Ulzana's Raid

Starring:Burt Lancaster, Bruce Davison, Jorge Luke, Richard Jaeckel, JoaquÃn MartÃnez, Lloyd Bochner, Karl Swenson, Douglass Watson, Dran Hamilton, John Pearce, Gladys Holland, Margaret Fairchild, AimÃ©e Eccles, Richard Bull, Otto Reichow, Dean Smith, Larry Randles, Hal Maguire, Ted Markland, R.L. Armstrong
Director: Robert Aldrich
Studio: Universal Studios
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Robert Aldrich pulls no punches in his unrelentingly brutal story of a reign of terror perpetrated on Arizona settlers by a bitter Apache warrior and the cavalry's frustrated attempts to stop him. Burt Lancaster, a longtime Aldrich collaborator and star of the similar 1954 Western Apache, brings his laconic, quietly authoritative presence to the role of McIntosh, a blunt-speaking, introspective old army scout with more respect than hate for his enemy. A very young Bruce Davison is the green-as-a-sapling Lieutenant DeBuin, fresh from West Point and filled with Christian ideals, thrown into the field against the vicious, tactically brilliant Ulzana. DeBuin is shocked and appalled at Ulzana's brutality--torturing male homesteaders to death, raping the women, leaving a trail of mutilated corpses--and as he struggles to understand Ulzana his values of Christian charity soon melt into racist hatred. Ulzana's tactics were familiar to Americans in 1972 who followed the war in Vietnam and the guerrilla attacks of the Vietcong. Like The Wild Bunch before it, Ulzana's Raid removes the sentimentality of Western ideals in its harsh portrayal of the violent world, though unlike Sam Peckinpah, Aldrich leaves the violence off-screen and allows the audience to see only the horrific aftermath. (These scenes are often graphic and not recommended for the squeamish.) It's a disturbing and powerful film, where the concept of good guys and bad guys becomes meaningless and the battle between cultures ultimately comes down to survival in a harsh world. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews:

An examination of Christian morality in the Old West.......2006-09-03

The accomplished Burt Lancaster plays gruff and experienced Army scout McIntosh in the visually stunning "Ulzana's Raid", filmed on location in Arizona and Nevada. Lancaster is accompanying, pivotal character in the movie Lt. DeBuin played by a youthful Bruce Davison. Davison, a green, naive newly commissioned junior officer is leading a troop of cavalry soldiers in search of Apache chief Ulzana.

Ulzana and a band of renegade braves have broken out of the reservation and are marauding through the countryside in the Arizona territories, cutting a swath of destruction in their wake. Ulzana and his war party are burning, raping and pillaging homesteaders as they made their way towards the Mexican border.

Davison aided by Lancaster has been ordered to either kill the merciless Ulzana or capture him and return him to the reservation.

The film serves as a coming of age for Davison, the son of a Christian minister. The brutal devastation left behind by the Apaches force Davison to question his Christian idealogy, as his hate for his foes mounts. He begins to appreciate Lancaster's respectful posture in his dealing with the dreaded Apaches.

Director Robert Aldrich adds a healthy dose of violence in his film, a useful tool to create conflict in the immature mind of Davison. Cinematographer Joseph Biroc effectively captured the desolate expanse of the Southwest with some dazzling panoramic vistas.

Bleak Narration of a Rough Chase........2004-12-24

Robert Aldrich is a well known film director with more than 30 titles in his account. Many are great "hits" as "The Dirty Dozen" (1967) and "What ever happened to Baby Jane?" (1962) and some are standard stuff.
Apaches and the Wild West figure more than once in his filmography as "Apache" (1954) and "Vera Cruz" (1954).

When he directed this movie he was almost ending his career and felt free to take some risks. This film is risky and gives a stern look to Apache and White Men confrontation. Many of the scenes presented are cruel and barbarous but not gratuitous. They blatantly are inquiring for "Why this cruelty?" and the explanation come from Ke-Ni-Tay's mouth, voicing Apache's beliefs and traditions, giving a rationale to their procedures.
I've recently reviewed some films dealing with similar subject, not one of them is as bluntly direct and believable as "Ulzana's Raid".
Aldrich's movie shows no "Blue Coat Heroes", no "Native Shining Knights". Shows just rough men immersed in a deadly confrontation trying their best to outsmart and annihilate the enemy. Yet, best human traits still emerge from this dry opus: self-sacrifice and loyalty; need for understanding and respect for the defeated.

The story centers in a group of nine Apaches leaded by Ulzana, which flee San Carlos Reservation and start a raid, creating havoc and devastation in their path. A small detachment conducted by a very "green" Lieutenant, an old White scout and an Apache scout follow the rogue party to put an end to their "amok run".

