The movie starts on the incomplete Transcontinental Railroad in the 1860s, in a train heading toward the closest train station. Meet Butch Cavendish, imprisoned in a jail cart at the back of the train with Tonto. Cavendish is a famous Indian killer, but the Americans had made a treaty with the Comanche, and Cavendish is charged with violating the treaty.
The Lone Ranger is a passenger in the train cart closest to the jail, on his way to visit his brother, who is sheriff of the town and a Ranger. The Lone Ranger, whose name is John Reid, first encounters some religious people on the train. They ask him to sing a hymn, and he holds up a book and says, “I have my own religion.” It is a book of law and government. The law is Reid’s religion, but over the course of the movie he loses faith in the law when he sees that people in authority over the laws are corrupt. Later, he becomes an outlaw to protest government corruption and try and right the wrongs the mayor has created.
The problems start when the Lone Ranger arrives in the town. The prisoner, Butch Cavendish, instead of facing court, runs away. The Lone Ranger sets out to capture Cavendish. Tonto joins with Reid to capture Cavendish. The adventures Tonto and Reid go on to catch Cavendish are thrilling. For example, John and Tonto get captured, at one point, by the Comanche. Because Tonto had been exiled from the Comanche and because Reid was a white man, the Comanche captured the men and buried them in the sand, with just their heads sticking out. They expected Reid and Tonto to die, but the “spirit horse” pulls up Reid, and then Reid pulls up Tonto.
Throughout the movie, the railroad is still being built. When the railroad reaches the silver mine, Reid gets captured after he’s caught holding the mayor at gunpoint. Only Reid and Tonto know that the mayor is corrupt . He let Cavendish go because Butch is his brother, and they both are greedy. They want to make money from the silver mine.
At one point, all the Comanche attack, and the U.S. Calvary arrive with artillery on the train. There is a massive fight, and all the Comanche are dead or hiding. The Lone Ranger and Tonto get away, after fighting against the corrupt mayor and the calvary helping him. Reid and Tonto also rob a bank and find explosives. They decide to blow up a bridge, so the mayor would have to rebuild and so the brothers could not transport their silver.
The best part of the movie was at the end. The mayor is getting congratulated for finishing the railroad, Tonto gets into the train with all the silver from the silver mine (3 carts full). He takes the silver, so he can destroy it. A long shoot-out scene follows, between two trains. At the end, the mayor jumps onto the silver cart and pushes Tonto off. The mayor winds up falling into the river and dying because the bridge is blown up.
I liked how thrilling and suspenseful the movie was, but I also liked the message. Anyone can make the greater choice of right or wrong.