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A textbook example of how a penny-pinching producer can ruin a potentially great movie by basically sandbagging its (admittedly truculent) director, MAJOR DUNDEE nevertheless works as an answer of thoughts to the glorious Cavalry westerns of John Ford. Sam Peckinpah, on his third film overall and first one with a large-scale budget, was somehow able to pull a good film out of his controversial hat, thanks in no small part to his cast.

Heston plays an ambitious, ego-driven warden of a prison outpost in New Mexico in the closing months of the Civil War. When a rampaging band of Apache slaughter a family at a nearby ranch and then take apart a regiment he sends out to destroy them, Heston sees his way to get out of his routine job and get promoted. But to do this, he must form a garrison of troopers comprised of civilians, blacks, and Confederate prisoners. One of the latter is Ben Tyreen (Richard Harris), who had once been his friend but is now his worst enemy. Furthermore, his pursuit of the Apache, once it starts, will take the troopers across the Rio Grande into French-occupied northern Mexico. Now, they'll not only have to worry about hunting down the Apache and keeping the peace amongst themselves, they also have to worry about French lancers.

Despite the film being butchered so maliciously to the point where many critics rightly complained about its incoherence, plus a marital music score that Peckinpah detested royally (he could have used Jerry Goldsmith here), MAJOR DUNDEE succeeds by pulling out as many stops as it can. It benefits from being shot almost exclusively on location in Mexico (under truly ghastly conditions, which would have happened even without studio interference). The photography by Sam Leavitt is also quite good (though, in another case where the producer overrode the director, Peckinpah couldn't use his favorite cameraman Lucien Ballard on the shoot). And there are those moments of violence and bloodshed that predate, though in a more 'PG-13' fashion, Peckinpah's next film, the far more violent 1969 epic THE WILD BUNCH.

Heston is as good as ever in the title role. But surprisingly, he is nearly matched on screen by Harris, who plays his role as an Irish supporter of the Confederacy with great dash and insight. James Coburn also does good journeyman work as the one-armed scout Sam Potts. Peckinpah rounds out the cast with his Usual Suspects: Warren Oates, Ben Johnson, R.G. Armstrong, L.Q. Jones, John Davis Chandler, Slim Pickens, and Dub Taylor.

In spite of all its flaws, MAJOR DUNDEE is still quite viewable, which is why I rank it an 8 out of 10.

NOTE: In 2005, for its 40th anniversary re-release, Sony Pictures released an extended version of MAJOR DUNDEE on DVD, with twelve minutes of footage once thought irretrievably lost placed back in; and they've replaced the original marital music score in favor of one by Christopher Caliendo. It is closer to what Peckinpah had in mind, but with thirty minutes of additional footage irretrievably lost, there's no telling whatsoever how much better this film might have been had Peckinpah not been sandbagged. Nevertheless, it still stands as a slightly flawed but never dull Civil War western.

Major Dundee (1965) was a test of wills between Sam Peckinpah and the studio heads, it was also a proto-type for his true master piece The Wild Bunch. The movie seems to be edited by foreign hands and out of place music has been added to the soundtrack. The most annoying thing about this film (besides the bad editing and music) is the narration, it seems so out of place.

Major Dundee is about a drunken battle harden officer who must lead a rag tag bunch of p.o.w.s, prisoners and calvary men across the southwestern desert and into Mexico searching for some "wild Indians". As they travel further and further across the arid plains, the people within the troop discover death, disease and horror along the way. They also learn something about themselves.

What could have been an epic western drenched in booze and blood was sloppily edited so it theaters could fit in more viewings and the content shocked the movie board. This led to Sam Peckinpah to become disillusioned with Hollywood and drift in and out of television before he got another chance at making another film within the studio system.

Recommended for Sam Peckinpah fans, others need not apply.

Exciting and enjoyable Western with a very fine cast , luxurious cinematography and gorgeous outdoors from Mexico . This cultured actioner Western contains impressive feats , dashingly violent scenes , rider pursuits , breathtaking Indians attacks and loads of crossfire .Interesting and mythical film follows a misfit group across Mexican territory to chase a renegade Apache called Sierra Charriba who is loosely based on the real-life Apache warrior chief Vittorio . It is set during the last winter of the Civil War, cavalry officer Major Amos Charles Dundee (Charlton Heston) leads a contentious troop of Army regulars along with a band of Confederate prisoners led by Captain Benjamin Tyreen (Richard Harris) who volunteer to go into Mexico and track down a band of rampaging Apache Indians .

