Customer Reviews

Chato's Land

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

With those three words of unheeded warning (possibly the longest continuous sentence Bronson has in this picture), the Mimbreno Apache Chato(Charles Bronson) begins an elusive flight from a motley posse of citizens led by an ex-Confederate captain (Jack Palance) seeking to punish him for the killing of a white man into the barren wilderness of the Arizona desert.

This is a great minimalist western with a fine cast (particularly the three villainous Hooker brothers - Simon `the psychologist from Psycho' Oakland, John `Papa Walton' Waite, and Richard `Duncan Idaho of Dune' Jordan). Bronson here is less of a character than a force of nature who, when pursued to his limits (and after giving his hunters ample chances to turn back, slitting their waterskins, running off their horses, and generally discouraging them), turns on the posse and starts eliminating them one at a time.

The strength of this western is the writing. All of the posse members, though most of them are unlikable, are well-fleshed out. The three over-sexed, bickering brothers (whose familial loyalty ultimately leads to their destruction), the silent but apt Mexican tracker, and the two foreigners who are among the first to realize this vengeance quest has spiraled well beyond its origin (`For God's sake, don't call it justice...' says Roddy McMillian's Scottish farmer and `We don't belong here, Gavin,' says Paul Young's Irishman). Palance is a standout as the Confederate captain who seems at first to take pleasure in the hunt and leading men again, but who gradually loses control of his subordinates.

As stated, Bronson is more of a cunning force to be feared when he is shown at all, but he does bring a concrete humanity to his Apache fugitive, particularly in the scene where he is reunited with his family in their desert stronghold. He exudes strength, and his physique and countenance seem to have been cut from the sandstone all around. He seems absolutely inscrutable (as the land is to the white men), but when he dispenses death, there is a cold certainty in his expressions.

Good locations - abandoned wickiups, empty desert, jumbled stone and cavernous arroyos all the washed out color of a bone long in the sun makes it seem as if these men have ridden right into hell (but then this `hell' is Chato's land). There's a great line where Palance observes that `white men see a land where nothing grows...they call it hell and give it no further thought. But to the Apache, this land speaks to him, whispers to him. He expects nothing from it...' (paraphrasing). The tried and true `hunters become the hunted formula' with a meaningful undertone that sets it above the usual fare. Great film with a memorable open ending. Does he or doesn't he? Recommended for Bronson fans. This is one of his better flicks.

Excellent western which follows a posse on the trail of an Apache halfbreed (Bronson). While he is an omnipresent aspect of the story, Bronson has few lines, and is not on-screen for more than a few minutes in the entire film. The story is primarily about the posse, a mixed bag of local citizens, civil war veterans, and sadistic racists. Their steady deterioration into basal chaos is the real crux of the movie. There are both good and bad men among them, and their interactions make the film compelling, in spite of a few flaws. The skilled cast includes Jack Palance, Simon Oakland, Richard Basehart, Ralph Waite, Victor French, Richard Jordan and James Whitmore. Strongly recommended for fans of gritty action and well-drawn characters.

Without Charles Bronson, this would be a three star movie at best. The plot is simple, like a slasher movie in the Old West. Bronson, ever effective as an Indian (remember Drumbeat as Captain Jack?), kills off a posse one by one. The posse is filled with well-known character actors and of these, Jack Palance stands out. Palance is the leader of the group in name only, and his relations with the others is the most interesting. He was certainly an under-used actor as he matured, but this was a good role for him.
Bronson gets to display probably the best over 50 physique in the world (maybe under 50 too, for that matter). It may have been Frank Frazetta who said that the perfect actor for the role of Conan would be a 6'5" Charles Bronson. With little if any character development for Chato, his impressive physique is necessary to establish him as a force of nature, being more in his element as the land becomes harsher and more unforgiving.
For Bronson fans, this is just what we want: a man of few words, but lots of muscle, whuppin' up on an unjust world.

In this tough and unrelenting Western, Charles Bronson plays Chato, an Apache who shoots a sheriff in an ugly bar dispute, and then finds himself being hunted by a posse, led by Jack Palance, who is the menacing, bigoted Capt. Quincey Whitmore.
Chato turns tables on the posse, who become the hunted, as Chato leaves signs to make it easy for them to track him, and draws them into his territory, where things go from bad to worse.
There is a lot of brutality in this film on both man and beast, but for those of us who are Bronson fans, violence is to be expected, and this is a marvelous performance, with Bronson in superb physical condition, as he stealthily moves about on suede-booted cat-like feet.

