Scott LeBrun
Character actor Joaquin Martinez plays the title role in this pursuit-Western, a story of a fierce Apache war chief who flees a reservation with his comrades, determined to institute a reign of terror. A wet-behind-the-ears Cavalry officer, Lt. DeBuin (Bruce Davison), is put in charge of the pursuit, and while he will have the final say in military matters, he will also need to defer to the judgment of McIntosh (Burt Lancaster), the veteran Indian scout who will be used for tracking. Also along for the ride is an Indian named Ke-Ni-Tay (Jorge Luke), and DeBuin will have his doubts as to where Ke-Ni-Tays' loyalty lies.Filmed against some beautiful countryside, this is an overlooked item on the resume of accomplished filmmaker Robert Aldrich, better known for such films as "Kiss Me Deadly", "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?", and "The Dirty Dozen". Some viewers may take exception to the portrayal of Indians in this narrative, as most of them are true savages, but director Robert Aldrich and screenwriter Alan Sharp ("Night Moves") make sure to drive home the point that there will be atrocities committed by both sides. The two parties are not really that different. Lending his expert advise and wisdom is McIntosh, who always has something interesting to say to the impassioned but somewhat naive DeBuin. Aldrich and Sharp pull no punches in terms of violence, which would cause them to lose some more audience members. And yet everything plays out with a refreshing lack of sentimentality. The Cavalry endures in their mission, despite the fact that these particular opponents always seem to be more than one step ahead of them.The performances are first-rate, with Lancaster scoring in one of his most matter-of-fact, low key portrayals. Davison is just right in his part. Luke has some scene-stealing moments, especially when he says, "His wife, ugly. My wife, not so ugly." As played by Martinez, Ulzana remains something of an enigma; the character has few major scenes and not much dialogue to utter. Richard Jaeckel, Lloyd Bochner, Karl Swenson, John Pearce, and Richard Bull comprise an excellent supporting cast; among the Cavalrymen are Ted Markland, Nick Cravat, and Richard Farnsworth.Designed as a Vietnam war allegory, the picture does have a clearly stated message warning against demonizing ones' opponents, and plays out in a reasonably realistic fashion. Recommended.Seven out of 10.
Anssi Vartiainen
Ulzana's Raid is a pretty efficient period piece about the horrors of the Indian Wars. It tells the tale of a young lieutenant Garnett DeBuin (Bruce Davison) as he is given the command to track and apprehend a small Apache war party, which has left the reservation led by their leader Ulzana (Joaquín Martínez). With him he has a veteran tracker and army scout McIntosh (Burt Lancaster).The star power of Lancaster, and to a lesser degree Martínez and Davison, cannot be denied. He is a classic gruff and tainted hero of American Wild West, shaded by life, but still willing to travel to the ends of the Earth for the right cause. Ulzana is also an intimidating figure, though given a pretty stereotypical treatment as the savage Indian, but at least they made him calculating and intelligent. DeBuin is the focus character, through whom we experience the story, and it's nice to see him growing from a total greenhorn into an actual officer.Unfortunately the story is extremely dull. Some might call it classic, I call it stereotypical and predictable. Nothing new is tried, it's merely old scenes and tricks after another. I could have told you how the story's going to end after the first five minutes.The pacing is also agonizingly slow and the dialogues are not interesting enough to give our characters any depth. Partly this is because of the time period and the conventions of the genre, but mostly it's just weak script.Ulzana's Raid is not the worst western I've seen, but it epitomizes all the things that I don't like about the genre. It's slow, formula-driven and ultimately pretty uninteresting.
eric262003
"Ulzana's Raid" is about a radical Apache named Ulzana (Joaquin Martinez) who departed from his reservation and is now on a mission to gain his freedom. But the American Army won't let him slip by that easily, in which they call upon a grizzled old scout named McIntosh (Burt Lancaster) to hunt him down. A platoon is in session to stop him and that's where a young, inexperienced military graduate, Christian idealist Lt. DeBuin (Bruce Davison) steps in to take charge. However, as he tries to be reasonable to the Natives, compared to the other white soldiers, his ways get progressively put to the test when he encounters Ulzana and his allies as they engage in a brutal battle.Back in the 1950's and the early 1960's when Western films were quite popular, Native people were the most viciously discriminated by the ever popular Hollywood machine. They were easily dismissed as semi-primitive, blood-thirsty savages, while the cowboys in their little white 10 gallon hats and their little brown steeds were represented as the good ol' boys. But by the 1970's when the Western genre was slowly fading out, it's ideals were much more heavily scrutinized. In the case of "Ulzana's Raid" we can carefully look at the movie with two contrary connections. The first being the topic of racism, which exists in this movie, and the other connection is that it relates to the the Vietnam War which was still in operation at the time.It should not surprise us that the Apache tribe is a subliminal decoy to the at the time nemesis the Viet Cong with their desire for violence and their similar desire to not be taken down by the American Army. This is no way a good versus evil story because when a war takes place it's a fight between the less of two evils. I'm not taking any sides here. As a Mohawk myself, I was very appalled by some of the despicable violent acts the Apache's did, but is only foretold in the epilogue when DeBuin's soldiers captured them, and the Army and the settlers who arbitrarily decided to interfere when they never should have to begin with. When you put these two factions together, blood will bestow upon their very souls.Now just to be fair the film does not at the same time completely demonetizes the Apache tribe while at the same time does not fully chastise the American Army. It's practically because of the shared experience McIntosh has been a part of both worlds. There was time when he once lived and adapted the lifestyles of the Native people; in fact he was once married to a Native woman. What's more is that unlike his troop, he does not have a full hatred towards Native people, he still knows all too well what they're capable of doing and fears them. But to DeBuin, they are easily handled, you get the vibes that Ulzana is not touched by the fact that he and his fellow defeated tribe that they are given a Christian burial.But even the Democratic DeBuin's motives was to appease the viewers that a peaceful solution can help overcome this dire situation. He even goes far as to treat the Apaches fairly as they raid houses and cause quite a commotion to the inhabitants, killing and annihilating them to the ground and raping the ladies with no signs of any kind of sympathy in their souls. Both factions can't seem to find any kind of humanity towards one another so neither adversaries are playing with kids gloves. It's an epic fight till one faction is completely expunged. The remaining two locked in the middle of all this carnage are the grizzled McIntosh and an Apache warrior named Ke-Ni-Tay (Jorge Luke) who was much depicted as an outsider drifting on with heartbreak and pain (Lancaster was very good at exhibiting that) as the film draws near a rather painful and uncompromising conclusion. Even though Alan Sharp's script is pure gold, the action sequences are something that we have all seen before, but the sensitivity that script conveys revises the scope of how Natives were portrayed.
Mike Gingold
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.