This is a flawed but watchable Peckinpah including thrills , emotion , shootouts , go riding and a love story between Heston and Senta Berger. An overlong film , approx. 124 minutes , being severely cut from its premiere , and directed with typical verve by the great Sam Peckinpah . Rich in texture and including intelligent screenplay full of incredibly lyrics scenes . Taut excitement throughout , beautifully photographed and spectacular bloodletting . Vibrant as well as brilliant all-star-cast displays exceptional performances . Very good acting by main actors , as Heston as tough officer leading assorted misfits against Apaches and Richard Harris as two-fisted rebel Confederate . Although Charlton Heston famously did not get along with Richard Harris, who frequently stayed up drinking into the early hours and was often late on set. During filming, Sam Peckinpah was so obnoxious and abusive towards his actors that Charlton Heston actually threatened the director with a saber ; Heston later remarked that this was the only time he had ever threatened anybody on a movie set . Lavish production by Columbia Pictures that wanted to dismiss Sam Peckinpah but Charlton Heston convinced it not to, when he threatened to return his $300,000 fee and leave the project. Support cast is frankly well , plenty of familiar faces . Many of the actors who came to be known as the "Sam Peckinpah Stock Company" appeared in this film and four years later in Sam Peckinpah's Wild Bunch (1969): Warren Oates, Ben Johnson, L. Q. Jones, Dub Taylor, Aurora Clavel, Enrique Lucero. Furthermore , other actors regular in Western movies and Peckinpah films as James Coburn , R. G. Armstrong , Karl Swenson , Michael Pate and John Davis Chandler. Atmospheric and evocative musical score by Daniel Amfitheatroph . Glimmer and evocative cinematography in Panavision by excellent director of photography Sam Leavitt , though Peckinpah, replacing his ordinary cameraman Lucien Ballard, with whom he had had a good working relationship since "Ride the high sierra" (1962) .

The motion picture was spectacularly directed by Peckinpah , though he downed it , being strongly cut by producers . After the success of Sam Peckinpah's later Wild Bunch (1969), Columbia Pictures told him they would allow him to re-shoot parts of this film that had been cut from the released version , Peckinpah, eventually, declined the offer .

The problems behind the scenes of this Civil War-era western (director vs producer over final cut, director's excesses and delays causing budget issues) are legendary. Thankfully, though the finished product is far from perfect, enough good things remain to make the film watchable and entertaining. Heston plays the square-jawed title character, an action-loving soldier who resents being put in charge of a prison camp. When a local settlement is slaughtered by Apaches, he must set out to rescue three captured boys but finds that he can't do it alone and must rely on a ragtag assortment of helpers. One of the few "real" officers he gets is Hutton as a rather bumbling, by-the-numbers lieutenant. He fills out his party with several Confederate prisoners, notably Harris as an embittered Captain, one-armed scout Coburn, several Negro Union soldiers led by Peters and various criminals and degenerates including Taylor and Pickens. Heston and Harris forge a very uneasy alliance as they head south into Mexico to retrieve the captives. They stumble onto the remains of a village in which curvy Berger is tending to the sick and dying. Needless to say, she sparks the interest of both Heston and Harris, only adding to their enmity. Eventually, the motley band of soldiers finds itself hunting Apaches while being hunted by French soldiers who are occupying Mexico. This escalates into an almost impossible situation when Heston's group reaches a river with the enemy both in front of and behind him. All the elements for a grand-scale, epic story are in place, but it falls short of excellence because of the problems in the editing room. Heston is great as the damaged, but heroic Major. Harris, though oddly cast and sporting that goofy blue eyeshadow he favored in the 60's, is also strong and the two make great adversaries. Coburn's role is smaller, but he gives it impact. Berger's role epitomizes the words decorative and obligatory, but she is luminous, especially when she isn't continuously yanking on her shawl (which happens VERY often!) The cast is chock full of excellent actors who enhanced many western films and television series. Oates has a nice turn as a Confederate who tests Heston's mettle (though he is referred to many times as a boy and was 37 years old!) Anderson is very endearing as a young bugler who becomes a man during the conflict. (Palacios, who plays his love interest, married director Peckinpah after this.) The primary problems seem to come in the mid to late section of the film when many things happen to the characters in swift succession and it's hard to completely gather their motivations and the timing of the actions. This section was clearly cut, haphazardly, and it weakens the narrative and the pace of the film. (Note Heston's sudden beard which appears out of nowhere.) Also, some of the battle sequences are edited so choppily that it's difficult to see who's being killed off! One must just assume, from whoever's left at the end, that the rest of the characters didn't make it. Still, the action scenes in the film are excitingly staged and the actors go a long way in putting the story across. Though it is rarely shown in widescreen, that format is a must for fully appreciating the camera-work and composition of the film. Heston, who admired (but tangled mightily with) Peckinpah, wound up making no money for his work as he put up his salary to help defray the cost overruns.

