Jaw-droppingly similar to DANCES WITH WOLVES in story and overall theme, this is a clearer, simpler, shorter, and in every way better movie. Fuller is one of the most visual, cinematic directors who ever worked, and he starts with a premise that is itself utterly visual: Steiger, a Southerner at the end of the Civil War, is so alienated now with both the North and the South that he does the only thing he can -- head West. And so he does, eventually finding himself caught between another war of cultures -- the Indian vs the white man.
Like all of Fuller's movies, this one is hard-hitting, brutal, emotional and stimulating. It does not sentimentalize the Indians or offer any easy choices for its characters. This is one of Fuller's rare pictures -- not often shown on TV -- but it is highly recommended.
Like all of Fuller's movies, this one is hard-hitting, brutal, emotional and stimulating. It does not sentimentalize the Indians or offer any easy choices for its characters. This is one of Fuller's rare pictures -- not often shown on TV -- but it is highly recommended.