Major Dundee

What could have been gives way to an enjoyable curio piece.

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 enj...

Harsh, dense Peckinpah Western with Charlton Heston, Richard Harris and James Coburn

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 soldi...

There were quite a few westerns made that featured famous actors - one in blue, the other in grey, having to work together after the end of the American Civil war. This one pitches Charlton Heston as the eponymous leader of a troop tasked with bringing to heel some Apache who are raiding from Mexico. When I say troop, I really mean a disparate bunch of ill-disciplined ne'er-do-wells, and only the strength of character of Heston and his Confederate opposite number "Tyreen" (Richard Harris) is going to get them across the border to tackle their formidable foe. Oh - and this whole thing is illegal... What now ensues is quite an engaging battle of personalities between Harris and Heston, with a good ensemble effort from the likes of James Cobur...