Ulzana's Raid (1972) Reviews

• Maybe you don't want to think of the white man being savage like the Apache?

  Spikeopath2008-07-27

  Apache renegade Ulzana goes on a murder raid, hot on his trail is a posse of cavalrymen. Led by the young and inexperienced Lt. Garnett DeBuin, the cavalrymen in order to survive and defeat Ulzana, must rely on the help of tough old scout McIntosh and his trusty Indian friend, Ke-Ni-Tay. Directed masterfully by Robert Aldrich (The Dirty Dozen & The Longest Yard), Ulzana's Raid is just shy of being an uncompromising masterpiece. There is no pandering to political correctness here, this is showing the bitter hostility of the Indian war, torture and murderous inclination is the order of the day. The allegories to Vietnam are hard to ignore as our band of men are struggling out in the wilderness against Ulzana's hostile raiders, the sprawling mountainous landscape another tool to the already handily equipped Apache. What lifts Ulzana's Raid high above many of its contemporaries is its on the money dialogue. A wonderfully complex script from Alan Sharp manages to make all the characters intriguing and deserving of further delving. The Apache are savage, and Aldrich doesn't flinch from showing this, but they are afforded respect, and crucially, understanding. Ulzana's Raid could quite easily have been a one sided blood letting exercise in Western folklore, but it isn't. The motives and attitudes of the white man party is there for all to scrutinise, with much attention to detail given as the many conversations bring rich and rewarding results to the discerning viewer. From the off it's evident that McIntosh & DeBuin have vastly different views of Ulzana's actions, but as the film moves forward; all manner of questions leap out, be it Christian values, racial hatred or merely imperialistic trust; all parties involved are hurtling towards the final reckoning. Burt Lancaster is perfect as McIntosh, grizzled and carrying a frame made for such a rigorous terrain. Playing DeBuin is Bruce Davison, boyish charm fused expertly with unwanted bravado, while stealing the film is Jorge Luke as Ke-Ni-Tay. A performance of great depth that holds and binds the picture brilliantly. Sadly this film has been a victim of much interference over the years, (studio and Lancaster himself to blame), so much so there is thought to be about 6 cuts of the film out there in the home entertainment world. Thankfully we are now able to get a cut of the film that is almost complete, but still there remains to this day no definitive full cut of the film. German (the version I own) and Australian releases proclaim to have it uncut, but that's not accurate because there is still some three minutes missing from the very first cut of it: including a quite crucial sequence involving Sergeant and Trooper Miller. Still, it has to be said that even with 3 minutes chopped out of it, Ulzana's Raid is still a grim and brilliant piece of work. Showing the savagery from both sides of the fence, Aldrich and his team refuse to cop out and pander to formula. 9/10

• Grim, realistic, and non-judgmental guerilla war

  DFC-21999-05-06

  Stark and brutal, but completely lacking the melodramatic sturm und drang of most war movies, Ulzana's Raid plays out like it was another deadly day at the office for the participants. Produced as an allegory on the Vietnam War, Robert Aldrich and Burt Lancaster created a focused drama about the senselessness of hating your opponents and the absence of victory in ethnic conflicts. The participants and victimized settlers aren't so much dehumanized as they are inconsequential except to themselves. Filmed in Nogales, Arizona and Nevada, the conflict is played out realistically with both sides shepherding their supplies of time, endurance, ammunition, and manpower. The location shots are beautifully laid out with an emphasis on depicting the strategic planning of the apache raiders and opposing troopers. Several scenes stand out in sharp contrast to most war movies. In one group of scenes, Aldrich follows a German family and their fate as the wife rides off with her child and a trooper escort, and the well-armed husband stays behind to defend their home. In another, the troop commander sends two soldiers after a wounded apache raider. In both cases, he turns conventional logic and sentiment on its head in honor of a grimmer reality. To my mind, this is one of the best war stories ever made and the DVD lays it out in full screen Technicolor.

• Taking a Man's Power

  scttwortman2005-12-18

  The only reason I have not given this movie a "10" is that I might find something wrong with it on subsequent viewings. If anybody knows of this film being available widescreen, unedited, and not bootlegged, let me know where. My high definition TV does not forgive picture flaws. Otherwise I will be patient for a remaster. As someone who is an amateur historian of the Indian wars, I can tell you this is the most accurate dramatization of the campaign against the Apaches ever filmed. Accurate history is presented in the fact that the Apaches were the dominant tribe of the southwest {the Comanches in Texas might have been their rival}. Ask the Puebloes, who actually welcomed the white man, as a buffer against the Apache. The Apache dominated the southwest long before the Spanish ever showed up. Their spiritual philosophy of "taking a man's power" was shared by other warlike Indian tribes all the way to the east coast {see "Last of the Mohicans", Mann's version}. The film manages to also be great western drama as well as a history lesson.There is no moral judgment, only the way it was. The cast is superb.Lancaster, Davidson, The Hispanic Indian actors. Richard Jaeckel, and Karl Swenson {two workhorse character actors, who turned in performances of a lifetime}. All these guys plus director Aldrich and the writers knew they were working on something special. Even the PC edited version is worth seeing. A great Cavalry/Indian western, maybe the best!

• Outguessing the enemy was the key to survival

  tmwest2004-04-19

  During years I avoided seeing `Ulzana's Raid' because the title gave me the idea that it was a spaghetti western of which I had seen my share. I saw it a couple of days ago and was impressed. This is a film that goes into the mind of the Indian , and also of the Lieutenant whose father is a minister and has strong Christian feelings. The two of them live in two different worlds and for the officer to understand Ulzana is a very hard task, it does not relate to anything his father taught him. Nevertheless figuring out Ulzana is essential for his mission and he is coached into that by Burt Lancaster and Ke-Ni-Tay, an Indian scout. Ulzana kills every homesteader he finds, he must know that ultimately he is going to be caught, it is just a question of time. Lancaster is a master in strategy, but so is Ulzana, who at times seems like a maestro orienting his men. The brains here count more than the weapons. This is Aldrich's best film, he redeemed himself from `The Last Sunset.'

• A nearly perfect western you shouldn't miss

  roegrocks2001-08-29

  A small group of Apaches has just stolen some horses and left the reservation. Their number and immediate intentions are unclear to the commander of the nearest US Calvary outpost, but his youngest Lieutenant wishes to give them the benefit of the doubt according to his Christian philosophy. The Calvary's scout is a grizzled, weather-beaten man played to perfection by Burt Lancaster. He knows exactly what the Apaches intentions are, and seems flabbergasted by the commander of the base for whom he serves. Nevertheless, he follows his orders all the while never missing a chance to foretell what will be the result of the Commander's delays. The premise of this movie does follow the most cynical views that one people may hold for another, and there's no point in arguing their accuracy here. Different from many other films about Indian uprisings, at least this one attempts to explain the motives of the Apaches. To appreciate any film the premise must be "swallowed", but there are many who will not be able to keep it down long enough to enjoy the excellent writing, wonderful performances, and "not a frame viewed without purpose" editing and directing. I recommend this film completely and consider it an 8 out of 10, which I give to very few films. Upon the first viewing this has become one of my favorite, if not my very favorite, western of all time. Not for the squeamish due to extreme violence to both people and animals.