Geronimo - An American Legend

As historical fiction this is one of the best films about the Indian Wars I've had the pleasure of watching. It was balanced, portraying the subjects on both sides of Geronimo and the US Army (and 'Indian' scouts) from multiple perspectives. The interactions between and among key players in the movie added a depth to characters that no other movie of this genre has brought to the screen. At least any of which I am aware.Many of the characters actually existed. Matt Damon's character, Britton Davis, is fictional and is more of a vehicle for telling the story from a third party perspective. A narrator of sorts. Gatewood was a very real person and a key player who was subsequently nominated for a Medal of Honor in his role. That was denied, and he passed away as a junior officer (1st Lieutenant) on May 20, 1896. His low rank was as much as a reflection of the stagnated promotion system of his era as it was of the political machinations behind the scenes. But that is out of scope of this movie.One person who was portrayed poorly was Robert Duval's character, Al Sieber. He is portrayed as hating Apaches, where in real life he was an advocate and had a great deal of respect for them. Also, he did not die during the events in this movie. He was killed in a work accident on February 19, 1907. Earlier during his period as an Army scout and guide he resigned in protest of the way Apaches were treated at the Sam Carlos reservation. There is veracity regarding the claims in the film about how many times he has been wounded - there is documentation that during his career ranging from the Civil War to the Indian Wars he had received 28 wounds. That would be a pile of Purple Heart medals in today's military, so he was a remarkable man.As others have said, the cinematography is exquisite. The realism, the even handed portrayal of the events and the acting make this a five star movie. As a documentary - which it isn't - I would have been a lot more critical and rated this much lower. It does pique one's interest in the actual events and key players, and promotes a better understanding in what I personally believe is a deplorable part of our history.

This movie is about as good a war movie as Hollywood can make and -- generally speaking -- it gets most of their portrayal of the army as well as any other movie. Although this is another case of not letting the facts get in the way a good story. Which is sad because the real history is far more interesting -- but would cost more to tell it on film. For instance, the 10th Cavalry (known as The Buffalo Soldiers -- mostly men who had been slaves) played a major role in the Geronimo Campaign so it's a shame that once again the contributions of African Americans is left out.Yes there was a medicine man who was shot, Geronimo did leave the reservation and later meet with General Crook which is the one part of the movie that's closest to history. The detail of the photographer from Tombstone is accurate. (On a side note this man's home in Tombstone overlooks the lot behind the OK Coral where the shoot out took place.)However it was not a single soldier or group of soldiers who found Geronimo and brought him in, rather Geronimo eventually realized that he could not continue to live with his people as they had been living in the past -- he had no other choice than to surrender. (This location can be found [and driven to] on a detailed map of Arizona.)Also the character played by Matt Damon, Lieutenant Davis, resigned from the army during the Geronimo Campaign because he got a better job offer to manage a ranch in Mexico. Besides, no real lieutenant would have talked to General Miles as he does in the movie.I had previously purchased this DVD at a big box retail store and was unhappy with the clarity of the beautiful desert viewscape in the background so I bought a copy from Amazon but it's definition of the background was no better than the one I already had.Also, the remains of Fort Bowie are still there and can be reached by an easy one mile hike which goes right past the historic Apache Spring which is what made life there possible.Finally, the photograph is an historic picture of Fort Bowie when the cavalry was using it as a base of operations.

I saw this movie when it first came out at 20 years old and loved it. I now have a soon to be 11 year old who I want to start introducing to a well-rounded telling of American history. Being African American, I'm skeptical about most historical movies made about any non-White group or person, so I try to research as much as possible (especially if I'm exposing my child to it). To that end, this movie is recommended by a Native run website called PowWows.com, along with a few others; due to this, I felt better watching it with my daughter. I'm sure it's not a 100% exact telling of Geronimo's years resisting the U.S. Government, but it gets the gist of what happened reasonably well. It's also nice to see Native actors playing roles that depict Native Americans in the normal human spectrum of behavior and emotions under the life or death circumstances they were forced to be in (brave, cautious, fearful, loving, family-oriented, sad, etc.). In my opinion, the movie is a classic and worth watching.

I have no complaint about the content but the description on the packaging case states it is both wide screen and full screen. Ir is NOT. The disk is full screen only and not wide screen.

