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Ulzana's Raid (1972)

Director: Robert Aldrich

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1 review

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

Even though Aldrich himself proclaimed a certain amount of dissatisfaction with the way this Western turned out, it's still one of his very finest films. A bleak and complex account of a platoon's hunt for a small group of Apaches who have escaped from their wretched reservation and committed acts of rape, murder, and mutilation, it never strays into the pitfall of portraying the Indians either as noble savages or as evil barbarians. Rather, Alan Sharp's marvellous script elucidates the issues and psychological causes of racial warfare, with Lancaster's weary army scout as the mouthpiece for unusually honest perceptions about both the Indians and the whites who have simply failed to comprehend them. It's brutally but never gratuitously violent, laden with images of death and destruction (beautifully caught by Joseph Biroc's camerawork), and far more than just an extraordinarily intelligent horse opera: the parallels with America's involvement in Vietnam should be easy to see.

Author: GA

Time Out Film Guide

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User reviews of this film

Linda said...

Posted on Jul 02 2010 13:14 John Lennon when questioned about the lyrics in songs he wrote said, "There is no hidden message or meaning, I just write simple pop songs."
Comparing this film to American involvment in Vietnam is farcical, and such opinions could only be expressed by the arty-farty brigade, always looking for 'the hidden' undertones, and with nothing better to do with their time!
This is an excellent film.
A great and enjoyable Western.
Nothing more.
I thoroughly recommend it!

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