Geronimo - An American Legend
by Walter Hill
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Gene Hackman, Jason Patric, Matt Damon, Robert Duvall, Wes StudiDirector: Walter Hill
Brand: Sony
Cinematographer: Lloyd Ahern II
Producer: Walter Hill
Editor: Carmel Davies
Producer: Michael S. Glick
Producer: Neil Canton
Writer: John Milius
Writer: Larry Gross
DVD: 2 Sides, Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled)
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen, 2.35:1
Running Time: 115 minutes
DVD Release Date: 1998-11-17
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Sony Pictures
Movie Reviews of Geronimo - An American Legend
Movie Review: Geronimo Revisited
Summary: 5 Stars
Of all the stories to come out of the West, none stirs the soul quite like the saga of the great Apache warrior known as Geronimo. It is a saga that has been told before, most notably in 1962's GERONIMO with (an admittedly miscast) Chuck Connors in the title role. But perhaps the best telling of the story comes through via director Walter Hill's 1993 film GERONIMO: AN AMERICAN LEGEND.
In decades past, particularly if his opponent had been portrayed by someone like John Wayne, Geronimo would be seen onscreen as the villain. But real life rarely ever squared with the Duke's view of the Native American; and it is that fact that Hill and screenwriters John Milius and Larry Gross go after. Jason Patric (as Lt. Charles Gatewood) and Matt Damon (as 2nd Lt. Britton Davis) are the U.S. Cavalry men assigned to bring Geronimo in for surrender upon orders of General George Crook (Gene Hackman), and with help from an expert scout (Robert Duvall). But when the cavalry break up a medicine man ritual on the Apache reservation at Turkey Creek, Geronimo (superbly played by Wes Studi) goes on the warpath. The film concerns itself with the dichotomy that the U.S. Army faced when dealing with the Apache in Arizona during the 1880s. On the one hand, they were the only true protection the Apache had against incoming white settlers who wanted to remove all traces of Native American life from the West; on the other hand, the Army was also being used as a tool by those same settlers.
Though nowhere near as bloody or violent as it could have been, given the reputations of Hill and Milius, GERONIMO: AN AMERICAN LEGEND doesn't shirk away from the hostilities committed by both the Army and the Apache against the other. And whereas John Wayne's films upheld American Manifest Destiny over all else, especially the Indian, this film questions it in a low-key way through Patric's and Damon's dealings with their superiors, and in particular with Duvall, who questions Patric's admiration for Geronimo and loyalty to the Union: "You don't love who you're fightin' for...and you don't hate who you're fighting against." Even Duvall's scout, however, comes to see that the U.S. Army's battle against Geronimo and his people isn't so black-and-white.
Hackman and Duvall, of course, are at their usual best in their respective roles, as are Patric and Damon in theirs. But the true stand-out role belongs to Studi, whose portrayal of the great Apache warrior is one of courage, strength, and well-earned sympathy. Featuring superb cinematography by Lloyd Ahern, mainly on Utah and Arizona locations, and a fine period score from roots-rock musician Ry Cooder (who also did the score for Hill's Peckinpah-influenced 1980 epic THE LONG RIDERS), GERONIMO: AN AMERICAN LEGEND showed that the stories about the West, and about how we dealt with the Indian (rather poorly and unsympathetically, as history has shown us), still had a lot to tell us about our past and what might be for our future. Great filmmaking tends to do that, and GERONIMO: AN AMERICAN LEGEND is a superb example of that in our time.
Summary of Geronimo - An American Legend
Studi gives a stunning performance as the fearless warrior who was the last indian leader to surrender to the white man. Betrayed by the armys legendary indian fighter general george crook geronimo leads a small band of warriors in escape. Studio: Sony Pictures Home Ent Release Date: 04/22/2008 Starring: Robert Duvall Gene Hackman Run time: 115 minutes Rating: Pg13 Director: Walter HillWalter Hill's revisionist take on the American cavalry's campaign to capture renegade Chiricahua Apache warrior Geronimo (Wes Studi) is, like Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven, a dark tale that both celebrates and critiques myths of the American West. Despite its title, Geronimo is really about the American cavalry officers who undertake the responsibility of recapturing the warrior, in particular the young narrator Lt. Charles Gatewood (Jason Patric), a Civil War hero who respects the great Geronimo and brokers a treaty with the Chiricahua, only to see it collapse when the army kills the tribal medicine man. Gene Hackman plays Gen. George Crook, the proud but sympathetic officer charged with bringing in the renegades who take to hills after the killing. Robert Duvall, the tough, racist army scout and Indian fighter Charlie Sieber, practically steals the picture with his cagey, underplayed performance. More complex and complicated than most Westerns, this is a Walter Hill film through and through: lean, ironic, beautiful to look at (it was shot on location against the astounding landscape of southeastern Utah), and driven by a wonderful Ry Cooder score. Don't confuse this with the 1993 TNT cable film by the same name; it confounded many viewers at the time of its release and may have been at least partially responsible for its box-office disappointment. --Sean Axmaker
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