I know nothing of behind-the-scenes issues which have been addressed by other commentators. I only know what I saw on screen. What I saw was a bizarre malaise presented with very high production values and fantastic scenery (shot on location in Mexico). The cast is full of an unbelievable number of wonderful actors. But in the end, the story is lost in the Chihuahuan desert, and the cast is lost in complete lack of development of all but a couple of characters. This film is full of promise, and is therefore all the more disappointing for the lack of both purpose in the story and focus in its filming.
The first film I remember seeing was Ben-Hur, which I saw as a 5-year old. For more than 30 years afterward, Charlton Heston was my favorite actor. The realization came slowly that he is a real one-trick pony. He is not so much an actor as he is a movie star. With his unforgettable countenance, crowned by that great bony nose, Heston commands presence with bluster and bravado - not talent. He seems more like the critics' unfair caricature of John Wayne than the real Duke. By comparison the Duke is a substantially more subtle and nuanced actor. He would have made for a far better Major Dundee than Heston.
Richard Harris has the conviction, but unfortunately lacks the accent to credibly portray a confederate officer. In fact, this movie might have been somewhat better if Harris and Heston had reversed roles. Heston, at least sounds American; and Harris' accent might be more easily taken for some upper crust Yankee. That, however, would not have remedied the plot deficiencies.
The initial premise of pursuing Apaches onto the foreign soil of Mexico has both historical and cinematic precedents. It is not original, but that's not the problem here. The time spent developing the enmity between rebs and yanks and between Heston and Harris really drags. After his recruitment speech to the rebs, Heston's parting of the assembled confederates by walking through their midst is laughably melodramatic and implausible. It is heavy-handed, pointless symbolism. Was he having a flashback? Did he think he was Moses?
The pursuit of the Apaches seems more like a convenient device for moving characters through a series of disjointed events. Heston pursues them with relentless obsession, then seems to lose interest in them through an unlikely encounter with a female, Austrian doctor in a remote Mexican village. Then forgetting the doctor, he turns to a bottle of tequila and a Mexican chiquita. He finally refocuses on the Apaches only to decide to return to U.S. soil. Is it an intentional ploy to lure them into a trap, or does the idea for a trap result from the Apaches' pursuit? Who knows, but there's plenty of Peckinpah's trademark violence in the encounter.
The introduction of a slew of fantastic character actors promises an ensemble acting film that then never gets off the ground. The characters are mostly forgotten and the story meanders into a totally superfluous love story sub-plot and drunken binge by Heston. The chase by the French never really seems suspenseful, and then it draws to an abrupt climax at the Rio Grande.
Didn't the narrator say at the beginning that he was the lone survivor? Yet as I saw them ride off at the end, I counted quite a few survivors before the final credits brought this mess to a merciful end.
The first film I remember seeing was Ben-Hur, which I saw as a 5-year old. For more than 30 years afterward, Charlton Heston was my favorite actor. The realization came slowly that he is a real one-trick pony. He is not so much an actor as he is a movie star. With his unforgettable countenance, crowned by that great bony nose, Heston commands presence with bluster and bravado - not talent. He seems more like the critics' unfair caricature of John Wayne than the real Duke. By comparison the Duke is a substantially more subtle and nuanced actor. He would have made for a far better Major Dundee than Heston.
Richard Harris has the conviction, but unfortunately lacks the accent to credibly portray a confederate officer. In fact, this movie might have been somewhat better if Harris and Heston had reversed roles. Heston, at least sounds American; and Harris' accent might be more easily taken for some upper crust Yankee. That, however, would not have remedied the plot deficiencies.
The initial premise of pursuing Apaches onto the foreign soil of Mexico has both historical and cinematic precedents. It is not original, but that's not the problem here. The time spent developing the enmity between rebs and yanks and between Heston and Harris really drags. After his recruitment speech to the rebs, Heston's parting of the assembled confederates by walking through their midst is laughably melodramatic and implausible. It is heavy-handed, pointless symbolism. Was he having a flashback? Did he think he was Moses?
The pursuit of the Apaches seems more like a convenient device for moving characters through a series of disjointed events. Heston pursues them with relentless obsession, then seems to lose interest in them through an unlikely encounter with a female, Austrian doctor in a remote Mexican village. Then forgetting the doctor, he turns to a bottle of tequila and a Mexican chiquita. He finally refocuses on the Apaches only to decide to return to U.S. soil. Is it an intentional ploy to lure them into a trap, or does the idea for a trap result from the Apaches' pursuit? Who knows, but there's plenty of Peckinpah's trademark violence in the encounter.
The introduction of a slew of fantastic character actors promises an ensemble acting film that then never gets off the ground. The characters are mostly forgotten and the story meanders into a totally superfluous love story sub-plot and drunken binge by Heston. The chase by the French never really seems suspenseful, and then it draws to an abrupt climax at the Rio Grande.
Didn't the narrator say at the beginning that he was the lone survivor? Yet as I saw them ride off at the end, I counted quite a few survivors before the final credits brought this mess to a merciful end.