"Major Dundee" is a Western hard to classify, in part because of some deliberate ambiguity in vision characteristic of director Sam Peckinpah's later work, in part from trying to force too much into too small a space. The result is a picture deeply flawed though never uninteresting.

The concept is terrific, anyway: In the waning days of the American Civil War, an Apache raiding party attacks a Union force and makes off with three small boys. Chasing them, with a mixture of Union, captured Confederate, and irregular civilian forces, is one Major Amos Dundee (Charlton Heston), a reckless albeit humane seeker of the same kind of glory that led George Custer to Little Bighorn a decade hence.

It's a big role tailor-made for Heston, who fills the part in his singular ham-on-wry way, going for the big moment even when delivering the smallest of lines, doing so with the kind of nuance and wit that carries you along for the ride. Heston imitators like Phil Hartman must have had a field day watching as Heston, stripped to his undershirt but still wearing a manly neckerchief, tells his head scout (James Coburn): "Don't get yourself killed. That would inconvenience me."

Also terrific is Richard Harris as the leader of the captured Confederates, Tyreen, a fellow more noble than Dundee but nursing an even more bloated sense of wounded pride. Harris was another blowhard actor who overdid it a lot but nails it here. Between Dundee and Tyreen is much of the film's central conflict. To Peckinpah's credit the early scenes showcasing this tension are every bit as tense and exciting as the action sequences later on.

Peckinpah even gets great service from such disparate elements as comic actor Jim Hutton (who doesn't seem to belong in a Peckinpah picture, yet makes it work here as a befuddled lieutenant with able help from Heston), location shooting in Mexico, and skysets that sometimes call to mind David Lean's work on "Lawrence Of Arabia."

Peckinpah was trying to make the same kind of epic as "Lawrence," vast in scope and profound in message. Here "Dundee" gets into serious trouble. As Dundee's band rides on, the script ambles off into strange directions, shoehorning a romance and a drinking binge for Dundee that pulls us away from the central story even as that mutates into twin conflicts with the Apaches and the French, all resolved in a rushed and unsatisfying fashion. Minor characters, played by name talents like Dub Taylor and Slim Pickens, are established as if they herald things to come, only to completely disappear instead. The theme music is as ill-fitting as Coburn's phony beard.

By all accounts Peckinpah eventually lost interest in "Major Dundee," and the result is a film that never finds its way. But it is never dull, and often arresting, especially as it gives Heston one of his broadest acting canvases. Dundee would be unsympathetic in almost anyone else's hands, but Heston gives him a humanity that draws him closer, and makes his foibles more real to us, even to some degree shared, as we watch every other character in the film round on him sooner or later and find ourselves pulling for Dundee even when he's wrong.

However lacking in discipline "Dundee" is, you can watch it over and over and come away entertained and with a different feeling each time, which shows something was working. A problem picture, yes, but one with a lot of heart, soul, and vision, a failed experiment but one worth experiencing all the same.

In 1864, the Apache warriors led by Sierra Charriba slaughter a Union troop of soldiers and a family of settlers. They abduct their three sons and flee to Mexico. Major Amos Charles Dundee (Charlton Heston), who was disgraced at the Battle of Gettysburg and sent to a POW outpost in New Mexico, decides to hunt down Sierra Charriba and his Apache seeking for glory. He recruits an army of Confederate prisoners-of-war, black soldiers, a reverend that knows the boys and outcast people (thieves, drunken etc.) and chases the Apache group seeking also revenge, crossing illegally the border with Mexico.

The restored version of "Major Dundee" is a good film directed by Sam Peckinpah. The story of revenge and seeking glory by a stubborn officer has great moments, mainly the constant friction between Union and Confederate soldiers that are forced to team-up. The lack of chemistry between Charlton Heston and Senta Berger in an unnecessary romance could have been edited. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Juramento de Vingança" ("Vengeance Oath")

Originally intended as a searing epic by director Sam Peckinpah, Major Dundee was taken away from his guiding hands post production and edited into an almost incoherent mess. Here in the new millennium we are able to see a restoration of the film with added scenes that gives the film are more cohesive structure, and yes it improves the film ten fold because the characters have flesh on their bones. Yet still we are only really glimpsing three parts of Peckinpah's vision since there is another 30 minutes of film seemingly lost forever, and that is a crying shame because this film could have been a Western masterpiece had it been allowed to flourish.

