antonyornstin
Note this is a review of the film as originally released-ie in the version approximately 2 hours long. I haven't seem the longer later versions. However this supposedly inferior version packs quite a punch. Its outstanding qualities for me were firstly a towering performance by Charlton Heston as the eponymous ant-hero. A man who is obsessed with his career as a soldier and is very good at fighting battles. However, apart from his fighting prowess the film progressively reveals him to be an adequate individual in many respects. Heston is excellent at conveying all these features and the character's internal conflicts.Heston "carries this picture but the rest of the cast is usually very good.. I found the persistent superciliousness and airs and graces of Tyreen rather irritating. I think this is mostly due to the screenplay but I think Richard Harris overdid things occasionally.The other noteworthy feature was some truly powerful and exciting (but brutal) battle scenes, particularly those involving cavalry. There are many other scenes involving horses which are usually excellently choreographed-in this respect I feel the film shows the influence of John Ford.The film is interesting also in that is quite complex.-In the sense that there are many different areas of conflict both external and internal. Major Dundee has many enemies of different kinds in the film but it could be said that he is his own worst enemy.I don't think I will dwell too much on the undoubted negatives too much as these have been endlessly dissected already. However the music is not a plus. it is too upbeat and in this sense I feel undermines what the film is saying about the brutality of war.The film is also occasionally incoherent, with some loose ends (eg what happens to "Linda"?). In places it has been brutally and incompetently edited.But for all its defects I have to say that I enjoyed it very much. Well worth watching.
classicsoncall
I couldn't help thinking that this was just an OK Cavalry Western, and by the looks of it, a lot of folks here on IMDb are of the same opinion. It certainly had potential with the stellar principals and fine support from some of the better movie Western character actors of the era. The one who stood out for me was Richard Harris as Confederate Captain Ben Tyreen, continuously holding his men in line whenever circumstances arose to challenge Major Amos Dundee's (Charlton Heston) command of the ragtag Cavalry bunch. Taking out his own man O.W. Hadley (Warren Oates) for desertion could have been a turning point in the story, but the principled Captain managed to defuse an insurrection, even with Hadley's brother (L.Q. Jones) as part of the mix.Primarily a director of TV Western episodes (The Rifleman, Zane Grey Theater, The Westerner) prior to getting his big break with a major studio release, perhaps it was the big budget and not knowing what to do with it that caused Sam Peckinpah some problems with this film. It was 1971's "Straw Dogs" that got me first in tune with what a director's impact on a picture could be, so I keep that in mind whenever a film calls for violence. That was certainly a different kind of movie than "Major Dundee", though it does show a progression in the way Peckinpah developed his craft and instinct for people in intense situations.In this film, things seem to meander along, even though the original goal was to rescue three young siblings from an Apache band led by Sierra Charriba (Michael Pate). Once that's accomplished in totally underwhelming fashion, Dundee's soldiers confront a garrison of French soldiers in Mexico and manage to take on the Apaches once again. But for all of the build-up concerning the warrior leader, he's dispatched rather unceremoniously by bugler Ryan (Michael Anderson, Jr.), while a final confrontation with the French forces sort of dissipates on it's own when additional Union forces arrive on the scene. A final confrontation that's teased throughout the story between Dundee and Tyreen is also a wasted opportunity. Tyreen is dispatched during the final assault, leaving Dundee with a hollow triumph that one could hardly call a victory.
Leofwine_draca
MAJOR DUNDEE is one of Sam Peckinpah's earlier westerns, made before he developed his reputation for epic violence and slow-motion action. This one's basically Charlton Heston vs. Native Americans, as it follows the veteran Hollywood star as he assembles a team of ne'er-do-wells before sending them off to take care of a raiding party. Much of the narrative is about the journey towards the final pay-off, and a huge and sprawling cast serve to hold the viewer's interest; Richard Harris is particularly well cast as possibly the antithesis of Heston's character, both on and off the screen. There isn't a wealth of action but the film is quite watchable if no classic.
SnoopyStyle
In the last years of Civil War, Apache warriors led by Sierra Charriba started raiding New Mexico. On Oct 31, 1864, a company of the 5th US Calvalry was massacred. The sole survivor returns with relief led by Major Dundee (Charlton Heston). Sam Potts (James Coburn) is his one-armed scout. Dundee recruits Confederate prisoners for the fight. At first, Confederate Captain Tyreen (Richard Harris) holds an old grudge against his former friend and refuses to join. However he faces the hangman and does a deal to lead his men. The mix bag of Confederates, US Cavalry, Negroes and Apache scout are on the hunt for the renegade Apaches. When the Apaches ambush them, they lose many men and most of their supplies. Dundee leads his men in a raid on French forces in Mexico.The troubled production may have affected the final product. The first half is simple enough. I find it interesting that the movie is diving into the split between North and South by including Negro troops. It's a bit too much and a little fake about the whole situation. The Apaches are shortchanged as characters. Then Dundee attacks the French in a highly questionable action. It starts as slightly fake to something unrealistic. Peckinpah does have an eye for action and that is the best part of the movie. The story feels too messy. The actors are bogged down by too many things. There's no need for Dundee and Tyreen to know each other from before. While I like the action, the story is a convoluted mess.
AD
