Legends of the Fall is a 1994 film--based on the 1979 novella of the same title, by Jim Harrison--directed by Edward Zwick and starring Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, Aidan Quinn, Julia Ormond, Henry Thomas, and Bart the Bear. Although it won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography, the film did not do as well as expected at the box office. It has since become available on DVD, with enormous success in that venue.

The movie's timeframe spans from just before World War I through the Prohibition Era and into the 1920s, and it ends briefly in 1963. The film centers on the Ludlow family of Montana, including veteran of the Indian Wars Colonel Ludlow (Hopkins), his three sons Alfred (Quinn), Tristan (Pitt), and Samuel (Thomas), and the brothers' love interest Susannah (Ormond).

Colonel Ludlow, sick of the betrayals the United States government has perpetrated on the Native Americans, retires with his most trusted friend, a Native American serving in the cavalry, named Stab. He moves his family to a remote part of Montana where he builds a large home and begins ranching. His wife, born and raised in the city, does not adapt well to the harsh winters of the cold country and leaves for the east coast. She does not return for many years but she and the Colonel remain married and close friends and communicate through letters. He raises his sons with the help of Stab who teaches them all the language of his American Indian people. It is Stab's voice that narrates the film, all in retrospect, and as an old man.

Colonel Ludlow has three sons, all as different as night from day. The oldest son, Alfred, is mature even at a young age, always responsible, and cautious. The youngest son, Samuel, is naive but educated, and constantly being watched over by his brothers. Tristan, the middle son, is wild, handsome, unapologetic, spirited, confident, and one who has studied the ancient American Indian traditions.

Normally love dramas don't interest me, since I find them boring and predictable. This film, while being more than "just" a good love drama, really impressed me. Many of the scenes are quite visually beautiful, some in cinematography, others in content. As a love drama, it's moving, and at times almost poetically beautiful. It involves three men, brothers, who are all in love with the same woman. She has a relationship with each of them, but ultimately realizes that she only loves one of them. The plot is very good, and evolves at the right pace for this type of story. Not terribly fast, but never stands still either. The actors all portray their respective characters well, nearly all of them giving a perfect performance. Anthony Hopkins is great, as always. There was not really anything in this movie that disappointed me. The ending scene involves some of the best cinematography I've ever seen. There is a very emotional scene near the end which is also one of the most visually beautiful I've ever seen in a movie. I recommend this to most fans of love dramas, and, to a lesser extent, fans of war dramas