Ulzana's Raid

Buy This Item Ulzana's Raid by Good Times Home Video  Available from Amazon  $12.98  on 11-15-2008     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 <I>Apache</I>, 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 <I>The Wild Bunch</I> before it, <I>Ulzana's Raid</I> 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. <I>--Sean Axmaker</I> Reader Reviews The accomplished Burt Lancaster plays gruff and experienced Army scout McIntosh in the visually stunning "Ulzana's Raid", filmed on location in Arizona and Nevada. Lancaster is accompanying, pivotal character in the movie Lt. DeBuin played by a youthful Bruce Davison. Davison, a green, naive newly commissioned junior officer is leading a troop of cavalry soldiers in search of Apache chief Ulzana. Ulzana and a band of renegade braves have broken out of the reservation and are marauding through the countryside in the Arizona territories, cutting a swath of destruction in their wake. Ulzana and his war party are burning, raping and pillaging homesteaders as they made their way towards the Mexican border. Davison aided by Lancaster has been ordered to either kill the merciless Ulzana or capture him and return him to the reservation. The film serves as a coming of age for Davison, the son of a Christian minister. The brutal devastation left behind by the Apaches force Davison to question his Christian idealogy, as his hate for his foes mounts. He begins to appreciate Lancaster's respectful posture in his dealing with the dreaded Apaches. Director Robert Aldrich adds a healthy dose of violence in his film, a useful tool to create conflict in the immature mind of Davison. Cinematographer Joseph Biroc effectively captured the desolate expanse of the Southwest with some dazzling panoramic vistas.

Ulzana's Raid Available from Amazon Price: $12.98 Updated on 11-15-2008.

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