Customer Reviews

Apache Rifles

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

20th Century Fox and Kit Parker Films presents "APACHE RIFLES" (26 November 1964) (92 mins/Color) (Fully Restored/Dolby Digitally Remastered) -- The army commander of an Arizona outpost, Capt. Jeff Stanton (Audie Murphy) despises all Indians until he falls in love with a beautiful missionary girl, Dawn Gillis (Linda Dawson) --- Murphy must change his ways because one of her parents is an Native American --- Murphy's attempts to reform, are unfortunately nearly crushed by greedy gold-seekers, one of them is L.Q. Jones (favorite character actor of mine) is trying to start a war with the local Apaches.

VCI gives us a clean & clear copy with many bonus and extras in this special release --- Another excellent collaboration between Murphy and the great action director William Witney --- A treat for Murphy fans!

Under the production staff of:
William Witney [Director]
Charles B. Smith [Screenwriter]
Grant Whytock [Producer]
Richard LaSalle [Original Score]
Archie R. Dalzell [Cinematographer]
Grant Whytock [Film Editor]

BIOS:
1. William Witney [Director]
Date of Birth: 15 May 1915 - Lawton, Oklahoma
Date of Death: 17 March 2002 - Jackson, California

2. Audie Murphy
Date of Birth: 20 June 1924 - Kingston, Texas
Date of Death: 28 May 1971 - near Roanoke, Virginia (plane crash)

3. Michael Dante [aka: Ralph Vitti]
Date of Birth: 2 September 1931 - Stamford, Connecticut
Date of Death: Still Living

4. Linda Lawson [aka: Linda Gloria Spaziani]
Date of Birth: 14 January 1936 - Ann Arbor, Michigan
Date of Death: Still Living

5. L.Q. Jones [aka: Justice Ellis McQueen Jr.]
Date of Birth: 19 August 1927 - Beaumont, Texas
Date of Death: Still Living

the cast includes:
Audie Murphy ... Capt. Jeff Stanton
Michael Dante ... Red Hawk
Linda Lawson ... Dawn Gillis
L.Q. Jones ... Mike Greer
Ken Lynch ... Hodges
Joseph Vitale ... Victorio
Robert Brubaker ... Sgt. Cobb
Eugene Iglesias ... Cpl. Ramirez
Pat O'Malley ... Capt. Thatcher
John Archer ... Col. Perry
Charles Watts ... Crawford Owens
Howard Wright ... Thompson
Peter Hansen ... Capt. Green
Robert Karnes ... Sheriff
Hugh Sanders ... Arizona delegate
Sydney Smith ... General of the Army
S. John Launer ... Gen. Nelson
Robert Williams ... Miller

SPECIAL FEATURES [BONUS]:
1. Trailers of the following VCI releases:
Hellgate [1952] ~ Sterling Hayden, James Arness, Joan Leslie & Ward Bond
Stranger on Horseback [1955] ~ Joel McCrea & John McIntire
Little Big Horn [1951] ~ Lloyd Bridges, John Ireland & Marie Windsor
Tall Texan [1953] ~ Lloyd Bridges, Marie Windsor & Lee J. Cobb
2. "Apache Rifles" Still Gallery
3. "Museum of Lone Pine Film History: A Retrospective" - A discussion with historian Chris Langley regarding the museums history
4. "Cut to the Chase: Remembering William Witney" - A documentary excerpt featuring actor Michael Dante
5. "Please, Hold the Spaghetti":: Apache Rifles and the End of the Conventional Western - An all-new documentary featuring EXCLUSIVE interviews with actor Michael Dante, western film historian/screenwriter C. Courtney Joyner and Lone Pine Museum historian Chris Langley.

Great performances by a perfectly selected cast make this a must watch for classic western fans --- The action moves briskly, leading to a final scene between Murphy & Michael Dante that is a surprise to say the least --- The dialogue and much of the action are standard fare --- However, the plot gets a boost in an interesting way, check out the interaction between Murphy and the Linda Lawson and how it plays out --- Plus a nasty act of betrayal with L.Q. Jones in the middle --- Highly recommend "Apache Rifles" for die-hard fans of the Western genre --- all my heroes have been cowboys!