Burt Lancaster fleshes McIntosh with all his skill depicting a hardboiled scout having to bear the "authority" of the inexperienced military. Jorge Luke as Ke-Ni-Tay, Joaquin Martinez as Ulzana, Bruce Davison as Lt. De Buin and Richard Jaeckel as the Sergeant are very convincing.
A tough movie to watch, not commendable for young and/or impressionable audience. Nevertheless a "keeper" if you like "untamed realistic" Western!
Reviewed by Max Yofre.

Over Priced DVD.......2004-03-22

I have the VHS of this movie. I would rate the movie as outstanding. I have waited for the DVD to come out but in my opinion it way over priced and people like me who are retired and on a fixed income cannot afford to pay the price you ask. If it comes down, a lot, I will save up my money and purchase this DVD.

FULL-SCREEN (ALAS...) VERSION OF A SUPERB WESTERN.......2002-11-30

I really don't understand what's going on in the mind of the people who decide which movies may have the honor to be released in the DVD standard. Take Robert Aldrich's ULZANA'S RAID for instance. Everybody knows or at least should know that only the curious ones and the movie lovers would bought this 1972 movie and that this category of viewers prefers a wide-screen version than a butchered version of the movie they choose. Alas, it seems that our beloved DVD producers are the sole unaware of this fact. Shame on them.

As usual, Robert Aldrich doesn't present in this film what the majority of people would expect from a mainstream western. All the characters featured in ULZANA'S RAID have a good reason to act the way they did, even Ulzana, an apache parked in a reservation, almost starving and deprived from his pride. The scout Burt Lancaster (or the director Aldrich) doesn't judge nor hate Ulzana, he's just scared to death of what could do a bunch of bloody warriors to farmers lost in the Arizona desert.

Aldrich, like Samuel Fuller, is a punching-ball director who likes to shake his audience so let's enjoy this dreadful vision of the West when men were searching frontiers, geographical and ethical.

A DVD zone your library. And for the garbage can as soon as a wide-screen version is available.

Culture clash - A lesson from History........2002-10-02

Viewing this film should be part of any university degree's Social History and/or Western History curriculum.

With the Spaghetti Western in the ascendent (late '60s, early '70s), Hollywood took to re-evaluating its view of the American Indian. Hitherto, the Indians were depicted as irrascible and villainous savages prone to hideous extremes of violence and cruelty - fully deserving of confinement to reservations or outright extermination.

This re-evaluation of American/colonists' mores in the Old West came at a time during the 1960s when violence as an 'entertainment concept' was also subject to re-evaluation: the nightly news footage and 'body counts' of the Vietnam Conflict had made the punch of the fist and the gunshot - formerly the stock-in-trade of the good ol' cowboy - seem both tame and outmoded next to napalm and helicopter gunships. The foreign policy of the United States had always been portrayed as morally just. But Vietnam made the American public wonder if their crusaders really were on the side of the angels - particularly when details of Lt. Calley's massacre of My-Lai became known. The bubble burst as violence inside America itself erupted from the television screens during the Anderson-Watts riots in Los Angeles (1965), the brutality of the Chicago police at the Democratic Party Convention (1968), and the apparently trigger-happy 'eagerness' of the Ohio National Guard during the Kent State University demonstrations (4th May, 1970) in which four white, middle-class students were shot dead and ten others badly wounded.

Seen as Robert Aldrich's 'comment' on America's involvement in Vietnam, Ulzana's Raid was one of those coming-of-age Westerns that depicted the brutality of a violent culture clash, but without judging its morality - or lack of it - as neither side is portrayed as either better or worse than the other, just different. Similar films were Soldier Blue (1970) and Chato's Land (1971).

Word arrives that Chiricahua warrior Ulzana has jumped the San Carlos reservation with a band of followers. The local Company Captain of the resident 6th Cavalry Regiment has misgivings about pursuing an Apache with a reputation such as Ulzana's, and devolves command - and thus responsibility should it fail - upon young and recently arrived from West Point Lieutenant DeBuin (Bruce Davison). Young DeBuin, son of a Baptist minister, is advised in the field by wily veteran scout McIntosh (Burt Lancaster).

It is a steep learning curve, but DeBuin can also draw upon first-hand observations and knowledge by asking direct questions to Chiricahua scout Ke-na-tay (Jorge Luke), Ulzana's brother-in-law. To the young idealist's credit, his ingrained White Man's contempt of Redskins is superseded by the command's experience - mirroring Major Dundee with its repetitive phrase "until the Apache is apprehended or killed" - as DeBuin learns both how the Apache live by such apparently barbarous standards in the harsh lands of the 'Apacheria' (the American south-west, where the various bands of Apache have/had their homelands), and that their acts of deliberate cruelty are often a cunning tactical manoeuvre, designed to play upon their adversaries' weaknesses and cultural foibles ... successfully and effectively, too.

