Prairie Fever (2008 Video) User Reviews

Eastward the Women

[vitaleralphlouis · 5/10 · 9 October 2008]

Genius Products recently made 3 made-for-TV westerns. Last night we saw "Aces N Eights" which I overrated at "1". "Prairie Fever" is light years better. This one has a reasonable plot, character development, and a situation you can get interested in. It does not have any of the idiot's delight tricks (jumparound camera work, bad editing, computer generated musical score) that wreck so many 2008 films.

17 mail-order-brides arrive out west, but not all find bliss with the rough-n-tumble men they marry. Three are headed home, and have to be taken to the railroad at Carson (City) Nevada. The alcoholic sheriff is given the job, and the journey is the story. New westerns are few and far between, so this one might fill your need.

There Go The Brides

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 17 August 2013]

Probably the most famous big screen film about mail order brides is the MGM classic Westward The Women starring Robert Taylor who brought a wagon train of brides to a new western settlement. Well some marriages don't work out and in Prarie Fever Kevin Sorbo gets to return some of the brides. Sorbo gets a job to deliver Dominique Swain, Jillian Armenante, and Felicia Day back to whence they came.

Sorbo's an ex-sheriff who took to drink when he killed his own wife who was being held hostage by a bad guy. This is the only job he can get. But being an ex-sheriff he still has enemies like Don Swayze and Blake Gibbons who are looking to gun him down for the prison sentence they served courtesy of Kevin arresting them.

He's also got along for the ride Jamie Anne Allman who is fleeing her gambler husband Lance Henriksen. That proves to be the most troublesome of all.

The women seem to be suffering from some kind of psychotic breakdowns which is called Prarie Fever. The average person seems to think it's a bad adjustment to frontier life. But as we meet the women and hear their individual stories they've been stuck with some real losers for husbands.

Prarie Fever is a pleasant enough western with Kevin Sorbo showing he can play more than Hercules.

Watchable, but nothing outstanding...

[paul_haakonsen · 5/10 · 30 May 2023]

When I stumbled upon the 2008 Western movie titled "Prairie Fever", I had only noticed that the movie starred Kevin Sorbo. And that was actually the reason why I picked up the movie.

And then I saw that the movie also had Lance Henriksen and Dominique Swain on the cast list as well, and things were definitely looking all the more brighter. But there were more familiar faces on the cast list here, with the likes of Jillian Armenante, Felicia Day, Don Swayze, Michael Ensign and a couple others.

The storyline in "Prairie Fever" was adequate. Writer Steven H. Berman put together a fair enough script that proved entertaining enough for what it was. Sure, this wasn't cutting edge cinema in the Western genre, and there wasn't really a lot of classic Western elements in the storyline. Instead, you have a drama about a former sheriff who has to escort a group of women to Carson City, and the movie follows their trek across the prairie.

Well, while the storyline was adequate, I have to say that the acting performances in "Prairie Fever", and the many familiar faces on the screen, definitely helped to keep the movie afloat and kept it as a watchable movie.

The movie was struggling somewhat with a lack of proper Western atmosphere, feel and look to it. Everything was just a bit too mint condition and lacking the dirt and dust you would assume that garments would accumulate living in those conditions back in the day.

My rating of directors Stephen Bridgewater and David S. Cass Sr.'s 2008 Western "Prairie Fever" lands on a five out of ten stars.

Agreed. Just watched this flick.

[jbbarrett · 1/10 · 22 February 2009]

I thought Kevin Sorbo was the only highlight. The 4 women...couldn't tell them from the 2 mules. And I think it was filmed on the same piece set. They simply shot from every conceivable angle to make it look like they were traveling. And now this stupid website says I have to make ten lines of comments? Waste more words on this piece of celluloid trash? Well, the only good looking woman gets shot and killed - thankfully, as her character was the most annoying. The female lead who saves Sorbo from his character flaws, zero sex appeal. I think everyone mailed in their performances. Yikes, and now it wants more comments from me. Lance Heinriksen is in this flick too. Once upon a time he had a career. Now, well, he's in tripe like this.

No feeling,

[ssmksi · 3/10 · 18 May 2008]

I just finished watching this movie and I can honestly say that as of now, this "western" is at the bottom of my list of movies that I've watched this year and the bottom of my list of westerns.

I commend them for trying a "different" approach at a western (or is this just a remake?) but it simply did nothing for me. I am a Sorbo fan however, I feel that this role simply did not allow him to act the way he'd like to act even IF he's kind of bland and generic. That's what makes him Sorbo! I'm glad that other users found that this movie was "the best western" they've ever seen. Everyone is different however, when I think of westerns, I think "Dirty Harry". I was thoroughly disappointed and felt that they could have done a lot better.

