Ulzana's Raid (1972)

Captivating movie !

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

ULZANA'S RAID, a surehand western directed by Robert Aldrich, is one of those films that most people have never heard of – even those who confess themselves fans of the genre. A blank look will invariably come into the eyes, accompanied by a shrug of the shoulders. Just another little movie forgotten in the mists of time. However, this is a film that doesn't deserve to be forgotten. It's a western that deserves classic status, mainly because it handles its unusual subject matter in a mature and direct way.The plot is straightforward: a group of soldiers are sent to pursue an Indian raiding party who have been wreaking havoc across the West. Along the way, there's time for camaraderie, violent showdowns, shoot-outs, and plenty of soul-searching. The latter comes from Bruce Davison, a young actor perfectly cast as the green lieutenant charged with tracking down the brutal Ulzana and his men. The lieutenant is a god-fearing Christian who simply cannot understand the atrocities being carried out by the men he's after, and he's to become a witness of the shocking brutalities carried out by those men. Although Davison is excellent in a prominent role, this movie's main performance is by Burt Lancaster as a weary, experienced tracker who's seen it all before and who leads the search for the missing Indians. His performance here is simply fantastic: he isn't acting, he's living the character on and off the screen, and I look forward to seeing him in more movies.This is a film heavy on dialogue and with little action – aside from the inevitable final confrontation – so fans raised on modern thrill-a-minute fare will no doubt find it lacking. That's a shame, because the grim subject matter is handled with plenty of sensitivity. Aldrich shot his film during the final days of the chaos in Vietnam, so it's inevitable that a kind of weary cynicism pervades the movie. The atrocities committed by the Indians are never shown but the aftermath is revealed in a couple of telling, horrifying images: bodies strung up with piles of ashes next to them, where they've been burned and tortured. These brief glimpses of savagery are far more effectual than grisly beheadings or scalpings and they've certainly stayed in my mind long after watching. Just one compelling element of what is a very fine and underrated movie.

Ulzana's Raid was released in that most downbeat of hippie years - 1972 and is a western that captures the zeitgeist of the early-'70s so well. Bleak and lacking metaphysical colour but directed with flair by Aldrich the narrative involves a breakout from a wretched reservation by a group of Apache braves. A US cavalry brigade led by but wet-behind-the-ears Lieutenant Garnett DeBuinn (young blond Bruce Davison) and scouts MacIntosh (Burt Lancaster) and Ki-Ne-Tay (Mexican actor Jorge Luke) set out to track the Apaches and encounter the spectacular but bleak Arizona-Mexican landscape. The Apaches are not depicted as noble savages and parallels with Vietnam are clear to see. London's Time Out Film Guide refer to this western as being: 'extraordinarily intelligent'. Some of the props are very interesting: for example the late 19th-Century framed military pictures in Major Cartwright's headquarters and a sort of mahogany welsh-dresser/pigeon-hole in the background which suggests a kind of synthesis. What about the tome and blue and white Dutch ceramic saucer in Willy Rukeyser's hut?

"Ulzana's Raid" is a bit more modern in style than many westerns, as it's bloodier and is a bit more grim than most films in the genre. However, it's not all modern, as there is no trace of the changing attitudes towards the American Indian, as in this film the Apaches are pretty much scum. This tribe takes pleasure in torture, murder and rape--things you won't see in a more modern western...if they made them any more. I am not sure how true this depiction of this particular tribe is true as well as one soldier blowing out his brains after murdering a white woman to prevent them from capturing them. All I know is that this made for a rather depressing film.Burt Lancaster plays a grizzled old scout. He is experienced in dealing with the Apache. Bruce Davison plays a VERY young and inexperienced Cavalry lieutenant who is in charge of a small expedition that is out to chased down and kill the Apache, Ulzana, and his raiding party. Much of the film consists of desert shots--with soldiers following Ulzana's trail. This is punctuated by period brutal scenes--brutal for 1972, though not all that brutal today.I noticed that some of the reviewers really liked this film. I found it all to be a bit ponderous and you KNEW how the film would end--only exactly how it got there was in question. An okay western but not among Lancaster's better films.By the way, although the film is rated R, it probably today would be rated PG-13 or perhaps even PG.

This movie accurately portrays the human dilemma of culture clash within the historical context of the colonisation of the Western United States. Ulzana and his Apache braves are confined to a miserable and dishonourable existence within a reservation after their lands have been seized. Rejecting the choice made by his brother-in-law to join the invading army, Ulzana breaks free to wreak havoc on the settlers who have stolen the land and emasculated the warrior culture of the Apache nation. As is so often the case in history, all the characters in this movie are victims of their circumstances, there are no heroes and villains. Both McIntosh's and Ulzana's fates are simultaneously noble, sad and inevitable. An extremely thoughtful and grittily realistic portrayal of a brutal time in American history that successfully avoids sentimentality and stereotyping. Highly recommended.