StyleSk8r
At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.
Stebaer4
Yes it's a TV-Movie with very sentimental Value.Michael Landon Does another fine faithful role.But Most especially in this one of which as The Narrator in the Prologue to this film even said this is Michael Landon's last gift to us.Yes and suitably because it's entitled "Us."Also Now Knowing that it Was a Pilot to a TV-Series with the same name and just as another reviewer said Just when Michael Landon thought that he was relieved of his cancer and wanted to do a Pilot to serve as a start to a new TV-Series.he then suddenly went and as it would turn out it would be his last gift to us.Also still proving how he was just as faithful in Real Life as he was in many of his roles.Now onward to this TV-movie it's about a man named Jeff Hayes of whom served time in Jail for a Murder that he didn't commit but because of his faith both made the best of it while in jail and like when he did his wait lifting as well as upon release has a forgiving and good attitude to just move on.Faithfully,Stephen "Steve" G. Baer a.k.a."Ste" of Framingham,Ma.USA
alfie4ever2
Another great Michael Landon production. Michael should have won an Emmy for this. A great man died and his fans were robbed of more joyful shows he would have made.The story "US" has very emotional scenes between Landon(Jeff Hayes) and superbly played dad Barney Martin(Jack Hayes).Jeff Hayes was put in prison for 18 years for a crime he did not commit. Jeff is freed after the real killer is found. Hayes has to try and put back his troublesome relationship with his dad and try and start a relationship to his son; who never knew his real dad was alive.Try and catch "US" it's been airing on Starz.
michaelrustage
I found this to be a very pleasant film and it's a shame the TV series that this was the pilot for was never made. Michael Landon plays Jeff who has served 18 years in jail for a crime he didn't commit. He is then released and the movie shows how he deals with returning to his wife and son who thinks he's dead and his father who thought he was guilty. The performances are all very good and very believable. Michael Landon did some great stuff and it's a terrible shame he passed away so early. It's also a shame that there isn't anyone else like him today. He was a very unique person and a great role model. He always had an answer to peoples problems, he stuck up for himself and others verbally and physically if necessary and he was never afraid to show his emotions. I'm sure Michael Landon will be remembered for a very long time to come.
ponderosaexplosion
Michael Landon was at his full peak of best health at the time he wrote, filmed and assembled the pilot film in November and December of 1990. The story and characters are somewhat more realistic and edgier and Landon himself has elements of the last 3 characters he played ( Bonanza-Joe, Little House-Charles, Highway to Heaven-Jonathan ) in the new character of Jeff Hayes. Landon himself, in his own self is very evident in the character of Jeff. His master technique of acting is certainly very well evoking in this pilot film. His new hairstyles, trimmed-down muscular build and his own clothing ( except the MGM wardrobe prison garb ) and the 90's suburb-settings are more then a sign he did not look back to the past for limitless creativity, but the future. He was working out several weeks at the gym and at MGM, before he filmed this and many assumed this was made when he was sick with cancer, which is a big misconception to many of his fans. Untrue. Filming of the first 12 episodes was set for early June 1991, but tragedy occured some months before that would make this new series impossible. It's a showcase of something that would have been, perhaps his most satisfying role, had he not fell sick some 4 months later in February 1991, with pancreatic cancer, then diagnosed with it in April after sensing he was not well, spanning 5 months through July 1, 1991, to his demise. The US pilot was aired on CBS a few months after he died, in September 1991 and later reran in 1992. Since then on cable television and dish TV. Perhaps a most disturbing scene is in the first act of the film, he is walking down a Los Angeles street at night--and for the first time in his career--he is not accompanied by a sidekick, as with Victor French, Dan Blocker or Merlin Olson. Somewhat detached, seeing him alone in a scene, where most of the time, he's in the presence of another lead actor, as a co-hero. Ten months earlier in January 1990, while on Larry King, he recalled how a "Bonanza" remake would be impossible, since his closet co-stars had all died ( Pernell Roberts excluded, who is still living ), and some of the reality of these tragedies surface in US, in a subtle sense. Michael is there--but he should have his old-co-stars with him at some point of a scene--a modern and somber reminder time has marched on and they have been lost in death. He made an appearance on Entertainment Tonight-the Christmas 1990 edition and sadly the next one would be in April 1991, when he held the press conference at his Malibu home, announcing his grim illness to the world on television. He can never be replaced as the Master of Family Television and a good man, in every sense of the word.