There is still a lot to enjoy here though, Major Dundee leads a rag tag army of Union soldiers, Confederate rebels, convicts, loonies, and a one armed James Coburn into Mexico to hunt down an Apache army who are responsible for deadly attacks on U.S. bases in Texas. It's not so much "The Dirty Dozen", but more like the dirty army! And in the main here it's the fractious nature of this assembled army that gives the film its vigour and selling point. Almost certainly the film is one of the forerunners of Vietnam allegories, and like it or not it's the thematic undercurrent of soldiers under prepared that keeps the pic above average.

The cast are fine, it's like a roll call for the macho assembly, Charlton Heston is Dundee, a big square jawed brash man who tries to keep this army in line whilst dealing with his own nagging ego. Richard Harris owns the film as Tyreen, his on going personal war with Dundee gives the film added impetus. James Coburn plays a very interesting character, but it's a character that demands more time on screen than we actually get (perhaps the victim of the cretinous cuts?), and it leaves a hankering feeling that never quite leaves you.

It's a fine journey, it's a fine character piece, and everyone also note that the wide screen shoot is gorgeous, but at the end of the day Major Dundee is only hinting at the genius that would deliver The Wild Bunch four years down the line and Straw Dogs two years later, but it could have been so very different...

Forgive them for they know not what they do. 7/10

"Major Dundee" is a forgotten, much underrated masterpiece, though admittedly affected by many defects. Indeed, here the director Peckinpah is (almost) as much innovative as in his undisputed best work "The Wild Bunch". The realism of many scenes, like that of the camp-hospital, with the badly-wounded bleeding soldiers lying on the ground, was stark new at the time the film was made. The action scenes are fantastic. In particular, look at the furious violence of the final brief battle on the river, note that a pool of blood spreads out on the water where the horses are hit: never seen such stuff before!

The story is exciting. The photography is wonderful: the beauty of the Mexican locations is definitely stunning. The work of the whole cast is very good.

The clash between Major Dundee (Charlton Heston) and the Confederate war-prisoner Captain Tyreen (Richard Harris) is somewhat conventional, but the character of Dundee can be placed among the best depicted and most interesting in the history of western movies. This frustrated soldier, a typical born-to-fight fellow, has finally his chance to make war, pursuing the cruel Apache Sierra Charriba. And he fights, kills, makes war against everybody and everything (the Apaches, the French army in Mexico, his own soldiers if necessary). Then, suddenly, something goes to pieces inside him. He feels a mortal tiredness; he sinks into drunkenness, dirt, brutish dejection. Then the Apaches reappear, and Dundee finds the strength to exit from his self-built nightmare... and he restarts to fight, fight, fight... This fellow has really no other choice: either to be an assassin, or to be a brute. Strikingly original character!

It's true the movie have several faults. It is too long and often slow-paced. The martinet officer played by Jim Hutton is out of place: this comic character could be appropriate in a John Ford's movie, but he grates much with Peckinpah's tragic vision. The scout played by James Coburn and some other minor characters are uninteresting. And, of course, Senta Berger is completely pointless: but she's so lovely that we can easily forgive her presence.

I learn from other comments that "Major Dundee" was badly butchered by the producers. I saw it twice at the theaters, and some other times on the TV. I can say that the television version is very bad with respect to what I saw on the wide screen. Many interesting details and subtleties have been cut. And by no means we can forgive that two magnificent scenes are ruined: the ambush on the creek and the carnage at the Apache camp in the wide-screen version happen over-night! But in the TV version it seems that it's full light! This leaves a feeling of annoying nonsense on the viewer (are the Apaches sleeping during day?). Too bad!

Luckily enough, for all his misfortunes and troubles "Major Dundee" is a great, magnificent, innovative movie.

Although there are exceptions such as "Straw Dogs" and "Cross of Iron", most of Sam Peckinpah's films are Westerns of one sort or another. The likes of "Junior Bonner", "The Getaway" and even "Convoy" can be regarded as modern-day Westerns, but "Major Dundee", his third film, is a cavalry Western in the tradition of John Ford.

