There is so much WRONG with this movie it's hard to know where to start. What stands out a mile in the first few seconds is the terrible acting. At first I thought it was pretty B-grade. Then after a few minutes I downgraded it to about D or E-grade. No one in this movie can act.
The Civil War scenes are ridiculously unbelievable. Everyone is so clean in their well ironed, perfectly matching blue and gray uniforms. And even after the "Rebs" had shot up a bunch of Yankees, the uniforms were still spotless. Not a drop of blood anywhere to be seen. Which was pretty much the theme throughout. For so many violent deaths there was next to NO blood on anyone. Has Winters not heard of those blood squib things? Or did the obviously low budget not stretch to such things? If you look at Carlos Milano's IMDb profile, it is apparent where he got his acting wings - in B-grade porn movies, apart from his bit part in one episode of Bold and the Beautiful. Much of this talent (none) he brings to the character of Haskell. And you can practically SEE the glue holding his beard onto his face.
I will confess to knowing very little about Indian culture, but I find it very hard to imagine any of these "Indian" scenes are realistic. Or it could be that they are somewhat representative but completely lost amidst the appalling acting. The "pipe smoking" ritual was just silly.
The dialogue is childish and poorly executed. The timing is consistently off.
It was annoying seeing Loftin, supposedly in 1865, using a rifle that wasn't due to be invented for ten or even twenty years.
Sorry, Swanmoon, but I have to disagree with you re the "most excellent job on capturing the spirit of the time, the majestic beauty of the land". On the DVD cover there is a comparison to Dances With Wolves. Sorry but thats an insult to DWW.
I cannot emphasize how terrible I thought this movie was. The story has potential, but the film is terribly put together and so poorly acted. What annoys me most is that it cost me good coffee money to rent this thing.
