![The Killer Elite [DVD]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71Y7590PHZL._AC_UL160_SR160,160_.gif)
...I was thrilled to see that this film was available on DVD... but nervous at seeing "Morgan J. Freeman" listed as the director...(instead of Arnold Laven) Made me wonder... Only the fact that I was buying through Amazon made me go ahead and order.
...Advertised as "letterbox..." I got DVD and the "jacket" said "FULL SCREEN"... Well, don't worry... it IS in "LETTERBOX..." Disc is "bare bones..." Absolutely no special features... not even scene selection. You put in disc and movie runs... when done... runs again.
...Copy seems decent enough... especially the color... which has faded badly on the copies shown on TV... I last saw this film in widescreen at a theater in 1965 on a date... It has been shown on TV only rarely... I have had the opportunity three times in all these years (oddly, most recently the day before the DVD arrived) So a joy to see again in letterbox... with very good color... Scenes often missing in TV showings (training ride, soldier missing saloon fight) have been restored... and the sound quality is very good.
...As to the film itself... Would have been better if Sam Peckinpaw had directed rather than just written the screenplay (from Hoffman Birney's DICE OF GOD...) TWO romances to bog down the plot rather than just one... Seemingly unavoidable "bust up the saloon scene..."
...Having said that... a large part of the film is definitely amazing. The all time best wide screen cavalry vs Indians battle (and deployment to battle) to ever grace the screen. It has been many years since studios could afford this scale (until computer augmentation arrived...)
...The Glory Guys (unfortunate title) is a thinly veiled retelling of the Custer at the Little Bighorn story. For the most part, the terrain is hauntingly similar to Fort Abraham Lincoln area (except bluffs in distance) and the Little Bighorn itself... Quite a feat since filming took place in Durango, Mexico... 1500 miles south of the actual location (once in a while a tall cactus type plant only found from the Sonora on south pops up...)
...Riz Ortolani's (theme from Mondo Cane, etc) hard driving score matches the large scale action. More than 600 extras make the epic battle scenes memorable (wasted if not in widescreen). The cast is excellent... including newcomers, James Caan and Wayne Rogers. Harve Presnell (General Marshall in Saving Private Ryan) shows fine acting skills so rarely used (he was famous in musicals)
...Technical details not bad... such as showing the need to space out shots in four second intervals with 45.55 cavalry carbines... to avoid jamming. And critical fact that wearing out cavalry remounts in the days leading up to battle makes any retreat costly... Weakness of cavalry holding ground clearly shown... Horses to the rear... every 4th man horseholder... 25% of firepower immediately missing from the line.
...Commanding officer of regiment shown as Major General... In reality, at best would have been full colonel... (The actual commanding officer of 7th Cavalry, a full colonel, was gone for years on detached duty) and while a Brevet Major General from the Civil War... Custer was serving as a Lt. Colonel... though addressed by most of his officers as "General..." a courtesy that his brevet warrented...
...Tom Tryon's Captain Demas is a thinly disguised Captain Benteen, one of the finest company commanders in the 19th Century U.S. Army. Major "Marcus" stands in for Major Marcus Reno... an officer whose troops only survived because of Benteen having put backbone in their defense of the bluffs.
...Historically there is no proof that Custer wanted Benteen and Reno dead... (though Reno might well have thought so when Custer's promise of support proved worthless), a major plot item in the film, but they hated him and at best he wanted them away from as much glory as possible. Wishbone Creek mentioned in the film stands in for troops left to die at the Washita River by Custer... an action that turned half of his officers against him.
...There is no doubt that this is a flawed film; but where it shines... it glistens.
UPDATE 3/17/22: The actress Laurel Goodwin, who plays Beth in this film... was one of the highlights... Her character was intelligent, independent...and she should have been in far more films. Best known to most viewers for the original Star Trek pilot. She just passed away.
Y.P.
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D. W. Morgan
OLDER MOVIES ARE ENTERTAINING
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on June 14, 2022Amazon Customer
Good film spoilt by the two lead male characters fighting ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on May 20, 2016
