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34 out of 36 people found the following review useful: War of attrition, 12 July 2001 Author: virek213 from San Gabriel, Ca., USA
A textbook example of how a penny-pinching producer can ruin a potentially great movie by basically sandbagging its (admittedly truculent) director, MAJOR DUNDEE nevertheless works as an answer of thoughts to the glorious Cavalry westerns of John Ford. Sam Peckinpah, on his third film overall and first one with a large-scale budget, was somehow able to pull a good film out of his controversial hat, thanks in no small part to his cast.Heston plays an ambitious, ego-driven warden of a prison outpost in New Mexico in the closing months of the Civil War. When a rampaging band of Apache slaughter a family at a nearby ranch and then take apart a regiment he sends out to destroy them, Heston sees his way to get out of his routine job and get promoted. But to do this, he must form a garrison of troopers comprised of civilians, blacks, and Confederate prisoners. One of the latter is Ben Tyreen (Richard Harris), who had once been his friend but is now his worst enemy. Furthermore, his pursuit of the Apache, once it starts, will take the troopers across the Rio Grande into French-occupied northern Mexico. Now, they'll not only have to worry about hunting down the Apache and keeping the peace amongst themselves, they also have to worry about French lancers.Despite the film being butchered so maliciously to the point where many critics rightly complained about its incoherence, plus a marital music score that Peckinpah detested royally (he could have used Jerry Goldsmith here), MAJOR DUNDEE succeeds by pulling out as many stops as it can. It benefits from being shot almost exclusively on location in Mexico (under truly ghastly conditions, which would have happened even without studio interference). The photography by Sam Leavitt is also quite good (though, in another case where the producer overrode the director, Peckinpah couldn't use his favorite cameraman Lucien Ballard on the shoot). And there are those moments of violence and bloodshed that predate, though in a more 'PG-13' fashion, Peckinpah's next film, the far more violent 1969 epic THE WILD BUNCH.Heston is as good as ever in the title role. But surprisingly, he is nearly matched on screen by Harris, who plays his role as an Irish supporter of the Confederacy with great dash and insight. James Coburn also does good journeyman work as the one-armed scout Sam Potts. Peckinpah rounds out the cast with his Usual Suspects: Warren Oates, Ben Johnson, R.G. Armstrong, L.Q. Jones, John Davis Chandler, Slim Pickens, and Dub Taylor.In spite of all its flaws, MAJOR DUNDEE is still quite viewable, which is why I rank it an 8 out of 10.NOTE: Sony Pictures has just released an extended version of this movie, with twelve minutes of footage once thought irretrievably lost placed back in; and they've replaced the original marital music score in favor of one by Christopher Caliendo. It is closer to what Peckinpah had in mind, but with thirty minutes of additional footage irretrievably lost, there's no telling whatsoever how much better this film might have been had Peckinpah not been sandbagged. Nevertheless, it still stands as a slightly flawed but never dull Civil War western.
29 out of 31 people found the following review useful: A forgotten masterpiece, with some defects, 24 April 2001 Author: pzanardo (pzanardo@math.unipd.it) from Padova, Italy
"Major Dundee" is a forgotten, much underrated masterpiece, though admittedly affected by many defects. Indeed, here the director Peckinpah is (almost) as much innovative as in his undisputed best work "The Wild Bunch". The realism of many scenes, like that of the camp-hospital, with the badly-wounded bleeding soldiers lying on the ground, was stark new at the time the film was made. The action scenes are fantastic. In particular, look at the furious violence of the final brief battle on the river, note that a pool of blood spreads out on the water where the horses are hit: never seen such stuff before!The story is exciting. The photography is wonderful: the beauty of the Mexican locations is definitely stunning. The work of the whole cast is very good.The clash between Major Dundee (Charlton Heston) and the Confederate war-prisoner Captain Tyreen (Richard Harris) is somewhat conventional, but the character of Dundee can be placed among the best depicted and most interesting in the history of western movies. This frustrated soldier, a typical born-to-fight fellow, has finally his chance to make war, pursuing the cruel Apache Sierra Charriba. And he fights, kills, makes war against everybody and everything (the Apaches, the French army in Mexico, his own soldiers if necessary). Then, suddenly, something goes to pieces inside him. He feels a mortal tiredness; he sinks into drunkenness, dirt, brutish dejection. Then the Apaches reappear, and Dundee finds the strength to exit from his self-built nightmare... and he restarts to fight, fight, fight... This fellow has really no other choice: either to be an assassin, or to be a brute. Strikingly original character!It's true the movie have several faults. It is too long and often slow-paced. The martinet officer played by Jim Hutton is out of place: this comic character could be appropriate in a John Ford's movie, but he grates much with Peckinpah's tragic vision. The scout played by James Coburn and some other minor characters are uninteresting. And, of course, Senta Berger is completely pointless: but she's so lovely that we can easily forgive her presence. I learn from other comments that "Major Dundee" was badly butchered by the producers. I saw it twice at the theaters, and some other times on the TV. I can say that the television version is very bad with respect to what I saw on the wide screen. Many interesting details and subtleties have been cut. And by no means we can forgive that two magnificent scenes are ruined: the ambush on the creek and the carnage at the Apache camp in the wide-screen version happen over-night! But in the TV version it seems that it's full light! This leaves a feeling of annoying nonsense on the viewer (are the Apaches sleeping during day?). Too bad!Luckily enough, for all his misfortunes and troubles "Major Dundee" is a great, magnificent, innovative movie.
