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Rating:  - Unforgiving Prejudices
Like much of American life, religious freedom and tolerance have evolved over time. All today's squabbles over religious intolerance seem pretty petty compared to some past times. Dissenters Roger Williams and Anne Hathaway were banished from their early Rhode Island community, and people sometimes killed each other over what they believed.
Before there was a millenium 9/11 by foreign forces, there was a domestic one on the plains known as the Mountain Meadows Massacre. The beleaguered Mormons haunted by a perilous past, held onto their Utah territory with reason to believe they were to be removed by U.S. forces. When the Fancher-Baker wagon train stopped at Mountain Meadows, they had three things in mind: rest, replenish their supplies; then head to California. Although many were from Arkansas, a few families followed into their train from Missouri, a place where Mormon land had been confiscated and their followers dispersed. After leader Joseph Smith was killed in prison near Nauvoo, Illinois, the Utah Mormons, led by Brigham Young (Terence Stamp) and John D. Lee (Jon Gries), were willing to shed the blood of suspicious "Gentiles". Working with Pauite Indians, the Mormons hoodwinked then massacred the émigrés culminating on September 11, 1857. Based on an apostle's allegedly heavenly visions, a question remains: Were The Mormons deceived or did they misunderstand their messages?
Although illuminating to watch, `September Dawn' comes off as an above par made-for-TV movie. Not as accomplished or emotionally cohesive as `Amazing Grace,' the movie remains better-than-average historical fiction. Jon Voight as Mormon "apostle" Jacob Samuelton leads a lesser known cast through a drama of prejudice and counter prejudice anchored by a fictitious couple, Emily Hudson (Tamara Hope) and Jonathan Samuelton (Trent Ford). Both being mouth-pieces of tolerance, an element of `Romeo and Juliet' enters the strife with a partially effective import.
Many of the flashback scenes of wrongs the Mormon's endured are done in old-fashioned double-imaging, thanks to editor Jack Hofstra. The movie's often shot beautifully with a `Horse Whisperer' scene and a romantic moonlight scene to give the film some depth. If you were queasy about 'Rambo,' you may want to be forewarned here: Some of the footage is unsettling. Overall, the level of interest you have in these events will effect the level of satisfaction you have with the movie.
(Comic relief: When Emily expresses her love for Jonathan, Robert Humphries [Huntley Ritter] warns her she'll be "...one of his many wives," but "At least you'll have some help with the dishes.")
A J.P.'s Toss-up Er,...Tails 2.5 *'s= Fair-Mediocre
Rating:  - Laughably horrendous.
I see a lot of reviews praising this film for what their respective authors claim is "historical accuracy" or "refreshing honesty", which, while entertaining, don't make as large a blip on my radar as those praising the quality of the film itself. As I stifle my chuckles at their expense, let me state that I am neither an Evangelical Christian nor a Mormon; I wouldn't be either if it paid, and while I will not deny the tragedy inherent to any occasion of so many humans being killed, the particular specifics (partifics, if you will) surrounding the climactic massacre depicted in this film really make no never-nonesuch with me, so I will not make any further comment against September Dawn based on allegations of it being "hate propaganda". But what I can say with all of the sincerity I can scrape from the deepest walls of my empty heart is that this is easily one of the WORST films I have ever seen. Ever. Ever?
Ever.
Seeing this movie is not a memory I wish to revisit in depth, so I will relinquish the honor of discussing its specific failures to the many more seasoned critics whose heads are to be found on Rotten Tomatoes. I can, however, look back briefly enough say that the dismal quality of the acting--from all parties, amazingly enough--coupled with a script loaded with more synthetic cheese than a stuffed-crust pizza ("Hold me! Don't ever let me go!" -- all five people in the theater with me lol'd at that one, though you might need to have endured the film to find the humor in it) make this, at absolute best, a lulzy rental--the sort of thing to fill out your rental haul as the lone child of curiosity. But be warned: everything in this movie that doesn't come off as being funny (god help you) is--and this means a lot coming from me, or so choice others would tell you--really, really boring. September Dawn is about 20% crap so crap it's awesome (read: hilarious), and 80% valium. I had to consciously fight to stay awake during this film before I realized that I wasn't coming down with "thuh ADD"--the film was really just blandly written and directed. And while I felt horrible trying to quell my urge to laugh at a movie that set out to cover such a tragic story, it seemed that "September Dawn" was constructed to pose just such a challenge to the viewer. Assuming they can stay awake, that is. Anyone who sat through this film just to witness how bad it is, or to have their expectations dashed, deserves a medal. Anyone who sat through it and liked it deserves pills. Make no mistake: all questions of historical accuracy aside, this is a bad movie. A very bad movie.
tl;dr - NO!
Rating: - Not as good as I thought it would be
I like movies based on actual historical events, so was looking forward to September Dawn. I was let down. Not sure exactly what, but something was missing from this movie. Maybe it's the fact too much time was spent on the fictional love story. This movie barely held my interest.
Rating:  - The Glaring Ugly Truth
Wow, what an eye opening subject. Why is it that I have lived in the great USA for 35 years and never heard of this terrible massacre? Why is it not in our school history books? I just finished a college course called "American Civilization," that covered the 1400's - 1900. There was lots of info on the savage indians and the civil war officers but nothing on this horrible event? How shameful of us to cover up so much of our own ugly history. Pretty disgraceful.
I am very thankful that this was brought to light and now has the chance of reaching many of us who would otherwise have never learned about it.
Quit censoring our text books!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rating: - WITHOUT QUESTION THE WORST MOVIE I HAVE SEEN
I cannot believe that Jon Voight would consent to be in this horribly written, directed, and acted in movie. I must conclude that he and the other actors were blackmailed into doing so. The bigotry against Mormons and the false facts in it are an insult not just to Mormons but to anyone viewing the movie represented as a historic. Do not buy or rent this movie. It is a waste of time and money and it would only encourage the producers and director make more of this type of filth!! If I could give negative stars I would give it a -10 stars.
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