Jack Palance is terrific, and the supporting cast consists of seasoned, excellent character actors, like Richard Basehart, James Whitmore, Simon Oakland and Richard Jordan.
Directed by Michael Winner, who also did the editing under the alias of Arnold Crust Jr., and who was to work with Bronson on another fascinating film the following year, "The Mechanic", and of course their big success with "Death Wish" in 1974, keeps the pace fast. Cinematographer Robert Paynter shot the film on location in Spain, and Jerry Fielding adds to the atmosphere with his score.
I've seen this film numerous times, and though it's not for the squeamish, it's a must for Bronson fans.
DVD extra is the theatrical trailer, and total time is 1 hour and 40 minutes.

Michael Winner's CHATO'S LAND may seem a bit below standard from other films that he directed but the strength in this film comes from Charles Bronson's stoic performance seen and unseen on the screen. Bronson's presence is there and is inescapable as is the baron land he habitats. The visual forsaken look of the film's characters and landscape makes the viewer wonder what the point of this whole film is. Whatever Bronson's transgressions may really have been the forlorn posse tracking him are representative of the worst qualities of society. I saw this film when first released but with time I see the deeper social implications and commentary on society that director Michael Winner was making. This is a good Western but may be a difficult one to appreciate on an initial viewing.

I love this movie. This is a classic Charles Bronson movie. So I was happy when I bought this DVD. But I was a little disappointed upon watching it. Not wanting to spoil anything, so I'll stay vague. At some point in the movie, one woman is assaulted. In the original movie that I remember seeing in a theatre in the 70's, the scene was rather graphic, her clothes being ripped off her, resulting in a short nudity scene. But not here on this DVD. For some strange reason, the scene is still there but not the same. Apparently the film maker shot it twice. Once with full nudity, and once where she still gets assaulted the same way, but keeps her clothes on. We get this censored version on this DVD. It's no big deal since the scene was pretty short. But I still don't like getting a modified version from what I remember. I'm surprised no one pointed that out in the previous reviews. No one has seen this movie in the theatre when it came out? I still recommend it as it's a great movie if you look beyond this fact.

Are there two versions of this movie. The cable western channel version is longer and shows more of the violence and nudity. The DVD I bought excludes the nudity and some of the violence, blood and killing. What's up??

Although Michael Winner is now a byword for bad movies, for a brief moment in the early 70s his work flirted not just with competence but actually delivered some pretty good action movies. Building on the success of his earlier Burt Lancaster Western Lawman, this doesn't have as strong a script but still makes for an effective, if bleak manhunt action movie.

Reversing the genre norm by having the posse as the villains, pursuing Charles Bronson's `halfbreed' into the badlands and gradually giving in to rape and murder themselves to draw him out as he goes from trying to shake them off his trail to picking them off, it's certainly a well cast affair - Jack Palance as the leader of the posse trying to relive his glory days in the Civil War, Richard Basehart's thirsty man in a dry land, Simon Oakland, Richard Jordan and Ralph Waite's vicious brothers - but one that never works quite as well as it could.

The first of his collaborations with Charles Bronson, it's surprising the star would work with him on another five films - Bronson is barely in the movie, with less screen time than many of his early supporting roles and has little to do here and doesn't do it particularly well. This wouldn't be a problem if Winner could build him into a mythic or primal figure to make his brief appearances more striking, but he's not even interestingly shot here. Instead the film focuses on the posse as the further it gets from civilization, the more it starts to tear itself apart as the strong become weak and the weak become ruthless. There's some good dialogue and the odd bit of rich writing and characterisation along the trail, but it's tempting to think what a better director with more of a feel for the landscape could have made more of it.

MGM/UA's Region 1 DVD is an acceptable widescreen transfer, though it's the cut US version - the German and French DVDs are the longer, bloodier European cut. The only extra is the original trailer.

"Chato's Land" was well suited to Bronson's evolutionary screen persona, that of the strong, relatively silent avenger--a solid figure of firm intention but few words...

As Pardon Chato, the vengeful Apache half-breed, Bronson enjoyed the most vocally reticent role of his starring career, speaking but few lines--and most of those in Apache!

Again, Spanish locations represented the American frontier West for this post-Civil War tale about a white posse's search for Chato, who, in self-defense, had killed the sheriff of a small New Mexico town... As the pursuers forge deeper into Apache country, the situation shifts around, with hunters becoming the hunted... Failing out among themselves, the posse members gradually become victim either to each other's violence or to Chato's well-justified vengeance, after they rape his woman...

In the non-U.S. countries where Bronson enjoyed his greatest popularity, "Chato's Land" was well met and highly successful...

I enjoyed this Western. Bronson does not have much of a speaking role and is the target of the posse played by an excellent cast. Some great landscapes in the film. Only gripe is that the vultures used in the film were not native to North America. They looked like African vultures to me.