During the American Civil War, Major Amos Dundee, the commander of a Union prisoner-of-war camp in New Mexico, raises a force to hunt down a troublesome Apache war chief named Sierra Charriba. Dundee's force includes not only Union troops but also Confederate prisoners. (Although the story told by the film is fictitious, it is a historical fact that some captured Confederate soldiers, known as "Galvanized Yankees", did volunteer to fight for the Union, normally against Native Americans).

Peckinpah concentrates less on the military conflict between the Cavalry and the Apaches than on the personal conflict between Dundee and his second-in-command, Captain Ben Tyreen, one of the "Galvanized Yankees". (Similarly, Ford's "Fort Apache" explored the conflicts between two officers, John Wayne's Captain York and Henry Fonda's Colonel Thursday). Oddly, Dundee is a native-born Southerner whereas Tyreen is not. Dundee, however, is passionately opposed to secessionism, whereas Tyreen, originally a poor Irish immigrant, has adopted the lifestyle and values of a Southern gentleman. (He talks in something resembling an upper-class British accent). He remains fiercely loyal to the Confederacy and despises the North; he only agrees to serve under Dundee because the alternative is execution on a charge of killing a guard while attempting to escape. Moreover, he also bears a personal grudge against Dundee, who cast the deciding vote in a court-martial from the U.S. Army on a charge of taking part in a duel. (This incident may also explain Tyreen's animus against the Union).

"Major Dundee" could have been an excellent film, comparable to "Fort Apache", which is one of Ford's best. That it is not is largely due to Peckinpah's eccentric behaviour during shooting. He was often drunk and frequently crossed swords with both cast and crew, firing several crew members for trivial reasons. ("Crossed swords", incidentally, is not necessarily a figure of speech; there are rumours that the film's star, Charlton Heston, actually threatened Peckinpah with a sabre during one altercation). When Peckinpah became too drunk even to turn up on set, Heston, who had already agreed to forego his actor's salary in a desperate attempt to ensure that the film was completed, ended up directing several scenes himself. (Ironically, Heston had originally asked to appear in the film because he was eager to work with Peckinpah, whose previous film, Ride the High Country, he had admired).

Eventually, Peckinpah submitted a director's cut that was, according to some reports, 278 minutes long, making Cimino's "Heaven's Gate" look like a quickie. This was, of course, greatly reduced in length, to 156, to 136 and finally to 123 minutes, after the 136-minute version flopped on its initial release. It is the 123-minute version which is normally seen today, and given the film's troubled production history it is hardly surprising that it does not hang together as a coherent whole. The initial plot line about the war against Charriba's Apaches tends to get lost when Dundee leads his troops across the border into Mexico, where they get embroiled in the civil war between supporters and opponents of the Emperor Maximilian and Maximilian's French allies. (This war has been used as the backdrop to other Westerns, including "Vera Cruz" and "Two Mules for Sister Sara"). There is also a subplot about Dundee's romance with Teresa, the Austrian-born widow of a Mexican doctor executed by the French for supporting the rebels.

There are some good things about the film; both Heston and Richard Harris as Tyreen play their parts well, and the battle scenes are well-handled. By Peckinpah's standards the film, at least in its shortened version, is not particularly gory, probably because the most bloodthirsty scenes ended up on the cutting-room floor in the various edits of the director's cut. Daniele Amfitheatrof's repetitive, strident and bombastic musical score would doubtless be ill-received were it ever to be performed in a concert hall, but in the context of the film it works surprisingly well, even though the director reportedly hated it.

Reports of Peckinpah's behaviour on the set of "Major Dundee" were among the factors which got him sacked from his next project, "The Cincinnati Kid", on which he was replaced by Norman Jewison. After that debacle it was surprising that he was ever able to work in Hollywood again, but he was able to pull off one of the most sensational comebacks in cinema history when he returned with "The Wild Bunch", a film which also deals with a group of Americans who become involved in a Mexican civil war, in that case in the 1910s. Some have claimed "The Wild Bunch" as a masterpiece, and although I would not go that far it is nevertheless in my view a well-made film, considerably better than the often muddled and incoherent "Major Dundee". The earlier film is perhaps best regarded as a sort of ruined monument, the wreck of something which potentially could have been so much better. 6/10

In his autobiography, Charlton Heston spent more time talking about this film than any other. Some other commentator said that it looked like someone took over the direction. The commentator was very observant. Heston had to take over the direction because Sam Peckinpah just lost interest and began indulging in all kinds of vices down on location in Mexico which I won't get into. Read Heston's book. Suffice it to say that he was unable to go to the set, for any number of reasons.

