditions and symbols, the taming of the American West and the loss of the traditional, independent, potentially dangerous but exciting traditional American lifestyle in order to provide a predictable, comfortable, boring existence serving the greed of a rising industrial system. It is pretty ironic that it comes from Disney.

Lee Eisenberg Some of us may wonder how appropriate it was for Disney to make a movie linking American legends and historical events, but I wish to assert that "Tall Tale" is worth seeing. It portrays a boy (Nick Stahl of "In the Bedroom") joining up with Pecos Bill (Patrick Swayze), Paul Bunyan (Oliver Platt) and John Henry (Roger Aaron Brown) to fight a developer (Scott Glenn) in the American West in 1905. The movie sort of gives one the feeling that these tales may have had some truth to them. I recommend it.Oh, and although Catherine O'Hara only appears in one part (as Calamity Jane), she steals the scene there.

motmotmot11 Tall Tale is a fun little movie. The basic plot is that a young boy enlists the help of fictional heroes to save his family's farm from an evil capitalist. What makes this movie special is the fictional heroes. They are played and acted very well. Scott Glen is decent as the villain, and the scenery is very beautiful. The fictional heroes are all that separate Tall Tale from a normal "Kid tries to save his family's farm/home/whatever from an evil land baron" story. It's not perfect. There are some very slow parts and Patrick Swayze is terrible, but it's still good nonetheless. If you like American folktales, then rent Tall Tale. You just might like it.