On paper, the story looked more like an old-school western, 'cowboys and indians'. In fact, Soldier Blue is an early revisionist western, told more from the Native American side as well as the anti-war movement. Like Little Big Man, this film was part of the learning process that challenged the demonisation of ‘injuns’ in countless cowboy movies.

Hurst, P.B. (2008). The Most Savage Film: Soldier Blue, Cinematic Violence and the Horrors of War. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-3710-8. Modern critics and scholars have alternately described Soldier Blue as a revisionist western [13] anti-American, [14] and as an exploitation film. [5] In 2004, the BBC named it "one of the most significant American films ever made." [15] British author and critic P.B. Hurst, who wrote the 2008 book The Most Savage Film: Soldier Blue, Cinematic Violence and the Horrors of War, said of the film: [16]The central section of the film, when Honus and Cresta are wandering through the wilderness enduring trials and falling in love, is thoughtful, eventful, gentle and exciting. But the raison d'etre of this movie - stated, if obliquely, in Buffy St Marie's opening theme song - is the massacre at the end, which is genuinely horrific (if rather dated in terms of special effects).

When it was released in 1970, the film's title and the original 'nude squaw' poster made this look like it was going to be softcore porno. In addition, the fuss in the press at the time made it sound like a violent atrocity of bad taste.From accounts I'd read about the stuntwork and particularly the gruesome prosthetic make-up effects (like in John Brosnan's book Movie Magic), it sounded like the British censors had made many extensive cuts. Waymark, Peter (December 30, 1971). "Richard Burton top draw in British cinemas". The Times. London. BBC2's print was in an approximate 1.85:1 widescreen ratio, and ran for about 112 minutes (TV speed, though). However, the BBC could not tell me if any material had been censored or cut by them, or by the distributor of the movie. Soldier Blue" often gets touted as a "revisionist western", but its actually got more in common with exploitation cinema, of which it's one of the genre's best.

Principal photography began on October 28, 1969, with exterior photography taking place in Mexico. [1] Arthur J. Ornitz was originally hired as the film's cinematographer, but was replaced by Robert B. Hauser several weeks into production. [1] According to Bergen, a large van full of prosthetics was brought in during the filming of the violent battle sequences, full of dummy body parts and animatronics. [7] Additionally, amputees from Mexico City were hired to serve as extras during the final massacre sequence. [7] Release [ edit ] It's almost fifty years later now and we have seen more violence than they even thought of showing in Soldier Blue. We have read the Pentagon Papers and watched Dances with Wolves. Don't miss the beginning at any cost.Or else you would not hear Buffy Sainte-Marie's eponymous anthemic song (Yes this is my country,young and growing free and flowing from sea to sea...).The version of the song as performed here features a string arrangement not present in the original version (which is to be found on BSM's "she used to wanna be a ballerina",vanguard).This song is as moving today as it was 30 years ago,and when the singer implores "can't you see there's another way to love her?" it gains an universal meaning(not only American natives or Vietnamese as it was mooted at the time for the movie) But what made "Soldier Blue" popular were its allusions to the Vietnam War. The film was released in 1970, several months after news of the My Lai Massacre (and its attempted cover-up) was leaked to the public. The My Lai Massacre, of course, occurred in 1968, and involved a United States Army task force which marched into My Lai, a hamlet in South Vietnam, and killed over 500 civilians.

Both expected moments occur; both are as facile as everything else. The mournful moment might have worked a better if it didn't look like a lot of extras had spilled red paint on themselves. An allegory to Vietnam specifically? More than that, an allegory of what the United States was born to be, where it was that it gave birth to itself, what it is supposed to do and what it actually does. America is a dream. When we wake up we are forced to deal with reality and the deeds of imperfect people, or remain sleeping -but, sometimes, reality catches-up with us whether we like it or not.I saw Soldier Blue several times at the cinema when it first came out, covered in notoriety, and have watched it a number of times since. Perhaps some of the musical score, or the paralels with the Vietnam war are now dated, but generally it remains a powerful film that also makes you think. To be sure, this is a comedy overall. This relieves it of a lot of criticism about its unrealistic tone and pace. But this comic element is layered with a brutality and frankly honest depiction of the time that is valuable. And the way it is filmed, with lots of long lens shots from a far distance zooming in on the main characters, is interesting, too. In all, it's a better film in the details than in the overall effect. U.S. Cavalry who were breaking new ground. For Nelson’s portrayal of the boys in blue as blood crazed

Shaun - it's the final 20 minutes of the movie, that give the film its "18" certificate, and also the problems with censorship in most parts of the world. (Even the US still doesn't have an uncut version legally available!) Video (26th January 1990) - Rated "18", still cut, some previous cuts now included, but now running to 109m 28s.Retrospective analysis has placed the film in a tradition of motion pictures of the early 1970s– such as Ulzana's Raid (1972)– which were used as "natural venues for remarking on the killing of women and children by American soldiers" in light of the political conflicts of the era. [17] However, the "visual excesses" of the film's most violent sequences have been similarly criticized as exploitative by modern critics as well. [18] The film provided the first motion picture account of the Sand Creek massacre, one of the most infamous incidents in the history of the American frontier, in which Colorado Territory militia under Colonel John M. Chivington massacred a defenseless village of Cheyenne and Arapaho on the Colorado Eastern Plains. Anyway, I'd heard all about its notoriety, but having never seen the movie or any clips, I hadn't been able to vouch for its content. I have to say that it was a brutal film, albeit quite humorous in places, and despite my hatred of Westerns, this is one of the few really good ones. Soldier Blue is somewhat notorious, and even to this day 23 seconds have been cut by the BBFC. My review copy, however, was uncut, which gave me an opportunity to see the film as it was intended and find out for myself if its notoriety is justified. The account of the massacre is included as part of a longer fictionalized story about the escape of two white survivors from an earlier massacre of U.S. Cavalry troops by Cheyenne, and names of the actual historical characters were changed. Director Nelson stated that he was inspired to make the film based on the wars in Vietnam and Sơn Mỹ. [6]