A Gunfighter's Pledge (TV 2008)

After the murder of his wife and son by an escaped criminal Sheriff Matt Austin sets out to capture him only to find he's been hired by a greedy land baron seeking to take land from a widow and her son.

Director:

Armand Mastroianni

Writer:

Jim Byrnes

Stars:

Luke Perry, C. Thomas Howell, Kim Coates

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Luke Perry	...	Matt Austin
C. Thomas Howell	...	Horn
Kim Coates	...	Tate
Jaclyn DeSantis	...	Amaya
Francesco Quinn	...	Sheriff
Jorge-Luis Pallo	...	Samuel
Wyatt Smith	...	Billy
Nicholas Guest	...	Vaughn
Alex Paez	...	Eddie
Johann Urb	...	Lars Anderson
Daniel Wisler	...	Hank
James Keane	...	Preacher
Chip Sickler	...	Hogan
Jeffrey Markle	...	Bartender
Lisa Brenner	...	Gail Austin

Storyline

A escaped prisoner kills the wife and son of a former sheriff, Matt Austin, who sent him to jail long ago. Austin rides in pursuit and locates his quarry in a small town saloon. During the ensuing gunfight, an innocent bystander is shot and the murderer escapes. As a penance, the ex-lawman agrees to help the dead rancher's wife fend off a land baron's attempt to steal her property for its valuable water rights.

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Plot Keywords:

innocent bystander | gunfight | escaped prisoner | water rights | roughneck | 

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Western

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 July 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Pledge

Filming Locations:

Big Sky Ranch - 4927 Bennett Road, Simi Valley, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Grand Army Entertainment, Larry Levinson Productions, RHI Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Horn and Matt Austin are not in the same scene until forty minutes into the film.

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Goofs

When the lawman at the beginning of the film is shot, he reacts as though being shot in the head. However, in subsequent shots, he has been wounded in the shoulder.

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Quotes

Horn: How soon can you have your men saddled?
Sheriff: I can have 'em ready by tonight.
Horn: Perfect.

User Reviews

Kill The Provider, Become The Savior

In playing Matt Austin in A Gunfighter's Pledge Luke Perry channeled both Alan Ladd as Shane and John Wayne as Cole Thornton in El Dorado as he plays a former sheriff who's both on a mission to get the guys who killed his family and paying a debt to a family whose provider he accidentally killed.

Luke's long outgrown the sideburns he made famous as Dylan McKay in Beverly Hills 90210, in fact he's now got a three days growth of beard on him. Like Wayne in El Dorado where he kills the youngest son of a family being threatened by a cattle baron and whom he becomes the protector of, Perry in killing one of the two men kills the brother of a widow whose ranch rich landowner C. Thomas Howell wants because it's the source of water for the valley.

Howell himself has outgrown his brat pack days and makes a fine villain. Francesco Quinn, son of Anthony Quinn is a nasty crooked sheriff doing Howell's bidding. Also note Jaclyn DeSantis as the widowed sister of the man Perry kills and who he becomes the protector of.

One really glaring error in the film. I believe the original intent was to have a sadder ending, but a happier one was shot and tacked on at the last minute. I won't explain any further, but if you see the film, you'll know exactly what I mean.

A Gunfighter's Pledge is a good western, the kind we sadly don't see on the big screen any more.