★ 6 / 10
Russell, Matheson and co take a hard ride
ChaseWitherspoon75
Beaudine brothers (Russell & Matheson) assemble a ragtag group of misfits, old-timers and has-beens to drive a herd of cattle for gruff old man O'Herlihy…
Beaudine brothers (Russell & Matheson) assemble a ragtag group of misfits, old-timers and has-beens to drive a herd of cattle for gruff old man O'Herlihy incapacitated after being shot by a rival.Conceived by Tracy Keenan Wynn, 'The Longest Drive' is modest family fare occasionally spoiled by overuse of stock footage, redeemed by the natural chemistry between cast members. Russell & Matheson in particular parlaying their rapport from this pilot into a regular TV series - 'The Quest' - which ran for one season.Veterans and newcomers blend well, amongst the more experienced players, Lockwood plays a deeper version of Robert Vaughn's character from 'The Magnificent Seven', Strode is an ageing wrangler looking to prove his durability and Keenan Wynn supports his son's vision as the grizzled coach driver and cook.Representing the new blood aside from Russell & Matheson is John Rubinstein as the Yale educated artist whose sketches document their arduous journey, Erik Estrada as the loyal but mistreated half-breed stablehand and Huckabee & Johnson contribute the constant source of friction and in-fighting that threatens group cohesion and the efficiency of the long drive.Uncomplicated western drama offers excitement at regular intervals (tense encounters with adolescent squatters, Indians, horse tumbles, stampedes and thirst) and some moving moments in between. Easygoing, worth a look.
★ 10 / 10
Top notch cast in well acted Western.
marty65-2
Phew.Where to start?The cast alone, Dan O'Herlihy, Woody Stroud, Tim Mathetson, Kurt Russell and terrific support actors.Add, great script, excellent direction…
Phew.Where to start?The cast alone, Dan O'Herlihy, Woody Stroud, Tim Mathetson, Kurt Russell and terrific support actors.Add, great script, excellent direction and you're guaranteed to enjoy if you are a fan of the Western genre.I'm not doing a SYNOPSIS as that's not my bag. It's already provided anyway and I'm not boiling my cabbage twice.I would recommend it if it happens to come your way.Okay. Briefly as I'm required to submit 600 words.Two brothers, facing a financial crisis are forced to take their cattle far far away. So this necessitates hiring some cowboys to get the job done. Action and drama ensue.
★ 7 / 10
Both THE QUEST Pilot & THE LONGEST DRIVE
TheFearmakers
Before Kurt Russell joined forces with director John Carpenter and Tim Matheson partied with the Delta Fraternity, the ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK and ANIMAL HOUSE…
Before Kurt Russell joined forces with director John Carpenter and Tim Matheson partied with the Delta Fraternity, the ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK and ANIMAL HOUSE alumni, both lifelong child actors turned leading men, played estranged brothers reunited in the short-lived Western television series THE QUEST...And while the first and only season isn't yet (and may never be) on DVD, the pilot episode and THE LONGEST DRIVE is available to the public...Although the show starts out centering more on crippled gunslinger Tank Logan, played by Brian Keith, who winds up, once Russell's Morgan and Matheson's Quinton go to a small town where not only most of the story takes place, but the title is all but forgotten - and there's not much of a quest, really, yet this is a fun, eclectic ninety minute ride nonetheless...Russell is the both main character and sidekick. Serving as a Caucasian Tonto with a nickname of "Two Persons," he was captured at a young age and raised by Native Americans, or as called back in the day, Indians, making his speech halting and his idealism strong, the polar opposite of the more narrow-minded white man surrounding the main stars, including Brian Keith's Logan...Which doesn't mean he's not an endearing character readymade for audiences to root for: Montage scenes where Tank teaches Quinton (Matheson), who was a young doctor in San Fransisco, how to use a six shooter like a Wild West outlaw are fun and involving, allowing the always likable and wide-smiling Matheson to step out of his co-star's shadow...And in the middle of the first and only season, a two-part episode titled THE LONGEST DRIVE has now become a "movie" although it's really a prolonged episode...Which doesn't mean that DRIVE, where Russell's Two-Persons and Matheson's Quinton help another old man out, isn't a fully fleshed out yarn...Unlike the intentionally endearing Brian Keith character from the pilot, Dan O'Herily is a tough old codger who, running a dilapidated ranch, needs someone, anyone, to herd his cattle across the plains for enough money to keep the business going...Although O'Herily's Matthew Hatcher does loosen up a bit, he's a hard boss to endure, mostly taking it out on Erik Estrada's Santos, a lifelong ranch hand...Along with Estrada, who was a year away from his star-making CHIPS role, is an eclectic mix of "losers" including perhaps the most interesting character in Gary Lockwood (on the verge of being a veteran actor) as a womanizing gambler; an out of place John Rubinstein as a young sketch artist (you'll notice his character's work above and below)...Keenan Wynn as an alcoholic cook (his son Tracy wrote most of the series); Woody Strode as a stubborn, tough blacksmith; and two young brothers with underlying nefarious agenda to steal cattle along the way...THE LONGEST DRIVE is an involving adventure as this unfit group head out under the scorching sun, and yet the snags that occur along the way, including an Indian visit and a group of armed teenage poachers, are resolved much too easily, leaving the two white trash rustlers with the most potential for an impending threat...The last part, after a few characters bite the dust early, involve the survivors risking their lives to make the drive on time across the most dangerous terrain, although everything's summed up into one five minute scene where each character, practically dying from the heat, discusses their past, wherein a skinny, wimpy looking Rubinstein, reminiscing on his Yale Football past, takes you out of the Western genre peril...And yet he surprisingly pulls off a good fight scene earlier on, showing he's more than a token wet-behind-the-ears city slicker...Meanwhile the chemistry between Russell and Matheson is so established and cozy they hardly interact at this point. So in a nutshell, THE QUEST, based on these two available episodes, seemed like a fairly decent show...Too bad, during the mid-to-latter 1970's, the Cowboy genre was no longer popular with television audiences. So keep your fingers crossed for a compete bagful of QUEST reviews, possibly coming to a frontier near you...
5.9/10
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It even has Erik Estrada, I have check this one out.