Quite a boring western to watch.

[ghostlander · 4/10 · 18 September 2008]

What to say, this film has nothing outstanding to offer. The whole story line is plain and simple as a brick. The ex-sheriff Biggs (Kevin Sorbo) became a drunkard after his wife was killed during a robbery. He has agreed to deliver three ex-wives with some serious mental issues to the railway station in the neighborous city where two of them, Blue and Lettie, were supposed to have a ride back home and the third one, Abigail, to a psychiatrical hospital or whatever. There are three pairs of additional primary story characters: card-sharps Monte James and Olivia, farmers brothers Frank and Charlie, and two criminals who have some past offences with Biggs.

In general, Sorbo looked not even nearly as close as a drunkard, though he tried hard. The same applied to all three ex-wives who didn't look real crazy. Farmers and criminals behaved like no-brainers. A real joy was to watch the card-sharps: Monte James (Lance Henriksen) and Olivia (Jamie Anne Allman) have made this film, not Sorbo definitely. Without them this boring western wouldn't score even 4 out of 10.

Decent Video Movie With Good Character Development

[FightingWesterner · 7/10 · 15 December 2009]

Drunken ex-sheriff Kevin Sorbo gets a ticket out of the jail-house and a fistful of cash to escort three half-crazed rejected mail-order brides to the nearest train back east. Along the way he teams up with a spunky, crooked lady gambler who wants to go straight and is running from her villainous husband/partner Lance Henrickson.

Fun and a little offbeat, Kevin Sorbo gets to show off his knack for comedy as well as action with help from a good supporting cast. They all certainly interact well together. It helps that the script gives each of the women fully developed, three-dimensional characters to work with.

Great trail scenery makes for a refreshing change of pace from the usually fake looking town sets you see in most modern westerns.

Not what I'd expected...

[okami36 · 5/10 · 17 May 2013]

From the descriptions I'd seen, I picked this up, expecting a cat and mouse game based around transporting a trio of insane women from a small town to the railhead. A horror version of 3:10 to Yuma. Instead, I got a film that seems to have been written by a committee of executives from WE, Lifetime, and the Hallmark Channel.

Neither the writing nor the acting were top notch. Though, between the two, the acting was better. The plot was fairly cookie cutter, and only the mules couldn't have seen everything coming after the first fifteen minutes.

The budget seemed on-par with an episode of Brisco County Jr, and I think they may have shared some sets. Most of the cast was unknown to me, but it was fun spotting familiar faces like Silas Weir Mitchell.

Still, I can't say it was terrible.

This film is great!!!

[dennisstewart · 7/10 · 20 June 2009]

It's strange the ignorance of some people. Now here is really good movie in the western genre.

Being a western movie fan who can appreciate a good story, good directing, plus beautiful cinematography.

I have to say this one turned out to be a very good. Don't let someone who cannot find anything but four letter words stop you from watching.

Kevin Sorbo plays well as a "cowboy" I've seen him in Avenging Angel another good western you will like the way he comes across. He's no John Wayne but who is? Lance Henriksen also does a good job. And ladies a little action for you for the women are the main story.

Disappointing

[harryelsucio1212 · 4/10 · 5 April 2009]

