In 1857 Capt. Alexander Fancher leads a wagon train of settlers across Utah to California. A confrontation with a congregation of Mormons soon leads to deadly consequences for all involved.
The maudlin, grotesque western September Dawn apes Schindler's List in hopes of creatinga Christian Holocaust picture.
TheMovieReport.com
September 05, 2007
Contriving a faux Romeo and Juliet romance as a point of entry for the audience shows how unimaginative the filmmakers are, and how blandly and uninvolving it plays shows how fairly clueless they are in going about their game plan.
With its complete lack of empathy for early Mormons and simplistic rendering of historical figures, September Dawn is that rare movie that actually deserves whatever condemnation might come from religious groups.
Drama may benefit from attention to history, but history doesn't always make for good drama.
Chicago Reader
December 03, 2007
The villainous turns by Jon Voight (as a hard-hearted Mormon bishop) and Terence Stamp (as a bloodthirsty Brigham Young) would have been more fun if they weren't part of such a clumsy campaign to lay this tragedy at the church's doorstep.
