• Network: AMC
  • Series Premiere Date: Jun 24, 2006
  • Season #: 1 , 2
Metascore
78 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 15 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 15
  2. Negative: 0 out of 15
  1. This elegant, shaggy dog of a 19th-century western takes us on a painfully human journey across the old West.
  2. Reviewed by: Ken Tucker
    91
    If it weren't for the commercials and basic-cable cutaways from some violence, you'd swear you were watching a classic Western. [23 Jun 2006, p.66]
  3. Reviewed by: Diane Werts
    90
    This four-hour gem is exquisite from start to finish, rife with the texture of its place and time, rich with human understanding expressed in everyday articulation and small gestures.
  4. The finest purely American TV film to come along in some time.
  5. Any fan of Westerns, or of Duvall, will not be disappointed if this "Trail" is followed.
  6. A gorgeous piece of cinema.
  7. It's a little movie that feels big, without being self-consciously cinematic.
  8. 75
    "Broken Trail" is a Western in the old-fashioned vein - one that keeps the action moving, but along an even, and sometimes verrry slow trail.
  9. 75
    These joined stories never forge into one strong plot, but there's always Duvall. [3 Jul 2006, p.35]
  10. 75
    A richly entertaining winner, a saga that both stirs the emotions and whips up vivid outbursts of satisfying, varmint-vanquishing action.
  11. While "Broken Trail" is plot driven and not without action, it is most of all a languid elegy about the olden days on the Western ranges.
  12. It's a Western miniseries with impeccable pedigree, memorable characters, breathtaking cinematography and a story that seems almost as if it had been put together by a committee.
  13. "Broken Trail" is not as well written or compelling as "Lonesome Dove," but Mr. Duvall brings an earthy believability to even the most plodding lines.
  14. Reviewed by: Brian Lowry
    60
    While this "Trail" ain't exactly broken, some judicious editing could have fixed it.
  15. 60
    We've seen all these characters countless times before in movie and TV westerns, but the actors give them distinction here.
User Score

Universal acclaim- based on 46 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 39 out of 42
  2. Negative: 1 out of 42
  1. BernhardW
    10
    wonderfull epic film adventure.. Story great, pictures wonderfull, and people so much to love. thats the stuff keeping sole up. regards bernd
  2. HenryE
    10
    It's a beautiful and moving film, a masterpiece. Robert Duvall is truley a great actor.
  3. JuanaG.
    10
    When will BROKEN TRAIL with ROBERT DUVALL air again and on which CHANNEL?