You're always in for a treat when you watch a Universal made B western or B movie even,there's a lot to be said for films like THE BATTLE AT APACHE PASS,TOMAHAWK,WAR ARROW,WINCHESTER 73 and THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON,but Pillars of the sky(also known as The Tomahawk and the cross)is different from all the rest.
Let me begin by saying it is one fantastic western,it has a brilliant storyline,wonderfully filmed scenes and brilliant action sequences,but what makes it unique is it's Christian undertones,which is a good thing as this works very well,George Marshall did an great job at directing some of the scenes,but i will talk about these later.
But first,the plot. In Oregon in 1868,all the native American tribes living in that area have been moved onto reservations and are learning to live in peace with the white man,a preacher played by Ward Bond(whom some of you may remember as Burt the cop from It's a wonderful life)has converted many of the indians to Christianity and baptises them giving them biblical names,all is going well but Chief Kamiakin and some Indian braves want to return to ways of war and seize their chance when the army decides to build a road through the reservation for white settlers,breaking the treaty.Kamiakin persuades the other indians to renounce their Christian faith and fight alongside him against the white man and when they do,so beings killing and misery,Sergeant Emmet Bell(JEFF CHANDLER)is sent out to stop the bloodshed and prevent a war.
So i'll come back to what i was saying earlier,some of the scenes are magnificently done,like the scene when Sgt Bell confronts the Indian chiefs and angrily berates them for renouncing their faith and killing needlessly and the final scene when he reads from the bible before praying is so powerful and moving and very well directed.Now you can see why this is different from all the other B westerns.
But a B western wouldn't be a B western without a couple of excellent action scenes,and Pillars of the sky really does deliver in the action department,there are a few small shootouts but it's the epic battle scene in the middle of the film which is the highlight.It's stands out from a lot of the other battle scenes that i have seen,it's fantastic,the indians charge the soldiers but are in turn blasted into oblivion by a couple of Cannons,then all of the soldiers and their wagons race up a hill whilst being chased and shot at but the wagons tumble over and crash in the process and at the same time the soldiers engage the indians in swordfights and shootouts.Its one epic battle scene which must have taken great dedication and care to film.
All in all one gem of a western,highly recommended,thanks to Pegasus it has been released onto DVD but it's extremely rare so if you ever see it buy it,but when you talk of all the great westerns,you will talk of Pillars of the sky.10/10.
Let me begin by saying it is one fantastic western,it has a brilliant storyline,wonderfully filmed scenes and brilliant action sequences,but what makes it unique is it's Christian undertones,which is a good thing as this works very well,George Marshall did an great job at directing some of the scenes,but i will talk about these later.
But first,the plot. In Oregon in 1868,all the native American tribes living in that area have been moved onto reservations and are learning to live in peace with the white man,a preacher played by Ward Bond(whom some of you may remember as Burt the cop from It's a wonderful life)has converted many of the indians to Christianity and baptises them giving them biblical names,all is going well but Chief Kamiakin and some Indian braves want to return to ways of war and seize their chance when the army decides to build a road through the reservation for white settlers,breaking the treaty.Kamiakin persuades the other indians to renounce their Christian faith and fight alongside him against the white man and when they do,so beings killing and misery,Sergeant Emmet Bell(JEFF CHANDLER)is sent out to stop the bloodshed and prevent a war.
So i'll come back to what i was saying earlier,some of the scenes are magnificently done,like the scene when Sgt Bell confronts the Indian chiefs and angrily berates them for renouncing their faith and killing needlessly and the final scene when he reads from the bible before praying is so powerful and moving and very well directed.Now you can see why this is different from all the other B westerns.
But a B western wouldn't be a B western without a couple of excellent action scenes,and Pillars of the sky really does deliver in the action department,there are a few small shootouts but it's the epic battle scene in the middle of the film which is the highlight.It's stands out from a lot of the other battle scenes that i have seen,it's fantastic,the indians charge the soldiers but are in turn blasted into oblivion by a couple of Cannons,then all of the soldiers and their wagons race up a hill whilst being chased and shot at but the wagons tumble over and crash in the process and at the same time the soldiers engage the indians in swordfights and shootouts.Its one epic battle scene which must have taken great dedication and care to film.
All in all one gem of a western,highly recommended,thanks to Pegasus it has been released onto DVD but it's extremely rare so if you ever see it buy it,but when you talk of all the great westerns,you will talk of Pillars of the sky.10/10.