Chato's Land
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Movie Reviews of Chato's Land
Movie Review: Chato's Land DVD
Summary: 4 Stars
Excellent film if you think the indians were grossly mistreated by us, and I do. Here they got some much deserved revenge, and justice.Movie Review: "God knows what God was thinking when he made the Apache."
Summary: 3 Stars
Although Michael Winner is now a byword for bad movies, for a brief moment in the early 70s his work flirted not just with competence but actually delivered some pretty good action movies. Building on the success of his earlier Burt Lancaster Western Lawman, this doesn't have as strong a script but still makes for an effective, if bleak manhunt action movie.
Reversing the genre norm by having the posse as the villains, pursuing Charles Bronson's `halfbreed' into the badlands and gradually giving in to rape and murder themselves to draw him out as he goes from trying to shake them off his trail to picking them off, it's certainly a well cast affair - Jack Palance as the leader of the posse trying to relive his glory days in the Civil War, Richard Basehart's thirsty man in a dry land, Simon Oakland, Richard Jordan and Ralph Waite's vicious brothers - but one that never works quite as well as it could.
The first of his collaborations with Charles Bronson, it's surprising the star would work with him on another five films - Bronson is barely in the movie, with less screen time than many of his early supporting roles and has little to do here and doesn't do it particularly well. This wouldn't be a problem if Winner could build him into a mythic or primal figure to make his brief appearances more striking, but he's not even interestingly shot here. Instead the film focuses on the posse as the further it gets from civilization, the more it starts to tear itself apart as the strong become weak and the weak become ruthless. There's some good dialogue and the odd bit of rich writing and characterisation along the trail, but it's tempting to think what a better director with more of a feel for the landscape could have made more of it.
MGM/UA's Region 1 DVD is an acceptable widescreen transfer, though it's the cut US version - the German and French DVDs are the longer, bloodier European cut. The only extra is the original trailer.
Movie Review: Excellent movie, but there's only one problem with this
Summary: 3 Stars
I love this movie. This is a classic Charles Bronson movie. So I was happy when I bought this DVD. But I was a little disappointed upon watching it. Not wanting to spoil anything, so I'll stay vague. At some point in the movie, one woman is assaulted. In the original movie that I remember seeing in a theatre in the 70's, the scene was rather graphic, her clothes being ripped off her, resulting in a short nudity scene. But not here on this DVD. For some strange reason, the scene is still there but not the same. Apparently the film maker shot it twice. Once with full nudity, and once where she still gets assaulted the same way, but keeps her clothes on. We get this censored version on this DVD. It's no big deal since the scene was pretty short. But I still don't like getting a modified version from what I remember. I'm surprised no one pointed that out in the previous reviews. No one has seen this movie in the theatre when it came out? I still recommend it as it's a great movie if you look beyond this fact.Movie Review: True mystic in Bronson's screen presence...
Summary: 3 Stars
"Chato's Land" was well suited to Bronson's evolutionary screen persona, that of the strong, relatively silent avenger--a solid figure of firm intention but few words...
As Pardon Chato, the vengeful Apache half-breed, Bronson enjoyed the most vocally reticent role of his starring career, speaking but few lines--and most of those in Apache!
Again, Spanish locations represented the American frontier West for this post-Civil War tale about a white posse's search for Chato, who, in self-defense, had killed the sheriff of a small New Mexico town... As the pursuers forge deeper into Apache country, the situation shifts around, with hunters becoming the hunted... Failing out among themselves, the posse members gradually become victim either to each other's violence or to Chato's well-justified vengeance, after they rape his woman...
In the non-U.S. countries where Bronson enjoyed his greatest popularity, "Chato's Land" was well met and highly successful...
Movie Review: Feedback from Real Apache "Calculus Wiz"
Summary: 2 Stars
I saw a few scenes and couldn't even continue watching. I like a lot of Charles Bronson's movies. Examples include "Death Hunt," the 80s "Death Wish" series, and "the White Buffalo." But his acting in this movie is unrealistic. He does not act like a real Apache. Bronson seems to overdo it on being "stoic." A relative and I watched a few scenes and just switched channels. Bronson is out of his element in trying to portray a real Apache. Paul Newman does a much more realistic job when he portrays an Apache-raised white man in "Hombre," which I purchased on Amazon. I do applaud Bronson in trying to portray a movie more sympathetic to the plight of the Apaches trying to avoid reservation confinement in the 1880s. Given the time period, perhaps Bronson should have hired Roman Gabriel instead. He does a realistic job of portraying a Cherokee Indian in the "Undefeated," which was also released around the same time (give or take a couple of years).