Has there ever been a good, let alone great, Civil War western? Can't think of one offhand. The best efforts, like "Major Dundee" or "Run Of The Arrow", are interesting failures while the vast majority, like this one, are plodding mediocrities. Why is this? Don't know exactly although I'd wager a guess that the vast dissimilarity between the two worlds has something to do with it. Like trying to make a noir musical or a sci fi chick flic. The Old West, if it ever existed in anything but a geographical sense, was by 1900 deader than Kelsey's nuts while the Civil War, as any citizen of Charlottesville can tell you, is still very much with us. And when you mix legend with reality it's going to be an unsatisfying blend that just won't cohere.
Review of The Outriders
