bellino-angelo2014 Charles Bronson stars as Wild Bill Hickock, and here suffers from nightmares of a giant white buffalo that charges him. So he wants to kill the giant buffalo for real! Then he travels with his friend (Jack Warden) and stops in various towns (meeting also an old flame), and even teams with Indian Crazy Horse, who is also his blood brother. The three men finally challenge the white buffalo for real and kill him.This Western is highly underrated, but it contains some surprises for movie buffs: is directed by J. Lee Thompson, and it stars also Kim Novak as Bronson's ex girlfriend, Will Sampson as Crazy Horse, John Carradine as a caretaker, Stuart Whitman as a unfortunate pickpocket, and Clint Walker (who passed away last week at age 90) as a famed outlaw. And even the soundtrack is nice.Recommended only to die-hard Western fans. And Jack Warden here is a hoot!

connorbbalboa Sometimes, you come across movies that you know everyone thinks are terrible, but then you watch them and come out realizing you've just seen some great films.The White Buffalo, with Charles Bronson and Will Sampson, is one of those movies. Based on a novel by Richard Sale, this film takes place in the American West post-Civil War and sees Bronson as historical figure "Wild Bill" Hickok preparing to fight a giant white bison that haunts his dreams. Sampson plays another historical figure, Native American chief Crazy Horse, who is also after the beast because it killed his infant daughter. Right away, we have a great kind of story: normal men going up into the snowy mountains of the West to fight a legendary monster that haunts anyone who feels its presence and lives in its territory. However, what makes it much better is the dark themes within. One thing to note is that this is not a "fun" version of the West with cowboys and bandits. The minute Bronson arrives into town and sees a big pile of bison bones, you know that this film is going to feel pretty bleak. In fact, around the time the film takes place, the "white man" had started to expand into the West and with that, started to push out the local Native American tribes and take over their lands. Not only that, the "white man" had killed off most of the bison that Native Americans relied on for every aspect of their lives, from food to clothing to shelter to tools. Still on the subject, hatred of the "white man" towards Native Americans is something else that is a heavy presence in the film. During his journey to find the beast, Bronson takes his old friend, Charlie Zane, played by Jack Warden with him, but when Crazy Horse joins them, Zane dislikes him pretty much instantly and one can watch and wonder if he's going to let his personal racism get in the way of the hunt. Hickok and Crazy Horse are both aware of the hatred between their people and yet somehow are able to see past those hatreds and become understanding friends. Both Bronson and Sampson give pretty restrained but effective performances. A good number of side characters are also interesting. We have John Carradine in a small role as an undertaker and a sultry Kim Novak as an old lover of Hickok's. A few of the scenes with these side characters could admittedly come across as filler, but the best ones establish what kind of relationships Hickok has developed over the years and how he reacts to each of them. People usually say that the bison is simply a demon that Hickok fears, but it may be more than that: it could be a representation of the guilt he feels and the pain he has caused others over the years. It is even mentioned throughout the film that he blew away a Native American called the Peacemaker, and he later acknowledges his guilt over the incident. What the film also has going for it is the haunting atmospheres and music. How good is the music? All I can say is, by the time the end credits started with pictures of Bronson and Sampson as their respective characters, and the music started, I truly felt that I had witnessed a haunting battle between a legendary monster and two historical figures in a bleak American West on the verge of being changed completely by the "white man."

Brian T. Whitlock (GOWBTW) What haunts the famous gunslinger of the West? A Native American who attacked the settlers? A group of Calvary soldiers who were fighting against the tribes? Well, it's none of them! The thing that haunts Wild Bill Hickok (Charles Bronson) is a white buffalo! Not only he was affected, Chief Crazy Horse (Will Sampson) has been too. When his daughter was killed by its stampede, he would give a mourning shout. For that, he was later reduced to the name, "Worm". This creature is far more elusive than Crazy Horse, himself. So Hickok goes by another name, James Otis. He does have one friend in the saloon, when Custer (Ed Lauter), and his Calvary confronted Hickok. But Hickok, took them out. After meeting Charlie Zane(Jack Warden), they go on the quest to find gold claims. Rather than finding the claims, they run afoul of Crazy Horse. Since they are enemies, they would bridge the gap between them to fulfill a quest: Hunt the White Buffalo. The Lakotas did have rivals back then, other Indian tribes who would want to take out Crazy Horse. Then it came the ultimate showdown: Men vs. Beast. And the nightmare was over for both. Of course, both of these enemies met a different fate later on. What did this animal do to this man? It's supposed to be a pure creature, however, this one is anything but that! Great, but weird movie of the Old West. 3 out of 5 stars

jeffdiggy To me this movie is one of those romp types of films where you can almost feel that you are gleaning an actual glimmer of what the times it was set in were actually like. Beyond hearing phrases like "marble hat" and "wooden suit"...which immediately reminded me of "Treasure of the Sierra Madre"...where Bogart's character warned he would "let it out of you in little round holes" (reminiscent of the gunfighter saying "you'll be pushin' up daisies"!)...I really liked the ambiance of this movie...the barren gloominess of the snow and the sereneness of it all...with a backdrop of unpredictable terror provided by the/a treacherous behemoth (that ALWAYS must be dealt with) personified by the unpredictable buffalo...that was actually like a fleeting, supporting character in the grand scheme of the story. But the MAIN thing I liked (in addition to appearances by favorites like Stuart Whitman, Jack Warden, John Carradine and Will Sampson) is how it reminded me of the HARD men of the past! How they MUST have been SO rugged and resourceful. I like...no I LOVE...to escape this...OUR time of the meterosexual and the politically correct, SOFT men and people of today! Watching this movie (and choice, timeless ones from the 70s and earlier...as the 80s brought an irreversible tinge of hazy pseudo to EVERYTHING!) took me back to when men were MEN!! I am, quite frankly, disgusted by what we have become in this society. Thank God I can see a movie like this and not only feel a bit of nostalgia from when I was growing up as a starry-eyed, young kid (yes, I saw this movie a LONG time ago and always liked it)...but I can get a decided feel (especially watching old westerns) of/for what REAL men were like in our country's past...HARD men like Wild Bill Hickok and Crazy Horse...men of the frontier! The ghost-like screenplay/music (especially in the ending credits) mixed with these legendary subjects will always be alluring for grudgingly- sentimental and romantic fellows like me.