Dead Man's Gun (1997–1999) User Reviews

Beyond my expectations.

[ranleehow · 8/10 · 20 July 2023]

I love westerns and will watch almost anything of the genre, so I, was surprised to see this series produced by Henry Winkler. My expectations were not very high as I have seen so many mediocre to bad westerns on streaming TV. (along with many good ones). I was pleasantly surprised and by the 3rd episode was hooked. I like that each story is it's own with different characters and plots along with many known actors making appearances throughout the series, with the only steady being the "dead mans gun". If your a fan of westerns I think you will love this, and if your not, give it a try, I believe you will not regret it.

A different movie than what I really thought it was.

[LaxFan94 · 7/10 · 1 October 2004]

I just recently saw this film on satellite TV and its completely different than what the IMDb description says it is. The IMDb description explains that its about a tainted gun that cursed the lives of many people in a western town. Well, according to the "Dead Man's Gun" I saw, the cast of characters was totally different from the list of characters I read in the description. So I mean unless there's 2 different films with the same title then I guess I should have seen that coming LOL...... but..... anyways.......

One of the actors who was in the "Dead Man's Gun" that I saw was Gordon Tootoosis. He played the grandfather of the girl who got brutally raped by that white trapper Boucher. Unfortunately Native women were really raped by white men, and the biggest problem was that no one ever believed the women if they came forward to tell other whites about it. But they dared not tell any other whites about what happened because first of all, it was none of their business anyway and secondly, if they did say anything about it to let's say other WHITE women, the Native women would have only been more ridiculed and scolded by them so it obviously best if they just kept it to themselves and their families. If a whole white town heard about it like the way that Native girl did, she would have felt guilty about herself. However Native people in those days usually didn't give 2 hoots about what white people thought about them since they just wanted to be left alone and live their lives in peace. Everyone in the white town would have accused the Native girl that she got herself into that kind of mess rather than blaming the white man who raped her!! Of course the real blame lies with that trapper who did that to her. Racism towards Native people was just too profound back in the 1800's and if whites ever found out that a Native woman got raped by a white man, everyone would have taken his side rather than defending the girl. It's a really sad fact but unfortunately that's the way things were back then.

But......... anyways........... I found this to be a really good historical drama and I strongly suggest that people try to get it on VHS or DVD if they've never seen it yet and of course if it happens to be available. Too bad I can't vote on this particular film because if I could, I'd give it a 9 out of 10. Thank you kindly IMDb for allowing me to post another comment on my 52nd title!! :D

Some well made episodes well worth watching

[medtner1970 · 17 January 2005]

I usually see this series by night, as it is aired during these hours. In my point of view, there are episodes which are really good, and others with no significance. But the good ones,are really good! The gun of title is always present, while different characters find it on their way. Sometimes it causes misfortune, some others is a great help, it depends on the person's qualities. The episode "The Hangman" with Henry Winkler is simply fantastic, intelligent and very positive. A true masterpiece, it deals with this hangman and the reasons which made him choose this job. Simply full of human comprehension, this episode symbolism is almost religious in feeling. Some female characters lead in several episodes. Truly beautiful, if something forced, the one with Joanna Pacula as the revengeful but very human heroine:"Four of a kind" (italian title: The four aces). Her blonde haired character is inspired by the Sharon Stone role in The Quick and the Dead, but I prefer this episode to Sam Raimi's movie, which is without any significance(in my point of view). Another blonde heroine played by beautiful Monika Schnarre co-stars with a tormented gambler, during a poker competition in the intelligent "The Gambler". The series is various in themes: the revenge of a beautiful blonde heroine, the sadness of a tired loveless Calamity Jane-like woman, the perils of two nuns in "Sisters of Mercy", the horror of a mad hypnotist doctor who ties his patients in an undead situation, the redemption of a coward and his love for a young teacher, the desperation of a sleepwalker who knows he himself is a murderer during his night-walks, the beautiful ghost story of a process.... It is a truly magnificent series, I don't know why it is not very famous. The best of these tales are full of morality, not moralism, the series is modern-looking and scifi-like sometimes, but classic in spirit. The music is as good as some of these pearls. I know that watching to all the episodes may be hard, but it is necessary in order to discover the above mentioned pearls (they differs from everyone's taste). In my point of view, they are truly pearls, also considered the fact that the most of nowadays series don't consider the moral side, and are full of incoherences. The legs of a beautiful woman or furious battle scenes are not enough to make a good series. Violence is also used senseless. Henry Winkler is good both as the producer and as the actor of the above mentioned episode. So, I prefer this series to a lot of celebrated ones.

Bring It Back!

[hackraytex · 10/10 · 19 March 2018]

When I found this show, it was must see for me or I would set my VCR to tape it. I have stated in other postings that I am always ready to watch a western when I find one and especially a western that is outside the box. This is a western series that Rod Serling would have been proud of. It is also fun to see actors who do not usually do westerns and how they tackle a genre that they are not used to. As I said, I wish it would come back and I hope to see the reruns when I can find them. Henry Winkler, who starred in a couple of episodes, picked a very property to produce. Good job everyone.

The S & W is the real star

[skoyles · 13 July 2004]

A dark and depressing Western repertory series centred around what appears to be a beautiful S&W Russian (or Schofield) single action revolver, probably .44 Russian calibre. This in itself makes it worth watching at least once to see a Western featuring something other than the ubiquitous 1873 Colt Single Action Army revolver. "Dead Man's Gun" comes off as something bred from old 1950s Western morality series, Richard Boone's repertory series and a large chunk of "Twilight Zone" or "Outer Limits". Several episodes have a twist at the end with a sting in the tail. Strong stars such as John Ritter,John Glover and producer Henry Winkler turn in fine performances, but maybe the handgun is the real star. The cynical and often sardonic look at human nature may well be accurate but can get one down after a few episodes.

Western Anthology

[css-71032 · 17 March 2016]

Dead Man's Gun is a western anthology series all tied together though a cursed gun. The production quality, the stories are interesting and the leads for each episode are usually TV stars. (If you do not know them by name you will know the face from there other work.) The series is mainly about regular types of people of the old west (not only lawmen, outlaws and gunslingers). The people that come into contact with the Dead Man's Gun then have a life changing experience with a moral lesson by the end. It is worth watching. The only problem I had was the lack of subtitles on the sets that I could find. Hopefully if this is released on blu-ray it that problem will be fixed.