I just this minute finished seeing this movie, unfortunately in Spanish which may have caused the stars to shine rather less brightly, but I doubt if I would have given it more than 5 had I seen it in the original American. I am not at all surprised that there is a great divergence of opinions about it. I do like westerns which are not just shooting matches but give us a picture of how the life of ordinary people was, but I do not think this does the job very well. When one thinks of "Westward the Women" with Robert Taylor and Corinne Calvet, this opuscule with only a handful of mail-order brides going in the opposite direction shrinks into insignificance. The pace is sometimes jumpy and generally too slow. The women, not because of attractiveness or lack of it, are of very limited interest. Though many a movie has brought a tear to these (ancient, male) eyes, I felt really no empathy with any of them, even the gun-toting uncharismatic heroine. The soundtrack score is tastefully written but too pretentious and grandiose in the style of "Dr Quinn Medicine Woman", in which the ambling along a dusty trail of a mule team pulling a small covered wagon and nothing happening is treated like "The Entry of the Queen of Sheba". There were some other flaws: At the very beginning, it was not made clear, at least to me, that it was the sheriff's wife whom he inadvertently killed, and, in fact, one does not actually see that she has been killed. It is true, however, that the version I saw was only 77 minutes long, so it is conceivable that there had been some (additional) clumsy editing. The female rejects that we had been told had been driven mad at least partly by life in the wagon train that brought them to their husbands-to-be recovered their wits remarkably quickly on a similar but more cramped return journey: Sigmund Freud, eat your heart out! The amazonian, somewhat overweight lady said to be of great strength we were not allowed to see demonstrating it, though asked by ex-Sheriff Briggs to help raise up the damaged wagon (as Jean Valjean did and was seen to do in "Les Misérables"), and apparently did so. The two idiots who had shared the sexual favours of the religiositous, bible-reading spouse now officially on the way to the nut-house,shared unbeknownst to the husband and against the will of his new wife, pursued the wagon jointly and with great fervour, presumably to reclaim said spouse/sister-in-law, though it must have been quite obvious to the adulterous brother that his sins would immediately be revealed. Which indeed came to pass leading to the smiting and slaying of both the aforementioned idiots. There was generally too much pointing of guns at each other without firing, and worse, permitting the opponent to draw his sidearm whilst already covered by a pistol. Oh yes, and the igniting of the bottles of whiskey and the throwing of them in the path of two pursuing baddies at the hands of the women ordered by Briggs to do so. The baddies seemed to hold back to give the ladies time to prepare and execute this delicate task, and when the great conflagration occurred as intended did not skirt round the flames on their swifter mounts, but politely allowed themselves to be halted by them, presumably muttering under their breath some cowboy equivalent of "A thousand thunders! Foiled again!" These villains also failed to sneak up that night on the wounded hero (couldn't the girls have found a smaller knife to take out the bullet?), which was also jolly sporting of them. Kevin Sorbo I only know as a scantily clad mythological hero from episodes of "Xena", which did not make great demands on his talents, and this rôle too failed to show whether he is capable of better things. Lance Henriksen, on the other hand, has greatly impressed me in earlier movies as a black-hearted villain in the traditions of Sweeny Todd and Maria of the Red Barn - a man you love to hate. An actor with much less talent could easily have given what was expected of him here. Oh dear, I hadn't realised I disliked this film that much!

An Adventure Western Story about Three Courageous Mail Order Brides!!

[GI-Jane1 · 10/10 · 29 September 2008]

For fans expecting this movie to be another "Quick and the Dead, High Noon" type of western drama, don't expect it because this adventure is different!!! "Justice may be only one bullet away" according to the story but justice is also the right to have freedom of choice that these women deserved and for the men who held their fate to do the right thing.

I believe the heart of the story belongs to the three mail order brides out of seventeen, who for some unknown reason have "Prairie Fever" and so they are transported out of town by a reluctant sheriff Preston Biggs (played by Kevin Sorbo) who had a debt to settle with the owner of the "Pure Luk Casino". It seemed an easy enough task to do and he reluctantly agrees to do it.

These three fine actors, "Dominique Swain" (Abigail), "Jillian Armenante" (Lettie) and "Felicia Day" (Blue) deserves credit for their performances!! They did a terrific job at playing the part of women who were as crazy as they were difficult to understand and for one man to be in the company of these three very strange women, you could imagine how difficult the task was going to be on that long, slow journey, until help unexpectedly arrives making the adventure more intriguing.

Olivia Thibodeaux (Jamie Anne Allman) appeared on the scene once again and you can tell that she was not a welcome member to the party of travelers since sheriff Biggs was not in the mood to be charitable and he was even less inclined to add more to his already burdened load since he recognized Olivia from an earlier encounter, but with three unstable women in tow, he had no choice but to include her in his journey.

Needless to say sheriff Preston Biggs now finds himself in the company of four women instead of three and things begin to get interesting as the story unfolds as we learn about the fate of these women and why Olivia was found wondering alone at the side of the road.

As we get to know these women, things get complicated for sheriff Biggs who not only finds himself in close proximity of a beautiful woman but thinks she is a callous card sharp, but is unprepared to find her comfortably at ease with the women no one cares about, and as Olivia begins to care for them she is also concerned about their fate as well as her own and tries to convince Preston not to abandon these women.

What made this movie so terrific is the conflict between all the characters and how each one of them becomes more important and how sheriff Biggs' simple plans appear to be heading the wrong direction and though the women resign themselves to their fate, sheriff Biggs becomes more uncertain about his own future thanks to a beautiful distraction named Olivia.

