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Rating: - A MAN WITH A BURDEN - TOP NOTCH DRAMA
John Payne plays the reformed gunslinger Vint Bonner in the Restless Gun series. Reformed...,almost. For a man who has given up gun-fighting he sure gets himself into a lot of them. Not that he goes looking for trouble, but it seems to find him, and follow him around along with his reputation for having a very fast gun.

Each episode opens with a brief image of Bonner riding his horse Scar and smiling as a voice over introduces him, then the Episode begins. But Vint Bonner does not do a lot of smiling in this series. Though he's what you might call a ruggedly handsome man He has a rather perpetually sad look to his eyes and face, as if he'd spent a lot of time with a lot of burdens on his mind. He has no family , so he put a name to his horse, Scar, and when people ask him..., he says that his horse is his next-of-kin.

Bonner travels from town to town doing various jobs, typically as a ranch hand or a herdsman or other typical cowboy work. His reputation is wide spread, so most people pause when they hear his name , wondering if he's dangerous and treat him with suspicion. A lot of town sheriffs seem to know him, this seems to be due to his having ridden with a number of posse's and helping them capture dangerous outlaws. The stories are mixed. For example, in one episode called Cheyenne Express he finds himself acting as a reluctant friend to a nervous shabby sad-faced two-bit outlaw who shot his gang leader in the back. Thinking he would be seen as a hero now, this meek little outlaw instead finds himself the target of everyone's hatered and revile for shooting a man in the back. Bonner reluctantly protects the outlaw from bullies and others who wouldn't mind seeing him share his gang leader's fate. It's an uncomfortable episode that deals with a fine line between being an outlaw and being accepted in a community. It ends tragically, as it probably should, but it leaves a lot of questions in mind. It's unusual to see such a thought provoking episode in a typical western series, but many of the episodes of The Restless Gun are like that. I recommend it. I found John Payne to be a very engaging actor and the supporting actors and actresses give powerful performances.

There are some light hearted episodes too. For example, in one episode Bonner has to meet with a local Indian tribe to try to get them to give up some renegade braves who committed crimes, at that time we see a young beautiful Indian girl ,possibly in her teenage years, gazing at him. She secretly falls in love with Bonner and unknown to him, follows him home. And from that point onward the episode is a hilarious series of attempts by Bonner to gently but firmly shake her loose and get her to go home. Little does he know that this is the Chief's daughter and he soon finds himself enmeshed in some Indian traditions he'd rather avoid. Definitely worth viewing, you should buy this compilation of episodes, I think you will greatly enjoy it. The quality of the video was good, but not great. It was clear enough and sharp enough to view comfortably and the audio was good, though at one or two spots it became slightly muddled, it was very brief and 99% of the video and audio had no problem.

- Mike S.

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