Online Shop
|
Ulzana's Raid [1972]Snagging.org In association with Amazon.co.ukOnline Shop | Property Guides | Kitchen & Home | Garden Tools | Power Tools | Consumer Electronics Get the Snagging Checklist Here! Ulzana's Raid [1972] starring: Burt Lancaster, Bruce Davison, Jorge Luke, Richard Jaeckel, Joaquín Martínez directed by: Robert Aldrich ![: Ulzana's Raid [1972]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51ARK2QMFKL._SL160_.jpg) List Price: £9.99 Amazon.co.uk's Price: £5.97 You Save: £4.02 (40%)Prices subject to change. Availability: Usually dispatched within 10 to 13 days
This item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping.
Audience Rating: Suitable for 18 years and overBinding: DVD EAN: 5050582031218 Format: PAL Label: Universal Pictures UK Languages: Manufacturer: Universal Pictures UK Number Of Discs: 1 Number Of Items: 1 Publisher: Universal Pictures UK Region Code: 2 Release Date: October 06, 2003 Running Time: 96 minutes Studio: Universal Pictures UK Theatrical Release Date: October 18, 1972 Related Items: Editorial Review: Amazon.co.uk Review: 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 Average Rating:
 Rating:  - Well worth tracking downUlzana's Raid follows a cavalry patrolled by Bruce Davison's idealistic but inexperienced West Pointer and guided by Lancaster's scout in their pursuit of a small band of Apaches who have left the reservation to rekindle their `power' by torturing and killing as many settlers as they can find. It's a stark, brilliant film that is a notable influence on Walter Hill's Geronimo (which even borrows from it directly on a couple of occasions), but has a level of cruelty that the later film lacks. Unlike its contemporaries which took up the Native American cause, this never idealises or demonises either side: even Lancaster's scout proves catastrophically less competent in matters of strategy than in tracking or attempting to explain the enemy's way of thinking. For the most part it's a conflict between two different cultures that can never understand or tolerate each other, carried out almost without malice despite its brutality. As Lancaster points out, "It's just the way they are. It's like hating the desert because there ain't any water in it." With a superb screenplay by Alan Sharp, a fine Frank De Vol score and muscular, unsentimental direction by Aldrich that takes no prisoners, it's one of the key Westerns of the Seventies, even if parts of it proved too shocking for audiences for it to gain much of a reputation at the time. It's strong meat, but it's more than worth the price of admission. Unlike the UK video, which offered Burt Lancaster's European cut, which has the same running time but some additional footage at the expense of some deleted scenes, this Region 2 PAL DVD is Robert Aldrich's US cut of the film. It would have been nice had the DVD offered both cuts, but since they haven't even included a trailer, let alone any deleted or alternate scenes, that's being wildly optimistic. It's worth noting that both the UK and Dutch DVDs are slightly cut, with a key horse fall taken out leaving part of the film's most shocking sequence (when a female settler and her cavalry escort are attacked) nigh-on incomprehensible to the uninitiated. Rating: - Great 'cult film' but why all the cuts!Ulzana's Raid must be classed as Burt Lancaster's best film. I have seen at least three versions. In the UK DVD version all the horse falls have been edited out, this does not help the viewer understand the scences. Great film, super story, buy it, but shame about the editing. Rating: - Smashing performances and cult film get the NTSC version!OK, the UK version has been badly edited by some idiot who thought killing defenseless horses is inappropriate and not politically correct... making the film main plot completely non understandable... or senseless... SO BUY THE LONG VERSION... LOOK AT THE MINUTES OF THE MOVIE... anyone can have a multi region DVD or "crack" the region looking at the way to do it in Internet... No excuse to do not see the best ever film about raiding apaches on the loose... the scout (masterfully played by Burt Lancaster), the green lieutenant of US Cavalry... the way of living and dying in the Southwest... gritty and nasty but TRUE TO LIFE. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED (the long version of course)!!! ADB Rating: - Ruined masterpiece... 5 stars become 2See my entry on DVD version. A ruined film. Please note that the Video version has the same cut time as the DVD version... which means the horse killings have been cut out... utter stupidity and the ruination of a fine film. Am trying to get a German version as recommended. Damn the regulations. Rating: - Beware of the copy, (5 stars reduced to 2 by cuts)I saw a rated 15 version of this film with appro. running time of 99 minutes. The Amazon version is 96 minutes and rated 18, and Halliwell's is 103 minutes. More about this shortly.The film concerns the escape from a reservation of an Apache leader (Ulzana) who gathers some men (Apaches) and some horses (captured) and raids the area with the objective of killing MEN in order to get their 'strength'. This is done by horrid torture designed to keep them alive and suffering as long as possible for the longer it takes the stronger were the men and thus greater strength was absorbed. The Fort Commander sends out a green lieutenant whose father was a priest and the white scout is Macintosh (Lancaster). It is a very neat study of guerrilla warfare based on horses. The objective is to catch up with the Apache band without losing the cavalry mounts through excessive chase, the objective of the cavalry is to catch the Apache by initially killing their horses. 'The first to make a mistake will be digging holes.' The killing of horses though not the essence of the film is an important aspect. And the filming of Lancaster chasing a group of horses led by only two Apaches... bringing down the riders' horses first and then killing the riders who charge at him on foot, his own horse having now been brought down, is in my view one of the seminal 'western' scenes of the genre. And they CUT every sequence which showed the horses actually being shot down in the chase. Unbelieveably stupid editing. A man is riding a horse, next shot he is rolling on the grouund. The film was 3 minutes shorter than the Halliwell version... so God knows what else was cut. I suspect it was cut for the British audience (who love animals more than people - the tortured settlers were shown) which indicates the innate stupidity of American (or English)(or DVD) editors. I hate editing and the assumption that someone knows better than I do what is right for me. I think it was Montgomery or it could have been Wellington who said something to the effect that a horse in its stables should be treated as worth a hundred guineas, a horse in the chase should be treated as if it is not worth twelve pennies. So much for our view of horses. The Amazon version is a further 3 minutes shorter, perhaps they cut the smoking scenes. I shall buy one and let you know.  Try searching the Internet for "Ulzana's Raid [1972]" or Ebay for "Ulzana's Raid [1972]". You might also be interested in the following great products:
|