This story isn't about crazy women and a drunken sheriff, this story is about finding despair and bringing it to life, feeling shamed and unworthy and finding pride. We have a story with a tragic past with promises of a better and hopeful future making this simple adventure even more warm hearted than when it first began. Four strangers traveling alone together lost in the battle of demons, but as those demons fade, the story takes an unexpected delightful turn.

As charming and heart warming as this story is, what would a western be without its usual villains, and actor Don Swayze did a fabulous job as gun fighter James, who was every bit as mean and troublesome as you would imagine!!! So the clashes he has with Preston in two scenes were tense, dramatic, and both men were poised to get into a nasty fight.

Lance Henriksen as the cold hearted husband played a character typical of that time, mean and arrogant, but in this case, Monte James was prepared to show a good side when he realized he lost the woman he loved to another man and reluctantly agrees to let her go. All too often I've seen Mr. Henriksen as a much hated villain but seeing a little good side was a treat, and he did a fantastic job with it!!! Kevin Sorbo was an outstanding lead with his character Preston. He connects with the characters opposite him perfectly and there were many amusing moments and many instances that seem so typical of Kevin's characters, the stubborn trait, difficult, surly and at times impossible and funny is always around when its needed and his character Preston was well defined and easy to relate to and then there are more wonderful moments when he can be wonderfully nice, gentle and kind especially with characters like these vulnerable women. He has a natural way of bonding with them.

He is never in short supply of natural charm which oozes out of him so effortlessly so when we see that warm wonderful, caring side with a little touch of vulnerability in his character to make him feel real is a treat well worth waiting for and that passionate steamy scene was an added bonus in the end. No one does that better, he puts everything of the best in those moments, a perfect finish to a wonderful movie which is undoubtedly another treasure to behold!!! In conclusion, just want to add that it was a great script with a terrific story, fun action moments with gunfights and fist fights, terrific cast and a wonderful production. My only pet peeve is for the ending to have a few more extra minutes before fading to dark. The best moments are always the shortest but the sweetest!! I thank the entire production!! It was a great movie and I loved it!!

Very Weak!

[gazineo-1 · 3/10 · 26 August 2009]

'Prairie Fever' is one of these movies that no one would have done unless strictly based on a great disrespect for the audiences. In truth, it's really a sad experience to watch the torturing ninety minutes of this movie while thinking that 'western' was, a long time ago, the most important and well esteemed genre in American movie industry. 'Prairie Fever' is almost an insult, a disgusting whack in the western old trail. After the ending - thanks God! - I thought to myself what some great guys as John Ford, Howard Hawks or even the great Italian master Sergio Leone would say about this garbage. Kevin Sorbo - I think he must have felt ashamed as Sheriff Biggs, because he really seems so all the time - gives a wooden, disastrous performance as a ex-sheriff turned a drunkard after his wife's death in a shootout that he took part. He has a strange mission now: transport three deranged women to Carson City just to put them in a train to East. And that's it. That's the plot, the story of Prairie Fever. Don't expect a one good action scene or a funny situation. There's nothing here. Even the romantic scenes between Sorbo and his mate (played by Dominique Swain, a not bad actress) are contrived and unconvincing.

Sidestepping clichés

[roman8 · 8/10 · 12 April 2008]

A western hero can fearlessly out-drink and out-shoot everyone without ever getting drunk or missing. In the rare cases when he does get drunk or - God forbid - may even become A drunk, he still never misses, sobers up with no relapses - usually helped along by a beautiful saloon-lady with a colourful past and a golden heart, meant to be mainly a decorative accolade to the story - and gets to shoot all bad guys single-handedly in the final show-down, that traditionally happens either at dawn or - naturally - at high noon.

Well, not this time.

We have the saloon-lady and she's beautiful, 'golden-hearted' and provided with a colourful past all right, but she's not alone: there are a fierce bible-quoting dragon of a woman, a sobbing, hysterical, agoraphobic, but sweet and naive cry-baby as well as an awesome, mad, ferocious pianist turned farmer's wife turned man-killer joining her for a long ride meant to take all of them out of the prairie, that drove them nuts, and back to civilisation. They are being accompanied by the former sheriff of the town they want to leave behind, a guy who, attempting to stop some bank-robbers, accidentally shot his wife instead, drowning ever since in self-pity, guilt and whiskey. Forced to accept the assignment of getting the ladies back home, he embarks on the journey of his life, gets nearly driven out of his mind by the company he has to keep, sobers up (when his bottles get smashed), discovers his... more feminine side, gets shot, heals, makes friends out of harpies and finds hope, a new purpose in life and true love, despite of staying to the bitter end respectful of dangers, reluctant to risk any other life but his and finally getting by without having to kill anyone.