25 out of 26 people found the following review useful: Major cuts = minor disappointments, but still worth a look., 1 November 2004 Author: Poseidon-3 from Cincinnati, OH
The problems behind the scenes of this Civil War-era western (director vs producer over final cut, director's excesses and delays causing budget issues) are legendary. Thankfully, though the finished product is far from perfect, enough good things remain to make the film watchable and entertaining. Heston plays the square-jawed title character, an action-loving soldier who resents being put in charge of a prison camp. When a local settlement is slaughtered by Apaches, he must set out to rescue three captured boys but finds that he can't do it alone and must rely on a ragtag assortment of helpers. One of the few "real" officers he gets is Hutton as a rather bumbling, by-the-numbers lieutenant. He fills out his party with several Confederate prisoners, notably Harris as an embittered Captain, one-armed scout Coburn, several Negro Union soldiers led by Peters and various criminals and degenerates including Taylor and Pickens. Heston and Harris forge a very uneasy alliance as they head south into Mexico to retrieve the captives. They stumble onto the remains of a village in which curvy Berger is tending to the sick and dying. Needless to say, she sparks the interest of both Heston and Harris, only adding to their enmity. Eventually, the motley band of soldiers finds itself hunting Apaches while being hunted by French soldiers who are occupying Mexico. This escalates into an almost impossible situation when Heston's group reaches a river with the enemy both in front of and behind him. All the elements for a grand-scale, epic story are in place, but it falls short of excellence because of the problems in the editing room. Heston is great as the damaged, but heroic Major. Harris, though oddly cast and sporting that goofy blue eyeshadow he favored in the 60's, is also strong and the two make great adversaries. Coburn's role is smaller, but he gives it impact. Berger's role epitomizes the words decorative and obligatory, but she is luminous, especially when she isn't continuously yanking on her shawl (which happens VERY often!) The cast is chock full of excellent actors who enhanced many western films and television series. Oates has a nice turn as a Confederate who tests Heston's mettle (though he is referred to many times as a boy and was 37 years old!) Anderson is very endearing as a young bugler who becomes a man during the conflict. (Palacios, who plays his love interest, married director Peckinpah after this.) The primary problems seem to come in the mid to late section of the film when many things happen to the characters in swift succession and it's hard to completely gather their motivations and the timing of the actions. This section was clearly cut, haphazardly, and it weakens the narrative and the pace of the film. (Note Heston's sudden beard which appears out of nowhere.) Also, some of the battle sequences are edited so choppily that it's difficult to see who's being killed off! One must just assume, from whoever's left at the end, that the rest of the characters didn't make it. Still, the action scenes in the film are excitingly staged and the actors go a long way in putting the story across. Though it is rarely shown in widescreen, that format is a must for fully appreciating the camera-work and composition of the film. Heston, who admired (but tangled mightily with) Peckinpah, wound up making no money for his work as he put up his salary to help defray the cost overruns.
22 out of 25 people found the following review useful: Good But Not As Great As It Could Have Been, 18 August 1999 Author: Eric-62-2 from Morristown, NJ
The first half of "Major Dundee" is gripping and fascinating. The problem is that the second half doesn't deliver on the build-up. The whole point is supposed to be the pursuit of the Apache, yet the film spends more time getting sidetracked from all this, in particular the scenes of Dundee's injury and descent into drunkenness (and did we really need Senta Berger, since her role is really pointless, despite the visual scenery she adds?) and when the Apache is found, it happens too abruptly. Fascinating supporting characters disappear or are downplayed too much in the second half, and the ending is too abrupt as well. Since the expedition ends up returning after the surrender of Lee and the end of the War, I was surprised there was no scene of Dundee returning to the Fort and offering a final reflection on Tyreen. The film literally cried out for it.Charlton Heston felt that Dundee should have been more about the issues of the Civil War and had they stuck to this approach all through the film we might have had a great film instead of a merely good one.
