Former U.S. Cavalry Col. William Ludlow (Anthony Hopkins) presides over his ranch in the foothills of the Montana Rockies, where he seeks to raise his three sons far away from the madness of his times. Alfred (Aidan Quinn), the eldest, is dutiful and reserved but has a will of his own; Samuel (Henry Thomas), the beloved youngest brother, is the epitome of turn-of-the-century idealism; and middle brother Tristan (Brad Pitt) is a wild, untamable spirit. Samuel's arrival from college throws the family into turmoil--both his brothers fall in love with his new fiancée (Julia Ormond)--until the outbreak of World War I upends their lives. Through the horror of that war, then home to Montana and a world turned modern overnight, the brothers' tale is a story writ large, of love and loss, betrayal and hope.