Customer Reviews

Chuka

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is one of the better westerns around. The cast is fantastic. The story is very entertaining and action packed. I don't see how anyone could give it 2 stars. The Indians win and the army loses, maybe that's why. But in any event the story line is intriging. Rod Taylor is at his finest as a hired gun with ethics and a deep appreciation for the Arapahoe Indians plight. John Mills, Ernest Borgnine, Luciana Paluzzi, Louis Hayword, James Whitmore et. al. are all excellent in this 1967 western. By the way the fight scene between Rod and Ernie is the greatest fist fight ever seen on film. The Indian attack on the fort is spectacular and the spear scene with Rod Taylor will stun your senses. The ending is special, so don't miss it.

A question arises from the movie's prologue, which is actually its epilogue: Did they all die? Then the story begins for this superior Western and gather 'round the campfire buckos, because its a humdinger!

At stake is a doomed outpost of misfit soldiers facing a nation of hungry, irritable Arapahoes, and an unfortunate group of visitors, including two beautiful Mexican ladies and the enigmatic gunfighter Chuka {Taylor). Chuka's duds are so cool, they rival anything Lee Van Cleef ever swaggered in. Late in the film, we are treated to witnessing his fast-draw, and I would say "eye-witnessing", but his draw is so fast, the gun is out before you even have a chance to blink! Taylor is tough as Chuka: his fight with the ape-like Ernest Borgnine literally rocks the timbers of the fort. I could easily imagine the film crew appauding after those scenes were done. Taylor is also incredibly tender in the long-awaited love scene with the Thunderball babe Lucianna Lallapollooza (sic).

This is a very good Western and a must-have for fans not only of Rod Taylor, but Ernest Borgnine and James Whitmore. Their characters are flawed and three-dimensional, but not given to the irritating idiosyncricies that passed for "character development" in later films and television. As the situation becomes more desperate, the interaction between the characters is so good that I felt not only absorbed, but involved in the plot. You might want to have a stash of Sauza Conmemorativo (the Duke's favorite) handy to join the fellas as they try to take a break from contemplating their doomed scenario. One of the best scenes comes near the end, as the tough hombres, now comrades, rouse early in the dead of night just before dawn, to share a sort of communion, confession, and coffee before the grits hit the fan.

I won't give the ending away, but if only one more scene had been added to assure me about the "second choice" I would give this movie 5 stars. Maybe I want too much. As it stands, it adds to my admiration of Rod Taylor. It is so frustrating that some of his excellent performances such as in Darker Than Amber and The Hell with Heroes aren't even available on videotape! I understand his fight scene in the former with body-builder William Smith REALLY rocks. And come on, The Hell With Heroes has Claudia Cardinale in her prime! Let's get more of Rod on DVD!

Rod Taylor plays a gunslinger named CHUKA (he was raised by a Chuck Wagon cook...and nicknamed chuka boy by the cowboys). He is on the trail during a winter storm and comes across a group of starving Indians. He shares their fire and gives them what little food he has. He leaves and finds refuge at a Cavalry Fort run by John Mills (an ex-British Officer and his SGT....Ernest Borgnine). Also at the fort is his long lost love and her niece. Chuka tells Mills that the Indians are starving and will attack the fort to get food. The plot thickens with other characters in the fort. Not a great movie but very entertaining and a pretty good "shoot-em-up". Worth buying for it's differences from other westerns.

rod taylor co-produced this tough little gem of a western and plays the title hero also.
the movie starts like beau geaste in that the army arives at the fort and finds that all are dead and then we flash back to what happened. the cast is first rate and the story is one of the better latter 60's western scripts. above it all is mr. taylor's job as chuka. he fills the screen with his spirit even when not on camara. mr. taylor was one of the most underrated actors of his time and as he would prove later with john wayne in the train robbers he was well suited for western movies . this is one you don't want to miss if you love westerns like i do so give it a try.

i saw this when i was 7 or 8 and was blowen away. it starts like "beau geast" (sorry about the spelling) but it shows you the aftermath and then moves to tell you what happened. taylor produced this fine film as well as stars in it and he is great as a gunfighter with his own problems asked to throw in with an odd range of people to fight off an indian attack on a fort in the middle of nowhere. good action, fine drama, and just a little comedy and that makes this underrated western one for the collection

In 1961 a western novel from the pen of Richard Jessup entitled "CHUKA" was published, in 1967 Richard Jessup wrote the screen play for the Paramount Picture also entitled CHUKA.

