Geronimo: An American Legend (Highly underrated movie)

[Doug.38PR]

This movie apparently failed at the box office and is practically unknown.  I have it on DVD and it's actually a great movie.  I don't know why it didn't do better.   Good cast, good story, fairly accurate historically from what I can tell, real characters, interesting characters, great action sequences, great cinematography, has A LOT of John Ford element (monument valley like settings, background music is all old American folk tunes, elements in the story are right out of Fort Apache, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon and Rio Grande)    FAR superior movie to Dances with Wolves. 

[Coal Creek Griff]

There are some historical inaccuracies, but it doesn't stop me from enjoying it.  What does nearly stop me from enjoying it is that it appears to have only been released to DVD in the pan-and-scan format. I bought two different copies which were advertised as wide screen and they're both pan-and-scan.  I find it frustrating and difficult to watch. In other respects, I very much like the movie and agree that it is under appreciated.

CC Griff

[Doug.38PR]

There are some historical inaccuracies, but it doesn't stop me from enjoying it.  What does nearly stop me from enjoying it is that it appears to have only been released to DVD in the pan-and-scan format. I bought two different copies which were advertised as wide screen and they're both pan-and-scan.  I find it frustrating and difficult to watch. In other respects, I very much like the movie and agree that it is under appreciated.

CC Griff

No movie is 100% accurate, of course.   A few events got mixed up or blended together.  (The death of the medicine man and Geronimo leaving the reservation were actually two separate events I think)   One thing I didn't really get is why they killed Al Seiber (Robert Duval) off in a cantina gunfight when the real Al Seiber died in a construction accident decades later in 1907.    (Robert Duval was great for that role).

Yes, I noticed it was a pan and scan DVD.   I'd rather it be widescreen myself, but it doesn't bother me as much as I've spent to many years watching so many movies on VHS on regular TV screen and still enjoyed.  

Movie actually departs somewhat from the post 1970s politically correct westerns.  That is, basically, white men are crazy, swaggering "racists" than ruin everything they touch and Indians are peace loving hippies that are all wise and in one with nature.    A trend that started in the 70s with things like Centennial and Little Big Man and continued into the 1990s with things like Dances with Wolves.  

In this movie, the characters are a lot more complex, interesting and admirable in their own way.   More realistic.    

[Coal Creek Griff]

I absolutely agree with your assessment.  I should mention too that I think Wes Studi is superb in nearly every role he plays and this is one of his best.

CC Griff

[Shawnee McGrutt]

Was a good movie...a lot better then most.
Yes, some liberties were taken, but with reel "history", it is about action.

[RobMancebo]

I  never knew that this movie flopped.  (I certainly went to see it.)  The movie itself was a wonderful piece of film work. Sadly, the accuracy wasn't there at all.  These events have been recorded by Davis & Gatewood and at least semi-fictionalized by Tom Horn.  I loved Milius's Wind  & the Lion and was surprised how much history he included in The Rough Riders-- even down to the descriptions of Gen Schaftner playing with his sword during the assault and W.R.Hurst riding up and down the beach with a silk headscarf and silver mounted rifle 'like a pirate'.)  However actual happenings were changed in his script for Geronimo so as to be unrecognizable.  In the books by Davis and Horn, Geronimo was quite a businessman-- figuring on running stolen horses back and forth across the border while protected by the US army.  And while the US Marshall officially demanded the army's help in holding Geronimo's people for trial-- There were no accusations of bad temper or hanging threatened.  As I remember, the Marshal actually laughed about the army warning the Apache to sneak out in the night and make a run for the fort. (Marshall-0 / US Army- 1)   The movie also makes the murder of the medicine man just an overzealous action by the army.  The real story was much more intricate, threatening, and dangerous for both sides.  And, the big one . . . How did they kill off the famous Al Sieber, gruff, German accented, chief of scouts?  With 28 wounds, he was too crippled-up to finish the Apache wars and Tom Horn had taken over the job.  (Al died in 1907 working on a dam.)    Anyway.  I love to watch this movie for the scenery, action, and costuming.  It is always tainted though, by what it could've been.  The era was filled with intricate human problems, misunderstandings, and rough interactions.  As usual, Hollywood has boiled things down to 'good guys' and 'bad guys'.