18 out of 23 people found the following review useful: A missing Gem from Pechenpah's crown, 1 February 2004 Author: standtohorse from Denver, Colorado
Why isn't there a "director's cut" of this movie in DVD format? It's editing caused Sam to disown the finished cut. During production Charleton Heston charged Sam on horseback with saber drawn, quick boomwork averted disaster. He also offered to forgo his salary to get it released. What an inigma. My appreciation is for the accurate depiction of historical details. Horse Cavalry at it's best even to bugle calls. Pre-revisionist accurate depiction of Apache depredations. Maximillian's French vs. Jauristas is also depicted without apology. The whole pathos of Confederate P.O.W.s who galvanized Yankee to serve on the frontier. Good drama with lots of action to keep the story rolling. "Bring it on..." history "in your face". Please, please, please give us a Directors cut DVD. Hollywood are you listening to middle America? JAmes Coburn's cameo as one armed scout is worth the watch alone.
29 out of 45 people found the following review useful: Made Up as he went along, 22 March 2004 Author: bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York
In his autobiography, Charlton Heston spent more time talking about this film than any other. Some other commentator said that it looked like someone took over the direction. The commentator was very observant. Heston had to take over the direction because Sam Peckinpah just lost interest and began indulging in all kinds of vices down on location in Mexico which I won't get into. Read Heston's book. Suffice it to say that he was unable to go to the set, for any number of reasons.Heston says that Peckinpah was making it up as he went along and the film sure looks it. The plot just meanders into various situations that this motley crew of Indian fighters encounter. Heston also said that he violated a rule of his own to never start a film without a complete script, something he never did again. The film is an incredible waste of fine talented cast.Charlton Heston and I both think the film had real possibilities and that Sam Peckinpah was a flawed talent.If you want to see the film, read Charlton Heston's account of its making.
20 out of 28 people found the following review useful: Lost Masterpiece, 8 November 2000 Author: marquis de cinema from Boston, MA
After the breakthrough success of Ride the High Country(1962), Sam Peckinpah would embark on a journey to Mexico to film a story about an obsessed major on the tracks of some renegade Apaches. Sam Peckinpah was on his way to making a classic until the interference of producer, Jerry Bresler prevented this from happening. The film begins with a prologue describing the massacre that leads to Dundee's quest for revenge. The film focuses on the hostile relationship between Amos Dundee(Charlton Heston) and Ben Tyreen(Richard Harris). Once friends, but now enemies due to the Civil War are reluctant to join forces and go after the Apaches. Major Dundee(1965) has to rank with Greed(1925), Que Viva Mexico(1931), Metropolis(1927), and The Magnificent Ambersons(1942) as some of the most maligned films in motion picture history. Major Dundee(1965) is a good movie that might have been great. This is an example of producers putting their dirty greedy palms where they don't belong.
13 out of 15 people found the following review useful: One of his best, 14 January 2002 Author: steve_b33 from poole
With the proviso that there are at least 30 mins cut and its a particularily horrible panned and scanned print - this is still a terrific Pekinpah movie.Charlton Heston in the titular role as a digraced Major in the Union Army towards the end of the Civil War in charge of a Confedarate prison camp. Local Apaches are on the warpath and Dundee has no choice but to recruit Confederate volunteer's to go after them.The catch being that Captain Tyree (Richard Harris)who leads the Conferderates used to serve under Dundee before the War. Dundee is himself a Southerner who choose to fight for the Union so both see the other as a traitor. This mutual dis-trust is amplyfied by soldiers on both sides augmented by a platoon of black soldiers serving under the Union.To complicate matters even more the Apaches escape to Mexico which was under French rule at the time so they find themselves at war with them as well. A teriffic script examines the conflicting loyaties and contrasts the repressed Dundee with the flamboyant Tyree.Heston and Harris are both exellent - their roles changing over time as events impact on how they expect the mission to go. The usual Pekinpah faces are all here - Warren Oates,Slim Pickins,RG Marshall and the use of music is exellent. They counter-point the main theme with Dixie,The Battlehymn of the Repbublic and My Darling Clemintine which anchors the story firmly in the period.There is a terrific scene towards then end where Heston is shot and has to rest up in a small town and hits the bottle - the repressed Major comes apart and has to be rescued by Harris in a nice role reversal.One of Sam's finest and one day , maybe , the full print will be discovered and restore the wonderful film to its former glory
11 out of 12 people found the following review useful: Extremely Entertaining, If Flawed, 16 June 2005 Author: Hancock_the_Superb from United States
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
