The model here should perhaps have been the Ranown Cycle: inexpensive but beautiful and brisk character-driven westerns none of which are longer than 80 minutes. Still, Frontier Crucible does look lovely.

While it’s a mostly solid effort that will play just fine on cable and VOD, Frontier Crucible is unlikely to revive the theatrical fortunes of the Western genre that seems to ebb and flow in popularity.

It’s nice to see filmmakers playing around with genre rather than being shackled to it. That creative freedom is what keeps “Frontier Crucible” from being just another trip to the Old West.

This gory tale was clearly made by people who love the Western genre, and it's beautiful to look at, but it's unfortunately missing that certain something that would have made it memorable.