Soldados Búfalos

Can't understand why so many dislike and are genuinely appalled at this incredible movie. It's not meant to be 100%factual. Its meant to show the spirit of these incredible men back then,their relentless courage, bravery and some of the moral dilemmas they no doubt faced. Great cast,well directed,,a must see,in my humble opinion.

All the usual whiners about "political correctness" are, of course, missing the point. Buffalo Soldiers doesn't suffer for showing the truth about racial disparity. It suffers for only showing some of that truth while at the same time being dramatically weak.

For instance, it's obvious the Whites are for the most part either outright hostile to the Black and Native Americans -- which is historically accurate -- or else treating them as invisible -- which is also historically accurate. The whiners may not like that, but maybe they need to take that up with their culture.

Where the story falls down is in not fully examining the combined racism toward the Native Americans. Now, it's historically true that there was less animosity among the minorities toward each other in the old west, including the Black, Asian, and Native Americans stuck there. That doesn't mean there was universal peace, but minorities were allowed to marry one another, for instance, while they were shunned or forbidden to marry someone who was not a minority. But this film, in focusing on the racial tensions between the Whites and Blacks, generally overlooks their combined hostility toward the Native Americans.

The other problem is the script is wildly uneven, lacking much dramatic weight. Oh, yes, there are some tense scenes, but they're also frequently undermined by melodramatic dialogue that reminds you you're watching a TV movie. The pacing is not like a film but more like a few episodes of a TV series hastily patched together.

As with a lot of film and television of the past 40 or so years, more attention is paid to the technical aspects than the artistic ones. So, for instance, they get the uniforms and weapons basically right. They film on location. If as much time and effort were spent on polishing the script and editing the finished product, it might have been much better.

This film may be a tribute to the African American soldiers but at times it is almost racist. All white men are portrayed as evil while all buffalo soldiers are noble. Even the scout is a black Seminole which is not historically accurate as most scouts at this time were recruited from reservation apaches. the movie also has African American soul music playing over some of the scenes. the movie itself is exciting and a good way to spend a Saturday afternoon but it gets bogged down in the trumpeting of the black soldiers as 'nobler' than their white counterparts.

if you want a realistic portrayal of the Apache wars watch 'Ulzana's Raid' with Burt Lancaster or 'The Missing' with Tommy Lee Jones

Overall i found this movie enjoyable but irritating at times. it is full of 1990's political correctness but could do with this being played down a bit.

"Buffalo Soldiers' is an average western/adventure entry that tell a story about a troop in the U.S. Army after the Civil War exclusively for black soldiers. Based on this historical point, the movie is concerned with some crucial aspects of these arrangements: the bad treatment that was given to the black soldiers by some of the white officials, the evident absurdity of serve in the U.S Army, die for the country and not receive an equal treatment and some other minor stuffs. 'Buffalo Soldiers' tries to do that without lose the sense of adventure and action along the way. Here, the success is just mild. Sometimes, you feel that the dialogs are a bit too dialectical, too political, to be really natural. And the ending is a bit too unreal, maybe, especially when one considers the shape of conscience of the sergeant-major, played by Danny Golver. All considered, that is not a bad movie. But its commitment to discuss aspects like freedom, self-conscience, compassion and respect for the Apache culture, weighed the movie a bit too heavy. Good performances all around, especially Carl Lumbly as the scout named Horse.

Picking this movie up from the library shelf, I didn't read anything on the box about it being historically accurate or factual so I didn't expect to get a history lesson by watching it. For a one hundred minute made for TV movie I wasn't at all disappointed, and felt entertained for the time I invested in it. Besides being filmed on location, it appeared a good effort was made in the uniform and prop department and it did not have a Hollywood look or feel to it. I would recommend this movie to those who like westerns; and don't have an eye and ear for knowing it all, or watch movies for their political or social messages. I did notice that their 1873 Colt's had the wrong frame for the time period, and the cylinders weren't beveled as they should have been, but I guess we all have to find fault somewhere, even us simple mined folk. Watch it, and enjoy it for what it is.