Customer Reviews

The White Buffalo (MGM Limited Edition Collection)

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This movie is based on Richard Sale's book concerning two characters enroute to their mutual destiny, Crazy Horse and Wild Bill Hickock. They are both called to hunt the sacred White Buffalo for a different purpose. Crazy Horse, to re-claim the right to be called by his name and to wrap the hyde around his dead child so that she can enter paradise. While Hickock is drawn by a sixth sense toward his encounter through nightmarish dreams in the belief that the confrontation will solve the sickness that has been in his brain. The movie is so full of western slang that you almost need a glossary of terms like the nadsat language in "A Clockwork Orange", to know what is going on. It is either a great movie or just an average one according to how you feel about a western that is mysterious, deep, intensely dark, full of atmospheric snow laden mountains, a god-like Buffalo that cannot be stopped and a stand out performance by Clint Walker as a very bad adversary. Incredibly the moody but excellent adaptive music was never released on this film until 2002!...and then only on a limited run for film buffs (no pun intended)You can almost classify this as a Western Horror movie and it has an excellent supporting cast, including Kim Novack,Slim Pickens, John Carradine and others who fill the stock characters to perfection. The poster used to advertise this film is a real collector's item and it is a film that should be preserved in the future with a quality DVD transfer. I normally don't like Westerns but this caught my attention. Bronson was the big box-office draw at the time and this movie was a critical failure in 1977 but it still endures and captures the imagination today due to it's wierd subject matter. Probably ahead of its time!.

I have been searching all over the internet for a copy of this film, which I consider one of Charles Bronson's best. I much preferred him in movies like "The White Buffalo" and "Once Upon a Time in the West," as opposed to the "Death Wish" series. I find "The White Buffalo" to be one of those movies you don't forget. The climax scene where the buffalo crashes through a wall of snow and ice gave me nightmares when I first saw it! If you're a Charles Bronson/Old West genre fan, buy or rent this movie.

A decidedly odd combination to be sure but that was my impression after seeing this atypical Charles Bronson Western again after more than 30 years (I first saw it on its original release in 1977). The supernatural elements of the story along with the unreal reality of some of the lighting and use of color recall such Hammer horrors as THE GORGON and THE BRIDES OF DRACULA. The beauty of some of the images and the uneven editing resemble the later films of D.W. Griffith. Portions of the movie were even filmed where Griffith shot the battles for BIRTH OF A NATION back in 1914. The town sequences were shot at a Western museum in Colorado while most of the mountain scenes were shot in New Mexico. The sometimes jarring editing, lapses in continuity, and occasional sloppiness are typical of director J. Lee Thompson's (THE GUNS OF NAVARONE, CAPE FEAR) later films probably the results of tight budgets. A good example of this is Jack Warden's glass eye make-up which changes from scene to scene. Sometimes he doesn't appear to be wearing any make-up at all. But these are minor distractions. Thompson's pace is excellent. He knows how to move the film along while staging his action set pieces effectively.

The setting is 1874 during the gold rush that took place in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Wild Bill Hickok (Bronson) has come there not for gold but to find a monster white buffalo which has been haunting his dreams. He has syphilis ("caught a cold in the pants that won't go away" is how it's described) and needs to wear shades to protect his eyes. Chief Crazy Horse (Will Sampson) also seeks the white buffalo to avenge the death of his child and regain his lost honor. Take this storyline, add a number of seasoned performers like Slim Pickens, Clint Walker, and Kim Novak, along with Paul Lohmann's striking cinematography and you have a Western unlike any other. The film flopped on its original release and it's not hard to see why. Too strange for Western purists, not enough action for Bronson fans, and bad word of month about the title animal (which was mechanical not CGI) kept people away. Looked at today the unreal quality of the buffalo fits the dreamlike nature of the film and several striking images such as the mountain of buffalo bones and the cave scenes linger in the memory long afterwards. THE WHITE BUFFALO is another in the new MGM DVD-R series of requested but previously unreleased films which means no extras of any kind but the widescreen transfer is gorgeous and John Barry's vivid score sounds as haunting as ever

I like this film very much. Bronson was perfect for the role. The feel of the movie is very dark, dreary and cold. He plays off of this like a pro. Happy to say it didn't follow the typical Western plot so common in Hollywood. The friendship between Hickok and Crazy Horse is the high point of the film. It is too bad this movie never received more credit. I'd recommend this movie for anyone interested in Bronson and/or the Old West Legends.