Heston says that Peckinpah was making it up as he went along and the film sure looks it. The plot just meanders into various situations that this motley crew of Indian fighters encounter. Heston also said that he violated a rule of his own to never start a film without a complete script, something he never did again. The film is an incredible waste of fine talented cast.

Charlton Heston and I both think the film had real possibilities and that Sam Peckinpah was a flawed talent.

If you want to see the film, read Charlton Heston's account of its making.

"Major Dundee" is Sam Peckinpah's rehearsal for "The Wild Bunch." The stories for both films are basically the same (men whose time has come and gone and they know it, and who don't fit in either society they are forced to be in, and they know that, too). "Dundee" has a good story, excellent action scenes and a sterling supporting cast of first-rate character actors (R.G. Armstrong, John Davis Chandler, Warren Oates, among others), but as previously noted, the film tends to fall apart during the second half. Senta Berger, although ravishing to look at, is totally wasted in a superfluous part, and the entire second half of the film has a choppy, disjointed feel to it. The main problem with it, apparently, was some major interference by Columbia Pictures and especially producer Jerry Bresler. Peckinpah's vision of the story and Bresler's were reportedly miles apart, and after the picture was shot and edited, Bresler and Peckinpah had a major blow-up, the producer had Peckinpah barred from the Columbia lot and hired his own editor to help him recut the picture. When star Charlton Heston saw the version that Bresler and his editor came up with, he went to the executives at Columbia and told them that he would have his name taken off the picture and never work for Columbia again if Peckinpah was not allowed back on the lot to cut the picture the way he wanted. Eventually a compromise was reached and Peckinpah was allowed to work on the editing, but the film still wasn't the way he wanted it, and he basically disowned it. It's too bad, as it's still a very good picture, but it could have been a great one.

The story of the making and post production of "Major Dundee" would make a movie in itself. It was the first big budget western directed by the legendary Sam Peckinpah following the success of his earlier "Ride the High Country" (1962). Peckinpah allegedly shot over 4 hours of film. According to IMDb his directors cut was 151 minutes. However the studio (Columbia) took the picture away from the director and cut it down to 122M for its theatrical release. I think the initial road show cut ran 134M.

For its 2005 restoration, an additional 14M was found and restored making this cut 136M which is supposed to be as close to the director's cut as is possible. Anew musical score has also been added. This version extends several sequences notably the village fiesta sequence and adds a scene at the beginning showing the rebels attempt to escape.

The film in its widescreen format is a beautifully photographed landscape. Peckinpah uses the whole frame to show panoramic scenes of the marching soldiers and the various battle scenes.

The story opens at the end of a massacre of a military encampment by renegade Apache Sierra Chariba (Michael Pate) where all have been slaughtered except for the bugler Trooper Tim Ryan (Michael Anderson Jr.). It is his narration which tells the rest of the story which by the way, takes place during the Civil War.

Major Amos Dundee (Charlton Heston) arrives a Union prison to form a group of volunteers to go after the Apaches and exact revenge for the massacre. He assembles a group of volunteer misfits including regulars Lt. Graham (Jim Hutton), Trooper Ryan, Sgt. Gomez (Mario Adorf), a grizzled one-armed scout (James Coburn) as well as a vengeful Reverand (R.G. Armstrong), a horse thief (Dub Taylor) and the disheveling Wiley (Slim Pickens).

Not having enough men, Dundee brings Aesop (Brock Peters) and his freed slaves on board and is then forced to ask for volunteers from the Southern prisoners led by Captain Tyreen (Richard Harris) to round out his force. Eventually agrees and brings with him the likes of O.W. Hadley (Warren Oates), his brother Arthur (L.Q. Jones), Sgt. Chillum (Ben Johnson) and Benteen (John Davis Chandler).

The first part of the story is the conflicting relationship between Dundee and Tyreen. Tyreen agrees to follow orders until the Apaches are brought to justice. Then there is a lengthy village sequence where Dundee meets his (totally unnecessary) love interest, the supposedly starving Teresa Santiago (Senta Berger) and a brief affair ensues. When Dundee is wounded following a skinny dip with Teresa, he is taken to a town to recover but begins to wallow in self pity until Tyreen rescues him and re-instills his sense of duty.

Along the way the troop attacks a French garrison and steals their horses. Now the boys are forced to fight not only the Apaches but the French Army as well. Eventually Dundee engages the Apaches and the French and..............

The acting is particularly good. Heston as the self destructing Dundee is excellent as is Harris as his adversary. James Coburn just emerging as a major star gives a memorable performance as the one-armed scout. The picture is also blessed with a large cast of recognizable character actors (see above), many of which would appear in other Peckinpah films. Begofia (Begonia) Palacios who plays Trooper Ryan's love interest would go on to marry Peckinpah....three times.