Sam Peckinpah's "Major Dundee", whose production is certainly one of the most legendary in Hollywood, is still extremely entertaining in my opinion, despite what naysayers may say. The movie does have a number of loose ends (certain characters disappear, etc.), but overall only a few relatively minor complaints.The plot, in a nutshell: vicious Apache warlord Sierra Charriba (Michael Pate) and his band sack a small Texas border town, slaughter a relieving column of cavalry, and take several children hostage. It's during the waning days of the Civil War, and the nearest Union outpost is Fort Benlin, a POW camp run by Major Amos Dundee (Charlton Heston), a glory-seeking officer who arrives to late to stop the massacre and raises an army of guards, Rebel POWs, including his former Army buddy-turned-enemy Captain Ben Tyreen (Richard Harris), black Union soldiers, and various miscreants and criminals, to pursue Sierra Charriba "until the Apache is taken or destroyed". Dundee and his command find themselves in over their heads when they come into conflict with the French Army, and are forced to make a glorious last stand.Charlton Heston is not an actor I'm particularly fond of, as in most of his roles he goes way over the top. But I felt his performance as Dundee - the arrogant, glory-seeking would-be hero who is looking for personal glorification - was the best of his career. Heston plays the role naturally and is neither wooden nor overly theatrical. Heston, I feel, is much more at home in historical epics (see "55 Days In Peking" for another examples) than Biblical films, and this role suits him personally. Richard Harris is equally solid as Tyreen, his Confederate nemesis, an Irish immigrant who has attempted (unsuccessfully) to become a cultured Southern gentleman. Harris is also extremely convincing, and his relationship with Heston is fantastic, shifting from friendship to grudging respect to animosity to rivalry and occasionally outright hatred. I know that others have complained about the acting of the leads, but I personally thought both were perfect.The supporting cast is made up largely of Peckinpah regulars, and is your usual stock cast of ragtag degenerates. Particularly interesting are James Coburn as Samuel Potts, Dundee's one-armed Indian scout; Swiss actor Mario Adorf, miscast but still solid as the unflinchingly loyal Sergeant Gomez; Warren Oates, as ill-fated Rebel deserter O.W. Hadley (his death scene being arguably the movie's highlight); and R.G. Armstrong, playing his usual religious fanatic character, a gun-toting Reverend who joins the Major out of vengeance for the members of his parish who were killed in the massacre ("Those who destroyeth my flock, I shall destroy", he tells Dundee). Also along for the ride are Jim Hutton ("The Green Berets") as Lt. Graham, Dundee's second-in-command, artilleryman, and light comic relief; Michael Anderson, Jr. ("The Sons of Katie Elder") as bugle boy/narrator Ryan; Brock Peters ("To Kill A Mockingbird") as Aesop, leader of the black soldiers; Ben Johnson, L.Q. Jones, and John Davis Chandler as Confederates; and Slim Pickens and Dub Taylor as two civilian scoundrels who join up with Dundee's expedition. There's also Senta Berger as Dundee's love interest, but she's given a relatively superfluous role, so we'll ignore her.The plot and writing for the movie are excellent. Unfortunately, most of the supporting characters are left under-developed, and if the scenes with Berger had been replaced with scenes with some of the above characters, the movie would've been better for it. While there have been many criticisms of the climactic battle with the French in the river, I thought that the scene was rather well-done. The only real problem is the less-than-great soundtrack (though I personally like the Major Dundee March), but it's not so bad that it detracts from the action.The movie certainly would be better in its uncut version, and I hope to see the restored version eventually. But, if this is the cut version (and it is, this is rhetorical), then I can't wait to see the extended version.8/10"See you in Texas, Major!"
12 out of 15 people found the following review useful: The films of Sam Peckinpah: A flawed masterpiece., 26 January 2005 Author: Captain_Couth (sirjosephu@aol.com) from Sacramento, CA
Major Dundee (1965) was a test of wills between Sam Peckinpah and the studio heads, it was also a proto-type for his true master piece The Wild Bunch. The movie seems to be edited by foreign hands and out of place music has been added to the soundtrack. The most annoying thing about this film (besides the bad editing and music) is the narration, it seems so out of place.Major Dundee is about a drunken battle harden officer who must lead a rag tag bunch of p.o.w.s, prisoners and calvary men across the southwestern desert and into Mexico searching for some "wild Indians". As they travel further and further across the arid plains, the people within the troop discover death, disease and horror along the way. They also learn something about themselves.What could have been an epic western drenched in booze and blood was sloppily edited so it theaters could fit in more viewings and the content shocked the movie board. This led to Sam Peckinpah to become disillusioned with Hollywood and drift in and out of television before he got another chance at making another film within the studio system.Recommended for Sam Peckinpah fans, others need not apply.
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