Critics Scoreboard
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Average Critic Score:
45
(23 sources)
45
(23 sources)
-
88
ReelViews
The latest offering from Edward Zwick, the director of "Glory," is the kind of movie that doesn't require much effort to surrender to and enjoy. Read Full Review » -
75
Rolling Stone
What makes Legends such an entertaining male weepie is the star shine. Though the admirable Quinn has the toughest role, Pitt carries the picture. Read Full Review » -
75
Chicago Sun-Times
It's pretty good, in fact, with full-blooded performances and heartfelt melodrama. Read Full Review » -
75
Chicago Tribune
There's a lot of beauty and excitement in Legends of the Fall - not least from the actors. [13 Jan 1995] Read Full Review » -
70
Los Angeles Times
Director Zwick orchestrates everything with welcome gusto, and though the result is not as meaningful as it would have you believe, it is undeniably pleasant to have this kind of production to kick around. [23 Dec 1994] Read Full Review » -
70
Variety
While emotionally intense, it's neither hurried nor charged with false drama. It's also one of the most handsome of recent films, with sterling work by cameraman John Toll and production designer Lilly Kilvert. Read Full Review » -
63
TV Guide
The golden shadows of the waning Old West are thrown across the big screen with full reverential treatment in this solid, unsurprising rendition of Jim Harrison's widely praised novella. Read Full Review » -
60
Empire
In all, Legends Of The Fall is a grand bore, more laughable than stirring. So big everything becomes blurry and distant, so beautiful it could be ad for male hair products. Read Full Review » -
50
Portland Oregonian
The acting is the strongest thing about the film. Pitt nicely balances the dashing and wounded sides of Tristan's character. [13 Jan 1995] Read Full Review » -
50
Austin Chronicle
The camerawork, which relies heavily on shots of picture-perfect vistas and not enough on human beings and their place in this world. When we do see the characters, we primarily see their beauty. Read Full Review » -
50
The New York Times
These are performances that lost too much in the editing room, smothered by music and overshadowed by a picture-postcard vision of the American West. Read Full Review » -
50
San Francisco Chronicle
Legends of the Fall is so gorgeous that its failure to catch fire seems a piddling concern. Read Full Review » -
42
Entertainment Weekly
This puffed-up Western set in Big Sky country becomes a small-screen horse opera. Read Full Review » -
38
San Francisco Examiner
Legends of the Fall never makes you think too hard; its woes-of-a-proud-family formula takes a back seat to a self-conscious visual style that strains toward the level of myth. Read Full Review » -
38
USA Today
Long, lumbering, pretentious and for some a possible laff riot. [23 Dec 1994] Read Full Review » -
38
Christian Science Monitor
While the production is attractive in a calendar-photo sort of way, there's not a speck of genuine feeling in its glossy images. Read Full Review » -
33
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Legends of the Fall is one of those movies that is so sloppy and so poorly written and so clumsily directed that every dramatic scene seems to either insult your intelligence or come off as being unintentionally hilarious. [13 Jan 1995] Read Full Review » -
25
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
The narrative line itself rambles increasingly down a path toward tawdry melodrama, defeating the impact of the handsome visuals and finely etched performances. [13 Jan 1995] Read Full Review » -
25
Boston Globe
This one is hollow and caves in on itself, growing wearisome and posed, ending in a burst of salvational violence and a coda of sentimentality masquerading as transcendent toughness. [13 Jan 1995] Read Full Review » -
20
-
10
Washington Post
Legends of the Fall is a magnificent bore: a western saga lolling in its own immensity - its big music, its big scenery and, yes, its big hair Read Full Review » -
10
Washington Post
It doesn't take long to realize that Legends is an unintentional howler. Read Full Review » -
0
Wall Street Journal
Nobody fares well in this movie about sibling rivalry, doomed love and fringed suede. [05 Jan 1995] Read Full Review »
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