Not Peckinpah's best but many of the elements (and players) would be used in his next western, the masterpiece "The Wid Bunch" (1969).

The first half of "Major Dundee" is gripping and fascinating. The problem is that the second half doesn't deliver on the build-up. The whole point is supposed to be the pursuit of the Apache, yet the film spends more time getting sidetracked from all this, in particular the scenes of Dundee's injury and descent into drunkenness (and did we really need Senta Berger, since her role is really pointless, despite the visual scenery she adds?) and when the Apache is found, it happens too abruptly. Fascinating supporting characters disappear or are downplayed too much in the second half, and the ending is too abrupt as well. Since the expedition ends up returning after the surrender of Lee and the end of the War, I was surprised there was no scene of Dundee returning to the Fort and offering a final reflection on Tyreen. The film literally cried out for it.

Charlton Heston felt that Dundee should have been more about the issues of the Civil War and had they stuck to this approach all through the film we might have had a great film instead of a merely good one.

A pivotal film in Peckinpah's oeuvre described by Jim Kitses as "One of Hollywood's great broken monuments", straddling the old-fashioned charm of 'Ride the High Country' and the brutal nihilism of 'The Wild Bunch' after Peckinpah discovered Leone.

Set exactly a century earlier, 'Major Dundee' was more lavishly produced and better looking than his later Western psychodramas; but already marked by blood, sweat and tears during it's making (after a difficult shoot in the wilds of Mexico that began before the script was complete and ended with Peckinpah nearly getting sacked, after which he found out the hard way he didn't have final cut).

Peckinpah's regular stock company (largely recruited from television) was meanwhile already coelescing, with John Davis Chandler filling in for Strother Martin. Peckinpah as usual shows little interest in women, and the gorgeous Senta Berger takes an hour to appear, when the callow young narrator describes her as "pretty, if somewhat old".

It is part of movie history now, that S. Peckinpah lost interest in this movie, as it became clear he couldn't do it as he liked to and would see it crippled it the cutting room from what he envisioned. Well i wish some well designed director's cuts could make it up to him. The movie starts strong, with a first act, in which a variety of interesting characters is presented from an one-armed scout to an very Mexican (actually German) sergeant, 2 two main antagonists, Dundee and Tyree, a priest, who is equally good with gods words as with fists and weapons and a horse thief. Unfortunately, something is lost in the middle of the film, where it literally looses way on it's original target, which is "find and destroy the Apaches". It picks up at the end, when both the Apaches as well as french heavy cavallery is taken care of. Best scene for me : The hunting group leaving the fort, each group tuning in for their favorite song (Blue, Gray and Civilians). If you can get it, enjoy it.

Enjoyed this film directed by Sam Peckinpah who also directed "Straw Dogs" in 1971 created a great story during the 1860's and at the end of the Civil War. Major Amos Dundee, (Charlton Heston) is a major who was in the Union Army and was disgraced and put in charge of a Confederate prison camp. However, Major Dundee is a Southerner and he also finds himself needing the help of Capt. Ben Tyreen, (Richard Harris) who is a Confedrate prisoner and the two of them fight like cats and dogs. Major Dundee has to catch Apaches who escaped to Mexico which is ruled by the French. This is a film dealing with fighting against Apache Indians and also the French and the Confederate and Union soldiers fighting with each other and still trying to carry out their individual missions. Samuel Potts, (James Coburn) gives an outstanding performance as an aid to Major Dundee and also has just one arm. This is a very interesting film with some romance and plenty of bow and arrows flying threw the air. Enjoy.

Major Dundee (Heston) leads a group of Union soldiers and Confederate prisoners on a mission against Apaches in Mexico. This Peckinpah Western was made four years before The Wild Bunch but it's light years behind by all measures of cinematic greatness. The story seems to wander aimlessly and, therefore, becomes unbearably long in the restored 136-minute version. There are moments of excitement but there are also long stretches when nothing interesting happens. The cast, which includes many Peckinpah regulars (Oates, Johnson, Jones, Pickens), is good but is pretty much wasted. Heston is earnest and Senta Berger definitely enhances the scenery if not the plot.

Charlton Heston always mentioned Major Dundee as his favorite film, and I can understand why. Personally, Sam Peckinpah ranks as one of my favorite directors for his honest films and willingness to take risks. Maverick filmmakers are a rare commodity these days, especially those who have something to say.

