129. Last of the Dogmen (1995)

Leonard Maltin's Rating :
Should be :


IMDB Rating : 6.9

Rotten Tomatoes Rating : 79% with Audience, 69% with the Critics

In his review Leonard says: "Annoyingly cliched, eminently forgettable adventure with crackerjack tracker Berringer setting out to bring back a trio of prison escapees who meet a horrible fate as he nears their campsite. Could it have been the work of the legendary, mysterious Cheyenne 'dog soldiers' ? You may not want to stick around to find out."

I'm a little stunned at Leonard's review on this movie. I thought this would be right up his alley. With so much junk out there for kids to watch here is an old fashioned adventure story that I thought was very well done.Is is a little far fetched? Sure, but the movie is presented in a fairy tale kind of way, and it all worked for me. 

In his 3 star review Roger Ebert said: "Even if the movie could have been better - deeper and more evocative - it's pretty good just as it is. The plotting comes too close to the surface in a scene where Gates evens the old score with the sheriff, but for the most part "Last of the Dogmen" holds our interest. Berenger creates a brave, simple, no-nonsense character who keeps the movie on track despite scenes where the sheriff overdoes the melodrama. If there is no moment in "Last of the Dogmen" to equal the true sense of wonder that "Dances With Wolves" was able to evoke, there is at least an absorbing story, well told."

In his 3 star review James Barardinelli said: "Take the mentality of an old-fashioned Hollywood Western, bleed in elements from Kevin Costner's Dances with Wolves, and start it out with a sequence culled from The Fugitive, and you get The Last of the Dogmen -- a surprisingly entertaining, somewhat corny adventure film. And, while there's an obviously politically-correct slant to the story, that does nothing to dilute The Last of the Dogmen's enjoyability. The movie isn't as accomplished as Dances with Wolves, but it doesn't have either the length or quite the same aspirations."

I especially liked how the movie had the professor, who specializes Native American culture, talk about the culture that they find. I can guarantee that if you watch this movie you will want to stick around to see what happens.

Another bad rating from Leonard  that will probably keep many people from seeing a really good old fashioned action adventure movie.