Soldier Blue [Blu-ray]

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When it was released in 1970, the film's title and the original 'nude squaw' poster made this look like it was going to be softcore porno. In addition, the fuss in the press at the time made it sound like a violent atrocity of bad taste.From accounts I'd read about the stuntwork and particularly the gruesome prosthetic make-up effects (like in John Brosnan's book Movie Magic), it sounded like the British censors had made many extensive cuts. So, does anyone know if a completely uncut DVD release is in existance, or will this be one of those films that will never be seen in full, due to its history (ala "The Last House On The Left"), and bad storage of one copy of the original uncensored negative? After a cavalry charge decimates the Indian men, the soldiers enter the village and begin to rape and kill the Cheyenne women. Honus attempts to halt the atrocities, to no avail, and he is later arrested for treason by his own comrades. Cresta attempts to lead the remaining women and children to safety, but her group is discovered and massacred, though Cresta herself survives and is arrested for treason by the soldiers. Honus is dragged away chained behind an army wagon while a despairing Cresta is left with the few Cheyenne survivors. The film "Soldier Blue" aired on BBC2, late at night on Friday 16th August, between 00:20 and 02:15 hours. The timeslot was kind of understandable, bearing in mind the ending, and the nature of the film itself. films in the history of American cinema. The film’s failure in its homeland might also have had something to do

Recalling the film, star Candice Bergen commented that it was "a movie whose heart, if nothing else, was in the right place." [7] In culture [ edit ] Veering from powerful to ridiculous, this little western continues the trend of telling "Indian stories" from the point of view of "white men" who enter the tribe. Like "A Man Called Horse", "Amistad", "Dances With Wolves", even the recent "Avatar", these films are really just exercises in white guilt. Anyway, I'd heard all about its notoriety, but having never seen the movie or any clips, I hadn't been able to vouch for its content. I have to say that it was a brutal film, albeit quite humorous in places, and despite my hatred of Westerns, this is one of the few really good ones. Soldier Blue's intentions are laudable, but the end result is laughable. I'm all for it redressing the "Injuns are savages" message from so many other Westerns and I'm all for its allegorical questioning of the Vietnam War, but I wish it wouldn't do it in such a jejune manner that undermines what it's attempting to espouse. Make no mistake, this is no masterpiece. But it reveals a lot about movies of the period, and about attitudes toward Native Americans and the Wild West. It's not terrible, and in some ways it's so disturbing by the end it makes a rare point. If you like these themes, and can tolerate some awkward and awful social politics you'll get something from it.Huebner, Andrew J. (2008). The Warrior Image: Soldiers in American Culture from the Second World War to the Vietnam Era. University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-0-807-83144-1. A couple hiking in the great outdoors being kidnapped by a sadistic thug and having to run for their lives In a 2005 article on the film in Uncut, Kevin Maher deemed it "a bloody 1970 exploitation western ... [which] has a gore-count worthy of Cannibal Holocaust." [5] TV Guide awarded the film one out of five stars, writing: " Soldier Blue suffers from Bergen's weak performance and Strauss is bland, but the parallel between the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre and Vietnam's My Lai incident is disturbing and the film's depiction of Native American life is an explicit attempt to move past Hollywood stereotypes." [19] Because Soldier Blue underperformed at the U.S. boxoffice, several different ad campaigns were utilized. This German DVD sleeve uses provocative art from one of the U.S. campaigns that implied the sexual abuse of Native American women.

On paper, the story looked more like an old-school western, 'cowboys and indians'. In fact, Soldier Blue is an early revisionist western, told more from the Native American side as well as the anti-war movement. Like Little Big Man, this film was part of the learning process that challenged the demonisation of ‘injuns’ in countless cowboy movies. The account of the massacre is included as part of a longer fictionalized story about the escape of two white survivors from an earlier massacre of U.S. Cavalry troops by Cheyenne, and names of the actual historical characters were changed. Director Nelson stated that he was inspired to make the film based on the wars in Vietnam and Sơn Mỹ. [6]

FILMING LOCATIONS

I am at a loss to explain why there would be cuts. Three incidents of "animal mistreatment" have been erased from the version released to the public. These are, presumably, horses falling over during battle scenes. I simply couldn't tell you which three of the 10, or 12, horses falling over throughout the course of the film cross the line of mistreatment. Either they're all mistreating horses, or none of them are. And what of every single Western that has ever been? And what of the Grand National? They're as bad as Soldier Blue.

That should give you a rough idea, at least. However, up until that time, the film is - like you say - pretty tame. If only you had seen the final 20 minutes, then you'd know why it was so controversial! But that just won't do. The film is too mixed up to qualify as a serious allegory about anything. And although it is pro-Indian, it is also white chauvinist. Like "A Man Called Horse," another so-called pro-Indian film, it doesn't have the courage to be about real Indians. The hero in these films somehow has a way of turning out to be white. Without exception, the characters are one-dimensional. We have a strong woman, who has seen horrors done in the name of America. Her travelling companion is a simple soldier, who thinks his country is great. Her fiance (Dana Elcar) is a captain in the army. An old colonel (John Anderson) plans a raid on a Cheyenne village and a Cheyenne warrior (Jorge Rivero) believes he can make peace with the Americans, but will be betrayed. The least said about Donald Pleasence and his comedy teeth the better. He plays a calico salesman by the name of Isaac Q. Cumber (cucumber, geddit?). I recall sometime in the late 1970s a film called SOLDIER BLUE being broadcast on ITV . It was on past my bedtime so unfortunately I never saw it but I distinctly remember my parents discussing it the next day and how shaken they were by the amount of violence the movie used in showing a massacre against the Indians at the end . As years passed I have heard how this movie has become a cult classic and how it was an allegory on American involvement in South East Asia and being something of a fan of this type of movie I looked forward to seeing it . Unfortunately it's not a film that appears on the TV schedules and when the BBC broadcast it tonight I think this was the first time it'd been broadcast since my parents saw it nearly 30 years ago However this was portrayed in Soldier Blue, I haven't seen it so cannot vouch for it's authenticity or how well or not it is staged, I would imagine what happened for real that day was a lot worse.

U.S. Cavalry who were breaking new ground. For Nelson’s portrayal of the boys in blue as blood crazed The Europeans wanted the Native's land and resources while the Indians wanted the technology of the Europeans. Both sides used treaties to make peace while still trying to get what they wanted when war was too expensive. Both sides made war when they felt no other option. Video (26th January 1990) - Rated "18", still cut, some previous cuts now included, but now running to 109m 28s. As a Western, the characters are far too anachronistic. It would be little surprise to hear Cresta say to Honus, "Get with the programme, Soldier Blue. The Man has been lying to you." As an allegory, it's simplistic, patronising and wasteful. The central section of the film, when Honus and Cresta are wandering through the wilderness enduring trials and falling in love, is thoughtful, eventful, gentle and exciting. But the raison d'etre of this movie - stated, if obliquely, in Buffy St Marie's opening theme song - is the massacre at the end, which is genuinely horrific (if rather dated in terms of special effects).