Total Time: 92 min on DVD ~ VCI Entertainment ~ (08/31/2010)

I'm a fan of the old fashioned Western movies of the 1950's- 1970's era and Apache Rifles is no exception. Audie Murphy stars as a Calvary Captain sent out to deal with a Apache Indian rebellion. The transfer is pretty good considering a 1964 movie but there are a few spots in the movie where the transfer suffers, but only briefly. If you're a fan of old fashioned Calvary versus Indians movie's like I am then you should add this one to your collection. Movie studios should release more of these old movies as there are plenty that haven't been released to DVD yet.

Within recent years the work of Randolph Scott has been substantially re-evaluated and is now highly treasured by film critics and film buffs, alike (especially with the release of the Budd Boetticher set). Now, it seems, is the time to take another look at the films starring Audie Murphy. Critics and the public esteem NO NAME ON THE BULLET, but his other Western films deserve serious consideration, also. Most of Murphy's Westerns were made with Universal, and they are uniformly good. Several titles are available overseas (in the PAL format), but unfortunately not yet available in the US (NTSC format); let's hope Universal will release them here as well.

Columbia Studios produced several Murphy vehicles towards the end of his career, and of these I think APACHE RIFLES may be one of the best of the lot. It features good acting by Murphy and a solid cast of familiar faces. The action sequences are well-conceived and expertly filmed. Production values are relatively high for such "B" type Westerns. VCI has found an excellent print. So, in sum, this is a welcomed release in all respects. Highly recommended, and thanks VCI.

There are inferior dvds on the market of Apache Rifles...the above release is excellent and is remastered..The picture and sound I cannot fault..All Audie Murphy movies should be remastered like this one.....This is the best quality movie I have seen of Audie Murphy....

I have never seen this film of Audie Murphy's before. I was surprised at the quality and color of this tape. I like it very much.

Director William Whitney made a great many Westerns -including some 27 Roy Rogers titles -and usually did a decent job of turning out competent second string material .This is a pretty good example of his work and a perfectly adequate B feature Western

Audie Murphy plays a stern US Army captain in Arizona Territory, a man with a unserving dislike of Indians ,especially Apaches .This doen not stop him from what he ses as his duty -preserving the peace on the frontier and preventing the incursion of gold miners onto Indian lands .This brings him into conflict with the local mining interests who scheme to get him replaced by a more sympathetic Commander and open warfare breaks out between the apaches and the miners ,backed by the Army .Can he restore peace ,thwart the miners and -win the hand of the mixed race missionary with whom he falls in love ?
I would say ,always assuming you like Westerns ,that it is well worth watching to discover the answers yourself .Good performances all round -including a deft L Q Jones performance ,playing a villain ,some lively fight scenes and a tight script all boost the movie.Be advised ,on a negative note ,that picture quality is muddy at times and therein lies my only real problem with the priduct

The quality on this DVD is poor. It looks like it was transferred from VHS. The sound is OK, but video is poor. Video quality is consistent, color is fair.

If you are an Audie Murphy fan and like a good old western movie you will like this one.
Audie Murphy moves are hard to find, they are not all our on DVD yet. There are a lot I would like to buy but can't. Hopefully they will be produced soon. I haven't been disappointed with any movie that I have gotten through Amazon.com. I will keep buying.

I wish all of VCI's releases looked this good. Great quality print with no complaints. Also, some good special features. Widescreen.

While not Audie's best Western (Try Six Black Horses, The Kid From Silver Creek, or No Name On The Bullet), this one is well worth watching. It has a well written script with a different storyline (Audies is an Indian hating cavalry officer), and a thought provoking ending.
The action is well done, and as usual, Audie Murphy proves once again that he was a much better actor than he was ever given credit for...I would watch him read a telephone book. Another thing about his films is that in real life, Audie could do just about everything he did in the movies...The man really earned that chest full of medals and the title of "The Most Decorated Soldier of WWII"...A true Hero in every way!!!!