In an age when the western movie was slowly receding from Hollywood's attention, comes a very well directed and written western story. In the land of the Arapahoe sits a fort in the midst of winter, the Arapahoe are starving, having neither food nor guns and ammunition to hunt or forage for food. Over the adjacent ridge, inside the fort, are food, guns, and ammunition. The Arapahoe have been ignored by the army and are dying of starvation, having no one to turn to, attacking the fort seems to their chief, Hanoo, the only alternative left.

The fort is entirely wiped out, and burnt pretty much beyond use. The soldiers and other inhabitants? Well, all but a couple are killed. To understand this one must watch the film, I do not rattle off plots as others, wanting to leave to each viewer's discretion just what opinion they form of the film just watched.

I sometimes feel, however, as I write these reviews that the film I have seen is somehow not the film other reviewers, based upon their reviews, have seen. In this present case, if you enjoy westerns, it is beyond me how this movie would not impress. For it is far from the norm where 'oat burners' or 'shoot em ups' are concerned. This is a story with depth of both humans and human nature. It is a varied story, but at its vortex very much a love story, not only between a man and woman but also of love of courage, fidelity, and most of all, duty.

Watch this film from 1967 and see what you think. Should it not be one of your favorites, it may at least give not only entertainment but also a cause for some thought. Exactly how does it end or what is the meaning of the ending we are given. Fill in the blank, there seems to be no wrong answer.

Semper Fi.

Chuka is a wandering gunfighter that happens to get involved in a dispute between some starving indians and an oddball assortment of misfits at a calvary fort.In the middle of this Chuka meets an old flame traveling with her young female charge that have to hold up at the fort.After the battle army higher ups try to find out what happened to the troops and civilians ,there is only the post log and 2 fresh graves inside the fort walls,Very good western,has it all,some good scenery,the gunfighter,the army,and the indians,plus the underlying love story.Stars Rod Taylor,Earnest Borgnine and John Mills..........I would give it an A,but like this western and the stars,so that is just me..................

I saw this movie a long time ago when I was a kid and really enjoyed it back then (mid 70's). I must say it is everything I remembered. I thought it was a really good western. All the characters are memorable and it is a very compelling and fun movie to watch. Love Taylors character and costume as well as Whitmores as the old grizzled and tough scout. And the friction between the virile Taylor and the impotent Mills is great. And then add to it the hulking Ernest Borgnine who is Mills Sergeant and also the one man who respects and knows Mills and you have one of the best two fisted fight scenes in movie history. Watching Taylor and Borgnine go at it was just a gem.

As westerns were adjusting to the times in the late 60s, along came a dark western made on a small budget that is about as dark as westerns come in terms of storytelling. Riding south across the desert, a gunslinger named Chuka comes across a broken-down and stranded stagecoach with two passengers, one of them a woman from his past. Chuka escorts them to the nearest fort, Fort Clendennon, only to find a worst situation. The Arapaho are on the warpath and seem on the verge of a huge attack. What's worse is that the fort's garrison are the dregs of the cavalry, men sent their as a sort of punishment. Can Chuka figure out what to do before the coming attack? The action is good here, especially a knock-down, no holds barred fight between Chuka and an army sergeant played by Ernest Borgnine, and the final battle is a memorable one, fairly graphic too for the times. Not a huge budget here and the movie was filmed on an indoor set for the fort, but the story and cast overcome the flaws. Definitely give this one a try.

Rod Taylor leads a very capable cast as Chuka, a cowhand turned hired gun who meets a woman he loved from his past. Taylor played several anti-heroes in westerns, and is very good here as he builds up an impressive kill count. Ernest Borgnine is good in a tough guy role as Sgt. Otto Hahnsbach, the tough sarge who remains loyal to the fort's commander when everything points against it. John Mills plays Colonel Stuart Valois, the commander of the fort who yearns for the good old days with his British regiment in India. Italian beauty Luciana Paluzzi makes the most of a somewhat unnecessary part as Veronica, a Mexican woman with lots of money who may still have feelings for Taylor's Chuka. James Whitmore has a good role as Lou Trent, the grizzled old head scout who clashes with Valois and sides with Chuka. It's an all-around good cast that makes an average movie a notch above the rest.

The DVD, a good deal at around $10, has the movie in a high quality widescreen presentation but since the movie was filmed mostly on an indoor set, there's only a few shots of the California locations. No special features at all, but the print of the movie is a good one. A very good western that shows how the genre was changing, give Chuka a try!

This is a pretty good Western, not great, but enjoyable. I titled it "Italian Style", but have no idea where the film was made. The title was in honor of a lady who has not been given the recognition she so richly deserves. Luciana Paluzzi admits that had she not traveled back and forth to her home in Italy she might have had a bigger career by sticking to one country. Whatever the reason for her not being fully recognized, we are happy that she made films and TV appearances here as she is truly outstanding. I have to add that she is one of the best of the Bond women.