BLURAY is excellent. Fantastic colour showing off the magnificent scenery, correct ratio, very good sound and optional subtitles. For once the extras interest me. "Geronimo goes to Hollywood" with kim Newman and "Geronimo's Last Raid" 15 mins from 1912 plus commentaries and docs. Full value for money. I should be out in the open with my lifelong love of westerns. Starting with very early (50's) BBC showings of "Hoppy"/Tex Ritter, and then "Range Rider/Champion/Cisco/Lone Ranger, then RKO Scott, then McCrea/Wayne/Ford, and layer Calhoun and Montgomery and everything in between, probably over 500 DVDs in my loft collected over many years. For me, good westerns stopped around the late 70's and "The Shootist" (Yes I know Mr Eastwood was working solidly, but his westerns didn't appeal much to me). So I approached this with caution, after reading revies here on Amazon. I didn't need to worry. It is a good solid western, if perhaps, a bit "worthy", but none the worse for that. Beautifully filmed on glorious locations, it is well written, directed and acted, by everyone, though I particularly liked Hackman and Duvall. Studi makes possibly the best Geronimo, and there have been a few. The action is loud (very) and violent. The drama count is high, as it should be as we are told how the government lied and mistreated the Native American. Don't worry - the message isn't hammered home, but it is there. A bit long but it needed to be. I must point out (A MINOR spoiler here) No, Sieber does NOT die. He lived til 1908 (I think). Recomended for lovers of traditional westerns with slight reservations (sorry) and those who just love a good serious film.

Not as violent and graphic as 'Ulzana's Raid' but a true western and the broader story of the last native American forced to surrender to the army.Really this is a 2 or 3 star western but is lifted by a stoic performance from Wes Studi as the eponymous Native American enemy of the people. Nobody knew the real Geronimo as there were no cultural ties between the white Americans and any 'red' Indians, now classified as 'Native Americans' so Sturdi's performance is his interpretation only. It's better than the browned up versions of Apaches from the likes of Burt Lancaster and Chuck Connors that have been fed us in the past.Sturdi certainly outshone Jason Patric and a very young Matt Damon in their roles of eager cavalrymen. Not so Gene Hackman and Robert Duvall but their roles were not much more than cameos. Still these performances added to the film and I'm happy to give it 4 stars, but I'm more than forgiving when I watch a modern western that is gritty and realistic.English subtitles, bonus features are a trailor and filmographies. 110 minutes long.

the English audio is SLIGHTLY out-of-sync literally by a "nano second" on the INDICATOR Blu-Ray release something EVERY review FAILS to mention! I know this because i still own the Western Classics DVD issued 2005 and it's absolutely spot on on that edition of the film. look at Matt Damon at approx 28:00 when he gives the Apache the rules. it is very noticeable there. i know it's hardly anything.. but when you notice it, you cannot unnotice it. Annoying this classic is not perfect!

This could have been a great film but, for a number of reasons, it falls just short of greatness, being a good rather than a classic western.It certainly seems extremely authentic in costume, weaponry etc and the countryside is well filmed with the long sweeping shots that remind me of many previous, well loved westerns. The action is also well handled and fairly realistic.Wes Studi makes a very impressive and credible Geronimo. It's about the best depiction of him that I've ever seen. The only trouble is, we don't see enough of him, getting more of Patric and Damon instead. Their stories are interesting but this is supposed to be a film about Geronimo after all.We have some good performances here in supporting roles with Robert Duval and Gene Hackman as reliable as ever. It was good to see characters who couldn't make their minds up about the Apache as well as the hardline extremists in this film. Robert Duval's character is a good example of this, half hating and half admiring his long term adversaries.The Apaches are represented fairly well but Wes Studi gives the most memorable performance by far as you'd expect. I am glad that this film doesn't shy away from depicting atrocities committed by both sides and, while the Apache are certainly depicted as the main victims, this film is reasonably even handed in its approach. That said, the Mexicans don't get much of a look in and the majority of the fighting Geronimo was involved with was against them. After all, Geronimo is his Spanish name as this film reveals.As another reviewer pointed out, I noticed a few homages to the Magnificent Seven and Ulzana's Raid. This is a shame in many ways as a film ought to be able to stand on its own and not 'borrow' from others.Overall this is an enjoyable film and even thought provoking in places. I couldn't fault its historical accuracy either. If the script had stayed with the Apaches a little longer, it might have been even better.

A well made film that gives a reasonably accurate portrayal of events. Of course there are deviations from the true record, especially in respect of some of the individuals portrayed, but that is Hollywood and film making. There are many errors and omissions. For example, there was no mention of Tom Horn and Henry Lawton, two notable characters. But I accept that it would be impossible to include everybody who was involved. The details of Geronimo's final surrender are in reality somewhat obscure. For example, was Gatewood actually present? It is known that Lawton certainly was. Plus it is known that Davis was almost certainly not involved, having already left the army by then. Also Al Sieber died many years later in a road construction accident, not in a bar-room shoot out with some Texan vigilantes. But these are spoilers of a production which was by and large quite entertaining and captures the ethos of the period. The film was well acted and directed. The sound and video were superb.