I'm a big Western fan but have you ever seen a video box that says: "Don't rent me?" Well, the box for Defiance said just that, but... it was a free gallery weekend (Movie Gallery.) I thought to myself "I'll take it now b/c if its a mistake it won't have cost me anything." Well, I'm not sure if it was a mistake or not. There were some aspects I really liked. The action and costuming were two (even if the costumes didn't quite look right for the time, being too clean and too new.) Tommy Cross, the vigilante, struck me as very cool. He had a lot of potential but was terribly undeveloped. It didn't help that he couldn't act. Then someone decided that Tommy should just up and die. He was the main character damn it! You're left wondering what the hell just happened and why. Whomever wrote this story just couldn't maintain their focus. In the acting department, the rest of the characters are just as bad as Tommy. To top that off, the movie looked like it was filmed with a hand-held video camera. The last gunfight, however, is the highlight of the movie. It is violent, bloody and exciting. Being a Western fan, I feel a little more forgiving towards this film. My suggestion is, if you see Defiance on the shelf, the feeling you get from the box is probably right. You must love Westerns or just walk away.