acari27 Lets face it, there's nothing video clip slick about this movie, its 1979,but.what stands above all else is the plot - and a couple of exemplary performances, and some lovely pictures-and despite numerous stories that become one in this film-this is ultimately a tale about obsession with the horse. In this case heroism, riches, dignity and respect are all sacrificed for a white fine limbed high tailed arabian ..almost to the point of despair...it has its ugly beautiful moments, and as horrific as it is to get a white guy to play a native American (similar to the cringe we feel when whitey's play a chinaman in some films), something about waterstons acting makes it feel OK, and lets face it-its a ripper of a plot, no matter what era you put it in ..."help me" sheen whimpers..and to all of us similarly obsessed with the horse, we understand...and we support abandoning the girl..lament the loss, and fly across the plains with that white wildness, that we will never see again..to those that know what im talking about..im truly sorry for our loss...one of those rare beautiful films that you watch as a kid and never ever forget

cheeftanz 8+ points for a take on a fresh and probably-kinda-maybe-perhaps-was look into back 'then'. American Indians quite probably stole more than killed (I doubt they were unusually bloodthirsty)...who really knows. Nice slower and somewhat uncommon pursuit... and the way things develop are not patterned which means it has a unique and lovely pace. I found this film to be most interesting. Thankfully not another mindless shoot em up. I thought this film would suck at first, but *wow* I wound up getting wrapped up and being entertained, this is why we have cinema... nice treasure... good job! I have hopes nobody dissects this film. When the entire movie unfolds I experienced many unique twists, impossible to determine what will be next. The characters are entirely human and have either honor or not... passion or not... forgiveness or not. Wound up loving the White Horse, the Indian, Sheen... even the damned desert was great. All good.

mefolkes The other commenters have written interesting things, indeed. The start of the movie had a reference to it being set in 1830. That is not "post-Civil War". It is thirty years before it. The setting is even a decade and a half before the Mexican-American War, thus being prior to the U.S. conquering what is now the southwestern United States and seizing it from the Mexicans. Pike was not a "cowboy", but rather a fur trapper, and it was the Indians who stole their pack horses and gear who killed his partner, with an arrow. Pike did not murder his partner. The setting was all wrong. The primary fur sought by the trappers was beaver, used mainly for the fashionable top hats of the eastern United States and Europe. The Europeans had already exterminated the beaver in much of its range in Europe due to over-harvesting. Beavers do not live in a desert, nor do any other furbearing animals that were being sought.

ma-cortes The picture narrates the odyssey of a cowboy (Martin Sheen) that one time murdered his partner , a white trapper ,(Harvey Keitel) by Indians , steals a horse (called Eagle wing) to Comanches . Having stolen a white mustang from a Kiowa Indian , he then pursues him to get his horse back . As he's pursued by an Indian (Sam Waterston) who retrieves it and vice versa , going on a relentless pursuit . Meanwhile , the Indians attack a stagecoach with passengers (Stephane Audran and John Castle as a priest whose role was offered to Trevor Howard) and abduct an attractive girl . A Mexican posse (Enrique Lucero , Claudio Brook ) set out to track down the savage raiders .Solid western with great loads of action and violence . From the initiation when horse robbing until the final , the fast-movement and action-packed western is continued . The pic is a crossover of various films , the white woman kidnapped by Indians just like ¨The searches¨ (by John Ford) , the battle against nature from ¨ Man in wilderness land ¨ (Richard C Sarafian) and ¨Jeremias Johnson¨ (Sidney Pollack) and obstinacy and stubbornness between two merciless enemies who fight with no rest such as ¨The duelists¨ (Ridley Scott) . The magnificent cast is formed by an excellent Martin Sheen (Apocalypse now) as tough and two-fisted rider obsessed to recover the slim and graceful horse . Sam Waterston (Killing Fields) in a rare role as Comanche is very fine . Supporting cast is featured by European actors, -this is a British production by Rank Organization- such as Stephane Audran (Claude Chabrol's muse) and John Castle (Lion in Winter) as the priest . Besides , Mexican actors (Jorge Luque , Claudio Brook, Enrique Lucero) because being set in Mexican frontier . Splendid cinematography by Billy Williams , it is wonderfully shown on spectacular landscapes . Lively and jolly musical score by by Mark Wilkinson . The motion picture was well directed by Anthony Harvey (Lion in Winter). However , the picture was a flop and barely obtained money and failed at box office .