Santa Fe Trail
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Movie Reviews of Santa Fe Trail
Movie Review: Santa Fe Trail
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a great family movie packed full of movie stars. Lots of adventure and action. I highly recommend this movie.Movie Review: EXCITING, ENJOYABLE, MEMORABLE BUT NOT ON DVD !!??
Summary: 4 Stars
Watched this on TCM the other night. Why Warner Brothers [WB] does not have this out on DVD is beyond my comprehension. Have to settle with poor copies of this fine film from a diverse group of obscure companies. Even the TCM version was of suboptimal quality! This is an excellent actionier with a great cast that deals with the US army's attempt to corral abolitionist maverick John Brown. Ex-US prez Ronald Reagan appears miscast as Custer. Great look of fear on Errol Flynn's face when he is cornered by Brown & his boys. Olivia as beautiful as ever. Nice to have veteran pro's Alan Hale and Ward Bond--they're never in a bad movie. BUT!! The show is stolen by an ASTOUNDING performance by Raymond Massey as John Brown and a great one by a young Van Heflin. Geez--these two guys made this worth the price of admission! How Massey did not get any Academy recog for this is beyond me. And with all due respect to LEONARD MALTIN, whose movie guides I have read and revered for years, I cannot comprehend him giving this movie 2/4 stars! Hey, WB! wake up.
Movie Review: HISTORICAL DRAMA
Summary: 4 Stars
.....If you don't mind literary licence this is a pretty good story of the Abolitionists and the pro-slavery forces that led to the Civil War. Raymond Masey gives a dynamic performance as the fanatical John Brown who wanted to free the slaves by inciting them to revolt.
.....The movie also pairs Errol Flynn and Olivia DeHavilland for one of their many appearance together with the lovely miss DeHavilland as the love interest of both Flynn and Ronald Reagan with Flynn emerging victorious.
.....Altogether it is an enjoyable film that combines history with fiction and a love story thrown in for good measure.
Movie Review: MIxed Bag - But Still Worth a Look
Summary: 3 Stars
Ok, I read all the reviews before buying this, so I knew what I was getting into, but I had remembered seeing this as a kid and really enjoying the rollicking good action, so I took a chance and ordered it.
First of all, the DVD quality was certainly lacking. The studio is listed on Amazon as Tgg Direct (ASIN: B00005BI96), and the back of the case says "Fully Restored and Enhanced Digital Masters", but honestly, it looks more like this was just picked up off the floor and run through a projector. Lots of dirt, scratches, and for the most part very light. Disappointing to to say the least. However, the worst parts were at the first and when it came time for reel changes.... so it wasn't all terrible.
Now for the film itself. I guess when I watched this as a kid I didn't pay attention to the politics, I just enjoyed the action. Viewing it these many years later I was initially taken aback by the odd viewpoint being represented...... however..... like many films, I think it's important to keep things in perspective relative to the time period when the film was produced.
It's easy for us to look back on history and try to place our morales on those who lived then, wondering how they could possibly have thought like that..... but it's harder to try and place yourself in their situation and understand that things weren't so clear cut back then, and I mean both during the period being depicted in the film as well as the period during which the film was made.
It was mentioned numerous times during the film that the army was simply an enforcer of the law, and that they would pursue either side of the slave issue that tried to use violence to further it's cause, and while many historical liberties were taken, let's remember that these films were meant as entertainment, not as vehicles of historical fact.
So yes, there are some questionable scenes, but taken in the context of the time this was made, I see this film more as a time capsule of cultural ideas of the period and worth viewing, if only to raise awareness of how far we've come ..... and possibly how far we have to go.
And for the record... even with all it's flaws, both in the quality of the DVD and the questionable plot line, I still thoroughly enjoyed seeing this film again after all these years.
Movie Review: Sorry Errol
Summary: 1 Stars
If you're an Errol FLynn fan let me warn you, Flynn hardly ever even gets to touch a sword in this film! He's very cramped in this roll; and even much of his ordinary charm, doesn't come through.