Apache
|
Our Price: $27.99 Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $4.75 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
Movie Reviews of Apache
Movie Review: Enchanted!
Summary: 4 Stars
That was the movie that made me fall in love with westerns!Movie Review: APACHE: Film, Format, Timing & Quality of the 2001 DVD Release
Summary: 3 Stars
Although I'm a huge fan of Burt Lancaster, with an affinity for Westerns, even I have to admit that "Apache" is not one of Burt's best films. Very loosely based on the true story of the last member of the title tribe to resist the sociological and cultural changes brought about by the advancement of the white man, the film is well-acted, ably directed, and impressively photographed. However, the script by James R. Webb too often sacrifices characterization and context for action, and thus the audience is never really given the opportunity to learn much about the background of Lancaster's character, Massai, and what has made him into the man we meet in the film's opening sequence. "Apache" runs roughly an hour and a half; had an extra fifteen to twenty minutes been added showing Massai's early years and establishing his tribe's cultural heritage, the movie would have taken on additional dimensions and layers and might have been a great motion picture rather than just a good one.
Speaking of the film's length, its actual running time has been in dispute since its original theatrical release back in 1954. Even then, various resources listed it as running as short as 86 minutes, and as long as 91 minutes. The MGM "Western Legends" DVD release (copyrighted in 2001) runs 87 minutes, and there is no solid evidence to indicate that any footage is missing from this version. Similarly, although some modern sources claim that "Apache" was originally exhibited in a 1.85:1 widescreen format, that ratio would have made the film an anomaly back in 1954 when CinemaScope was still in its infancy and most features were still being produced in the standard 1.37:1 format. The "Western Legends" release notes that the DVD is presented in a standard, "modified to fit your screen" ratio, but my research has lead me to conclude that the film was modified from 1.37:1 down to 1.33:1, not from 1.85:1 down to 1.33:1.
What is certain is that the "Western Legends" DVD release does not offer the best print of the film now available in terms of visual clarity. While some scenes are remarkably sharp and clear, others are too soft, with improper color balance. A more consistent, seemingly restored print has been screened on various premium cable TV channels during the past few years. Hopefully, this improved edition will be made available on DVD and/or Blu-Ray in the future, now that the "Western Legends" DVD has gone out-of-print.
Movie Review: different point of view . . .
Summary: 3 Stars
Robert Aldrich's Apache (1954) features Burt Lancaster as Massai, supposedly an actual Apache brave who escapes capture by the white man and continues to fight a personal battle. Historical accuracy is open to question, but the athletic Lancaster, has ample opportunities to display his physical prowess, running, jumping, diving, and fighting anyone that gets in his way.
After being defeated by the US Calvary, Apache braves located in what is now the state of New Mexico, are placed on a train bound for Florida. Somewhere near St. Louis, Massai escapes and heads back to his tribal lands. On the long journey back, he encounters a member of the Cherokee tribe living as a farmer, who gives him some seed corn, and advice about farming and living in peace with the white man.
Returning to his defeated tribe, Massai is betrayed by his own people, but manages to turn the tables on his captors again. He takes his revenge on the Calvary, and abducts Nalinle (Jean Peters) the Chief's daughter, who he mistakenly believes has betrayed him. Massai brutally mistreats her, but does not break Nalinle's spirit, which is probably even stronger than his own. Eventually, the two marry, and are expecting a child. After a life of violence, impending fatherhood causes Massai to give farming corn a try. Still pursued by the army, there is one last battle. Although the real Massai apparently perished in a cornfield, United Artists was apparently concerned that the death of Lancaster's character would negatively affect the film's profitability, so the film ends in a most unconvincing fashion. Although with a Hollywood perspective, Apache is an interesting tale, one of the first sympathetic to the native Indian point of view. Aldrich and Lancaster would team up again in another western, Ulzana's Raid in 1972.
Apache was physically demanding for Burt Lancaster, and also for Jean Peters, who endured numerous hardships in the production. She apparently did not have the warmest of feelings for her co-star, and would only do a couple more films in the 50's, before marrying Howard Hughes in 1957, and then retiring from the business. Peters would later resume acting, after divorcing Hughes in the 70's.
Movie Review: The Last Angry Man
Summary: 3 Stars
APACHE tells the story of Massai (based on a real person and played by Burt Lancaster), a warrior who fought under Geronimo and the only Apache who, when Geronimo and his followers were transferred to Florida, refused to surrender.
The movie opens promisingly enough. Geronimo's ceremonious surrender is disrupted by Massai, who is quickly captured by Indian scout Al Sieber (another real person, played by John McIntyre). Sieber denies him a warrior's death and, instead, has him join the herd on the Florida bound train.
What follows is a blend of historical fictionalization and Hollywood hooey. Massai escapes the deportation train and arduously makes his way back to his home, now a reservation, which he detests. As Massai, alienated from his subjected people and loathing those who subject them, says at one point "Every white man, every Indian is my enemy.... I can't stop fighting. I'm the last real Apache left in the world."
All fodder for a terrific western, but APACHE is far from that. In fact, save for the energetic Lancaster, this movie lacks the dramatic punch you'd expect from the source material. Granted, the real story of depredations and atrocities, on both sides, is a little too messy for Hollywood. Even though there's not much known about Massai, you'd think they could have concocted something a little more stirring than this whitewash.
Love interest Jean Peters, the beautiful Jean Peters, although cast in a rugged enough role, proves the maxim that women are death to action movies. Whatever momentum APACHE had grinds to a halt the moment our blue-eyed stars begin frolicking `neath the hot Arizona sun. Hunted Lovers stories are tough enough to pull off, nearly impossible when the lovers plant roots.
APACHE gets an `okay' three stars. Not bad but not nearly as good as it could have been. If you're not a big fan of Lancaster or westerns, it's probably best to pass on this one.
Movie Review: Decent western
Summary: 3 Stars
Apache is a good western that tries to show Native Americans in a positive way, something most westerns did not even attempt to do. The movie tells the story of Massai, an Apache warrior who refuses to surrender alongside Geronimo and his other warriors. He escapes the grasp of the U.S. Army several times and begins to wage a one-man war on them. Massai begins to cut telegraph lines, burn bridges, and even attacks a fort single-handedly in the night. All through his war, the army sends a scout and several Indians who now work for the army after him to bring him in so he does not start a another war. It is good to see Native Americans portrayed as human beings but something is missing in the movie. Burt Lancaster is pretty good as Massai, the Apache warrior who refuses to surrender. The movie makes no attempt to make him seem like an Apache other than what he looks like. There are plenty of acrobatic stunts performed that do look very good. Jean Peters plays his wife even though for much of the movie, he either ignores her or mistreats her. John McIntire is very good as the scout sent to track Massai down. He plays the role well and is good at showing that he actually respects the man he is hunting. Charles Bronson plays Hondo, an Apache now working for the army and potential suitor of Massai's wife. The DVD is okay. It offers a trailer and full screen format which looks okay. This is a good western, but I recommend renting it before you go out and buy it.