Heston, of course, is known for playing larger than life characters in some of Hollywood's most epic films, which is why I think the 'gritty realism' of Major Dundee must have appealed to him. Major Dundee is a character with very real flaws, and the role gave Heston a chance to stretch his acting abilities and show another side of himself.

Peckinpah's westerns--more than Sergio Leone--gave birth to the anti-hero. His films are original because there's nothing romantic about them. The characters make no pretense about being perfect, and the audience can relate to them immediately.

For the record, there are many westerns in the romantic vein that I love. John Ford's films come to mind. The Searchers with John Wayne is one of my all-time favorites. However, Peckinpah makes westerns that resonate with grownups, and it's the realism inherent in each one of his characters that makes the audience become so absorbed in his stories.

Major Dundee is driven by a powerhouse ensemble of some of my favorite character actors: Ben Johnson, Warren Oates, Slim Pickens and James Coburn. Richard Harris (Captain Benjamin) was an offbeat choice for the role of the imprisoned Confederate officer forced to join Dundee's Union troops in search of the Apache tribe that massacred a group of soldiers.

It's the interplay between Heston (Major Dundee) and Harris (Captain Benjamin) which serves as the film's anchor. The characters have a personal history which has oscillated between friendship and betrayal throughout the years. The tension that arises between them adds a dramatic flavor to the story, which makes it compelling to watch.

There's nothing black or white in either tone or substance about their relationship. Past mistakes and personal frailties weigh both men down, but despite their struggles and mutual animosity, they are bound by their duty as soldiers to complete a mission they swore to fulfill.

Major Dundee's realistic depiction of how soldiers relate to one another in battle sets it apart from other movies which treat this subject. Oftentimes, soldiers might not like each other, but it's fascinating how they somehow manage to pull together in the heat of battle. This dynamic plays out in the film's climactic scene and what we take away in the end is that virtuous qualities, such as loyalty and heroism, can come from the most unexpected sources.

Major Dundee, a film skillfully directed from start to finish, is worth watching not only for it fine acting but because like life itself it takes us on an unpredictable journey filled with twists and turns which make us wiser and stronger in the end. Give it a watch. You won't regret it.

A disgraced Major (Charlton Heston) guilty of making a tactical error at Gettysburg is assigned to command a dull P.O.W. camp in the New Mexican Territory. After some ranchers and a cavalry unit are massacred, the glory-seeking Dundee (Heston) seizes the opportunity by illegally crossing into Mexico to wipe out the Native raiders with a dubious team consisting of Union troops, Confederate prisoners, civilian mercenaries and a couple scouts. Richard Harris makes his debut as the dashing leader of the Confederates while James Coburn plays the lead scout. Brock Peters appears as the black sergeant whereas Ben Johnson and Warren Oates play Rebel soldiers.

This was director Sam Peckinpah's third Western after "The Deadly Companions" (1961) and "Ride the High Country" (1962); and would be followed up by the heralded "The Wild Bunch" (1969). It's not as good as "Ride," but it's superior to "Companions" and "Bunch" IMHO. The main reason I don't favor "Bunch" is because it's about a bunch of dirtbag thugs for whom I could care less. "Dundee," by contrast, has several interesting, more worthy, protagonists.

The script was loosely based on historical examples (e.g. the Dakota War of 1862) mixed with the plot of Moby-Dick, as well as elements of Lawrence of Arabia and classic John Wayne/Ford Westerns. The questionable group assembled to invade Mexico is a microcosm of the USA with the conflict between Northern and Southern soldiers, the rising complication of freed blacks, civilians & their guns and an AmerIndian scout.

There's a depth to the proceedings that makes the first half almost impenetrable. But, if you concentrate, there are a lot of riches to glean and you can't beat the superlative cast with Heston and Harris shining in their conflicting roles. Meanwhile Senta Berger and Begoña Palacios are noteworthy on the female front.

The movie reflects the harsh realities of horse militarists on a mission in the Southwestern wilderness in the late 1800s. But it was reportedly a troubled production (of course, which large-scale production isn't?). At one point Peckinpah got too dictatorial during the filming of a particular scene and disrespected Heston from afar with rude verbiage. Charlton, on horseback, bolted toward the director with saber drawn to which the much smaller director took off out of Heston's reach.

The theatrical release ran 2 hours, 3 minutes while the restored 2005 version added 13 minutes and featured an (optional) new score, which is the version I viewed. The movie was shot entirely in Mexico.

GRADE: B/B-