Tall Tale (1995): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 1995, Tall Tale is an adventure, family and western film directed by Jeremiah S. Chechik, running about 98 minutes. “Sometime the hero ends up being you!” — that tagline sets the tone.

What it’s about. A young boy draws on the inspiration of legendary western characters to find the strength to fight an evil land baron in the old west who wants to steal his family's farm and destroy their idyllic community. When Daniel Hackett sees his father Jonas gravely wounded by the villainous Stiles, his first urge is for his family to flee the danger, and give up their life on a farm which Daniel has come to despise anyway. Going alone to a lake to try to decide what to do, he falls asleep on a boat and wakes to find himself in the wild west, in the company of such "tall tale" legends as Pecos Bill, Paul Bunyan, John Henry and Calamity Jane. Together, they battle the same villains Daniel is facing in his "real" world, ending with a heroic confrontation in which the boy stands up to Stiles and his henchmen, and rallies his neighbors to fight back against land grabbers who want to destroy their town.

Who’s in it. Tall Tale stars Patrick Swayze as Pecos Bill, Oliver Platt as Paul Bunyan, Roger Aaron Brown as John Henry and Nick Stahl as Daniel Hackett, among others.

How it landed. With an audience score of 6.1/10, Tall Tale has drawn a solid, mixed-to-positive response.

Where to watch. In US you can stream it on Disney Plus and rent or buy it from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies and YouTube. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch Tall Tale page.

If you liked it. Fans of Tall Tale tend to enjoy The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Inception, Interstellar and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.