Johnson County War (film)

Johnson County War is a 2002 American Western television miniseries. The script was written by Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana and was about two fictitious families at the time of the Johnson County War (which had formed the backdrop to the film Heaven's Gate).^[1]

Filming started in Calgary, Canada, on 12 March 2001 and went until May. Filming took place in Kananasikis Country. The budget was estimated between $10-20 million Canadian.^[2]

McMurtry later wrote, "rhe film had its moments but very few of the actors had theirs — mainly the star, Tom Berenger, who insisted on singing as he was being murdered. We tried to discourage him but he persuaded us and I suspect now that he was right: absurdity is better than nothing, in the movies."^[3]

• Tom Berenger
• Luke Perry
• Burt Reynolds
• Michelle Forbes
• Rachel Ward
• Adam Storke
• Christopher Cazenove
• Jack Conley
• Silas Weir Mitchell
• Fay Masterson
• Ken Pogue
• Blu Mankuma
• William Samples
• Stephen Bridgewater
• Adrien Dorval
• Stevie Mitchell
• Jimmy Herman
• Henry Beckman
• Ron Hartmann

Variety said "The range is strewn with oaters that just don’t float, but Hallmark Channel gets it right with Johnson County War. Clocking in at four hours, the miniseries-that-isn’t — it’s airing on one night — does its best to revive the small-screen Western, a genre that hasn’t seen a classic in some time... pic has enough machismo sunsets and gunplay to keep viewers hooked despite its extended running time. The problem, however, is that Hallmark just doesn’t draw ’em in."^[1]

• Johnson County War at IMDb
• Johnson County War at Letterbox DVD