Blood River

This made-for-TV movie was originally written by John Carpenter in the early 70s as a vehicle for John Wayne. That explains why it feels like a throwback to older westerns. Wilford Brimley plays the Wayne role offering support to Ricky Schroeder, who had much greater TV western success with Lonesome Dove two years prior. Brimley, of course, was in Carpenter's The Thing a decade earlier. Both actors do fine with the unchallenging material. Carpenter fans who seek this out will likely be disappointed that it's just a basic by-the-numbers western with little to nothing of his signature style on it. At the time this was written John Wayne was starring in a lot of "colorful old coot teamed up with youngsters" westerns. One even won him an Oscar. Had he made this at the time with a theatrical budget it might have been a bit more memorable. It also might have changed Carpenter's career to get a big star to make a film he wrote years before he made his own name. We may never have gotten some of the Carpenter classics. Anyway what we have here is a watchable time-passer and trivia curiosity but nothing more substantive than that.