All of this in less than 90 minutes, which makes the entire thing seem a bit rushed, despite the noticeable attempt of the film to take its time. Unfortunately it doesn't have any, an impression stressed by a rather random editing and a not always very confident directing.

The story and the acting though more than make up for this. Kevin Sorbo oscillating between exasperation and gentleness is definitely worth seeing, his whiskey-drenched, yet dry-humoured Mr Biggs an endearing and welcome addition to the traditional fallen, but somehow miraculously scrambling-back-to-their-feet heroes of the Old West (although I did miss occasionally his usual, contagious playfulness). And equally worth seeing are Lance Henriksen's remarkably relaxed and somehow charming villain, Jillian Armenante's gruff, dangerous and ultimately deeply touching shrew, as well as Dominique Swain's quite fascinating Abigail. The rest of the cast is solid, but remains a little pale.

it's like Tom Sawyer...

[sacron · 10/10 · 20 April 2009]

guys, i put 10 out of ten and can tell why...

first: I don't't like dramas, nothing will make me watch them, even good criticism. but just of curiosity wanted to watch a movie with Kevin Sorbo.

this movie looks a lot like Australian-made series. it is somewhat naive but it has gentleness and truth. when you watch it it reminds old black-and-white movies.

yes, it could be better - but on the other hand - i'm tired of s-o-o much blood, "realistic" camera, computer soundtracks, sex, cursing, etc. when you watch this - it's like reading books of Jack London, Mark Twain.

if you want some shock ('cause you might be some couch potato bored of everything), want some bloody shooting, yelling and another macho cowboys - it's not for you. but if you like old western stories like Tom Sawyer - this IS for you! yes, it could be better - villains could be "badder", drinking former-sheriff could act more like a drunk, but, gosh, this was like a movie of my childhood...

give it a try!

Missed it in the cinema. Just watched it on TV. Excellent movie!!!

[ecs_sanchez · 10/10 · 12 April 2010]

I nearly didn't watch this movie as I had originally thought that it was going to be 'just another Western' - However it quickly became apparent that this was far from the case, and I am glad to say that I did stay to watch it.

I won't go into the story line - this can be found in the synopsises provided by other reviewers, here on these pages, except to say that, historically, the core characters portrayed the situations of far too many women of those times, and since, both in the States and elsewhere in the world.

The central characters, played by Dominique Swain (Abigail), Jillian Armenante (Lettie), Felicia Day (Blue), Jamie Anne Allmande (Olivia Thibodeaux), and Kevin Sorbo (Sheriff Preston Biggs), are well portrayed and 3-dimensional, with excellent negative foils being provided, particularly by Lance Henriksen (Monte James, gambler and ex-partner of Olivia), and Don Swayze (gun fighter James).

In all, in my opinion, a great storyline, well told, and which evolved with sensitivity as the main characters backgrounds were revealed and come to terms with as the plot moved towards its conclusion.

As already expressed by another reviewer: I thank the entire production team, it was a great movie, and I loved it!

Another great Sorbo performance!(May contain spoilers)

[renee0521 · 10/10 · 30 March 2008]

Kevin Sorbo gives another great performance in this story of a down and out ex-sheriff,driven to drink by grief and guilt over the death of his wife during a bank robbery gone awry. His drunkenness leads to a barroom brawl that lands him in jail. In order to clear up his debts,he agrees to transport three women,suffering from"prairie fever"back to civilization. During the trip,he meets Olivia, a beautiful sharpshooter who joins the group. She seems to have a calming effect on the three woman and an equally pleasant effect on Preston,but he doesn't acknowledge it until much later. The group prove themselves to be quite a force to be reckoned with when two brothers and a couple of rough shots who Preston put in prison years earlier trail them. A showdown with Olivia's partner,Monte,in Carson City takes Preston back to the deed of his undoing. All in all,a great movie and something a real Western fan will enjoy!

good TV western

[sherry9531 · 9/10 · 5 July 2013]

I've seen this movie a couple of times on TV and thought this movie was very good. Good TV western. The actors play their parts well. Kevin Sorbo plays an alcoholic ex sheriff that needs to make some money quick, so he agrees to take 3 'crazy' women, who were mail-order brides that got the "prairie fever" to the train station. He also meets up with another woman (a card shark) who is running from her husband. Their adventure has a little romance, a little gun action, a little comedy, a little tragedy, and a couple of small twists. I don't like too many westerns, but this one is good. Fun movie for a rainy afternoon.