Particularly unsettling is the scene in which the tactically gang-raped Mrs. Riordon staggers into the pond and attempts to clean herself - a scene often cut from TV versions. The soldiers remain seated, unconcerned ... after all, McIntosh had summed-up earlier, "It ain't nice cleanin' up after Apaches ..."

HISTORICAL NOTE: There really was an Ul-sannah (also spelled Jolsanny) who often jumped the reservation with Geronimo. In 1885 he led his own successful - or notorious, if one is White - raiding party consisting of himself and nine men. There was also an Archie McIntosh, a devoted scout for General Crook of some twenty years' standing. He was fired from his assigned task of rationing officer following accusations - unfortunately substantiated - of stealing supplies for his own use.

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

An examination of Christian morality in the Old West.......2006-09-03

Bleak Narration of a Rough Chase........2004-12-24

Over Priced DVD.......2004-03-22

FULL-SCREEN (ALAS...) VERSION OF A SUPERB WESTERN.......2002-11-30

Aldrich, like Samuel Fuller, is a punching-ball director who likes to shake his audience so let's enjoy this dreadful vision of the West when men were searching frontiers, geographical and ethical.

A DVD zone your library. And for the garbage can as soon as a wide-screen version is available.

Culture clash - A lesson from History........2002-10-02

Viewing this film should be part of any university degree's Social History and/or Western History curriculum.

Product Description

Netherlands released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada. Languages: o Arabic (subtitles) o Danish (subtitles) o Dutch (subtitles) o English (subtitles) o Finnish (subtitles) o French (subtitles) o German (subtitles) o Hebrew (subtitles) o Italian (subtitles) o Norwegian (subtitles) o Portugese (subtitles) o Russian (subtitles) o Spanish (subtitles) o Swedish (subtitles) o Turkish (subtitles) o English (Dolby Digital 2.0) o French (Dolby Digital 2.0) o German (Dolby Digital 2.0) o Italian (Dolby Digital 2.0) o Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0) Synopsis: One of the best films by often-underrated director Robert Aldrich, this stark, brutal western is also an effective allegory of America's involvement in the Vietnam war. Set in Arizona during the late 1880s, experienced scout McIntosh (Burt Lancaster) and idealistic U.S. Cavalry Lieutenant DeBuin (Bruce Davison) set out to catch a group of Apache renegades lead by their chieftain, Ulzana (Joaquin Martinez). The film focuses on the opposing views of the two men regarding Ulzana. McIntosh is cold and cynical while DeBuin is morally outraged by supposed Apache atrocities. The film, sharply written by Alan Sharp, poses a set of complex questions about the nature of heroism, racism, and American imperialism, while avoiding moralizing or oversimplification of the issues. Aldrich and Burt Lancaster, who made three films together, later collaborated on the excellent political thriller Twilight's Last Gleaming. Special Features: o Interactive Menu

Customer Reviews:

Not a minute is lost in this film. An Indian tactics primer!.......2007-07-09

Although some scenes with horses falling under fire have been clearly cut from this version, the film remains excellent in many aspects. It is the best introduction to Apache tactics, psychology and ethics and it is full of tips and techniques that US Army and Indians used to avoid or engage one another. Burt Lancaser's performance is very good and Indians are also realistic. The brutality of the plains warfare is revealed and the finale is good enough.

Excellent Western (US DVD terrible! Aussies rule on this one!).......2006-03-15

The other review of this is nonsense. Perhaps the reviewer thinks that the slight difference in running time means it's cut - not so. PAL has a 4% speedup - this is completely unnoticeable to most viewers. It does shorten the runtime, however. The US-released DVD is butchered - it's pan and scan, losing the original aspect ratio. The VHS is just as good! US DVD is well worth avoiding - a waste of money, and ridiculously priced by Amazon sellers. The UK release of the DVD was edited for horse falls (yes, really - it's jerky in places as a result - scalpings are OK, but falling horses apparently not, in UK). The Australian release is completely uncut, and is the only full version of the film available at present (even the laserdisc was 4:3). I suspect the Netherlands version is probably the same as the UK, but I could be wrong about that.

The film is probably Aldrich's best - certainly a great western, and a terrific performance by Burt Lancaster.

Censored version - BEWARE.......2006-02-03

Only the US DVD release is complete, though sadly it isn't letterboxed. Horse tripping as well as two sequences are missing form this version. Avoid.

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