The Avenging Angel (DVD, 1995)

4.54.5 out of 5 stars

14 product ratings

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13 reviews

by diogenes956106 Apr, 2021

Entertaining Story About a Forgotten Time in History

If you think back to high school, chances are that you read something about the Mormon trek westward in the mid-19th century, after the citizens of Nauvoo, Illinois, decided to take out their dislike for the followers of Joseph Smith by having him arrested as they were scandalized by the beliefs of him and his followers. Once arrested, he was lynched and his followers, now led by Brigham Young, left to finally settle in what is now Salt Lake City, Utah. But, there is some history that is seldom mentioned: that the clannish Mormons wanted to stay unmolested by any outsiders and took severe steps to make sure they weren't.
If you've read the Sherlock Holmes story "A Study in Scarlet", you'll remember one character is a survivor of an Indian massacre of a wagon train of westward bound settlers and that this was due to the fact that the Mormons would alert the local Indian tribes to eliminate them in order to remain isolated from any outside "contamination" to their community. Additionally, the Mormons had a group of individuals, the "Avenging Angels", whose job it was to eliminate (read: kill) any outsiders who might wander in, but also to hunt down and kill any renegade Mormons who might decide to leave their community as well as act as bodyguards for the esteemed Brigham Young. The most famous, or should I say, notorious, of these was Oren Porter Rockwell. In this movie, he's played by James Coburn and a younger Angel is Miles Utley, played by Tom Berenger who gives an excellent performance as a dedicated bodyguard for Brigham Young who discovers a plot to assassinate Young by some members of the community who see the future in railroads, land speculation, and trading with the world outside their community. Charlton Heston plays Brigham Young, another religious leader role for which Heston is famous, James Coburn is Oren Porter Rockwell, suitably grizzled looking as a veteran of the frontier, and Kevin Tighe is a villain, a traitor to the Mormon community. All the actors play their roles well and Berenger, as Utley, is especially good as a faithful Mormon who has a crisis of faith but finds his faith again. Berenger, IMNSHO, always plays a highly memorable character and the only thing I might criticize here is Heston's beard which looks, to me, to be less than authentic; but, this is a minor criticism.
Watching this movie may persuade you to learn more about the history of this time and I give this 4 stars for being a historically interesting as well as a highly entertaining and watchable movie. Just my $0.02.Read full review

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by 4mO_yzmlQru@Del...29 Feb, 2016

Major entertainment for Mormons, and engaging Western as well

I saw this on television, and immediately wanted to own it. It addresses factions within the Mormon Church after it removed from Illinois in the late 1840s, with major figures well played by first-rat actors: Charleton Heston as Brigham Young, James Coburn as Porter Rockwell. Mty only complaints are that I have been totally unable to find the novel upon which the movie was based, and that I could not find this in a widescreen format, which I'd have preferred.Read full review

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by schmid340531 Mar, 2016

A good movie... BUT...

I was looking for a Movie about Porter Rockwell. While Porter Rockwell is a character in the film it is not a story about him. So I was a bit disappointed. BUT I DID enjoy the overall movie.

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by cmun-3621 Sep, 2023