Critics love to hate this movie, proclaiming the white buffalo laughable and the script's language stilted. "Moby Dick Does Montanna," one reviewer guffawed. Forget the critics. This is a terrific movie with a first-rate cast. Clint Walker ("Whistling Jack" Kileen) makes a glorious villain, especially in the barroom scene in which Walker attempts to "brace" Bronson (Wild Bill Hickock). The movie has a dark, brooding quality that underscores Hickock's nightmarish quest for the menacing White Buffalo. No one at the theatre where I saw the movie laughed when the bellowing buffalo crashed through the wall of ice. But then, I was the only person in the theatre at that marvelous matinee showing thirty years ago. I'm still not laughing. Only applauding.

To begin with, my favorite films are westerns, so I look at the uniqueness of films to rate them. Bronson as Wild Bill Hickock was a stroke of genius, as the real Hickock had that simmering quality, the thought that he could explode at any minute, the same type Bronson portrays in so many other films. The plot of nightmares and hidden demons realized in a rogue white buffalo add enough of a dark quality to the script that I found to be the different edge to draw me in. Will Sampson as Crazy Horse gives the film that leap away from stereotypical Native Americans. No John Wayne type heroes here; the characters are not black and white but many shades of grey. For an added treat, watch this film on a double bill with Breakheart Pass.

This is one of the better movies I've seen. Some people disagree and say its a time waster, but they just don't get it. A must for Bronson fans as well as a good flick for just about anyone. The settings and characters are exceptional. I have been able to find this movie on a high quality foreign DVD on E-Bay. highly recommended.

Richard Sales' book made into film has returned for purchase again, finally. It stars Charels Bronson, Will Sampson and Jack Warden in Dino De Laurentis' bigger than life production. It's the story of 'Wild' Bill Hickok and Chief Crazy Horse supposedly based on a true event where the two men met to fight the same nightmare that haunted them both. At this time, Hickok was dying from syphillis and Crazy horse would soon fight his last battle. The two men become friends as they hunt the White Spike. Hickok because he is terrified of the nightmares he has of it and Crazy Horse to wrap his child killed by the Buffalo as it stampeded through his village. Crazy horse must wrap the child in the white buffalo hide so she can enter the Great Indian after-Life. Jack Warden is also along as Hickok's best friend, although his reasons are monetary only. The White Buffalo, built by Carlo Rambaldi, has been said to appear fake on the screen, but this two ton terror appears real enough to bring chills to you as it terrorizes the western mountains. Rambaldi wanted to achieve a 'dream-like' effect since both men were hunting a 'nightmare. He has more than succeeded. In the end both Hickok and Crazy Horse both bring it down and Hickok loses his friend Jack Warden because he gives the hide to Crazy Horse, a hide that would have brought $2000 back then. It is also when Crazy Horse finds out his 'friend' is the one and only Wild Bill Hickok, enemy of his people for shooting their Peacemaker years ago. Crazy Horse says, though they part as 'brothers, they will never meet that way again. Richard Sales did much research on the two 'brothers' and the story is sworn to be true. In the end, Hickok and Crazy Horse die the same year, each by violent methods. A plus in this film, although a small role, is the beautiful Kim Novak as "Poker Jenny", a love of Hickoks. This film is a DVD-R version, but even though worthy of being released as a regular DVD, the picture and sound are absolutely perfect. The snowy mountains of the old west could not have looked more beautiful. Buy this one before it's gone again. You won't regret it.

I originally saw this on a double-bill with "Demon Seed" when I was 14. For whatever reason it inexplicably stayed with me. This is the first time I've seen it some thirty years on and I still like it but with reservations. I think as a teenager I viewed it as a monster-western and that may explain the appeal. The film now strikes me as a character study of two sworn enemies Wild Bill Hickok(Charles Bronson) and Crazy Horse (Will Sampson) bound together by their pursuit of an elusive quarry. The acting of both men is quite good but I think their characters are underwritten which I think lies in the script. It may also lie with the film's relatively brief running time of 97 minutes. If ever a film deserves an expanded director's edition "The White Buffalo" is it. Then of course there's the methaphorical title animal. The creature effects are so ridiculous, though the sound effects are good, that it doesn't really suggest the terror the buffalo strikes in men's hearts. Despite these qualms I highly recommend the film. It's an ambitious film as opposed to being a pretentious or ponderous one. I'll take any film that takes the high road and falls a tad short over a mediocre one that achieves it's meager intentions.

I don't usually write reviews(just rate), but I love Bronson and this flick is one to watch. This movie shows a unique look into Wild Bill's life, real or not. Crazy Horse is portrayed as a true native american and not some white actor painted up. He is probably the best I've seen in any western and I've seen my share.

Anyway, I felt compelled to write this review because it should be transferred to the DVD format and it appears it will need all the attention and reviews it can get so that this may happen.