[Inspector Abberline]

Ulzana's Raid (1972)

Directed by Robert Aldrich written by Alan Sharp,this is a western that tries to address the balance and show that it wasn't just the Apaches who could be brutal ,although by now Soldier Blue and Little Big Man had also covered this ground. That said the Apaches and JoaquÃ*n MartÃ*nez as Ulzana,and his war party are pretty damn mean bunch,and are portrayed as bloodthirsty savages who not only mutilate there enemies but in some case's cut out parts of there intestines and throw them about like they are playing beach volley ball. In fact any one who get in the way of Ulzana and his raiding party is in for a pretty sticky time,women are raped and the men usually mutilated and staked out on the ground,with one poor fella having his dead dogs tail stuffed in his gob for good measure. But its not all one sided,Aldrich shows us that the cavalry men sent out to capture Ulzana can be just as brutal,and are not adverse to mutilating the dead bodies of any Apache killed or shooting a woman rather than let her be caught by the Indians and raped. Although Aldrich is trying to redress the balance a bit, by showing that both sides can be just as brutal as each other,Westerns when dealing with Native Americans can not help themselves from being racist,and of course its always been in the best interests of American audiences to show that they are not the bad guys. Or is it an allegory for the Vietnam war? MEH At any rate its a interesting and violent tale ,with some great performances from Burt Lancaster as McIntosh the grizzled know it all tracker,Bruce Davison as Lt. Garnett DeBuin a virgin soldier who is given the job of tracking Ulzana and Jorge Luke as Ke-Ni-Tay ,McIntosh loyal scout. JoaquÃ*n MartÃ*nez as Ulzana has the thankless job of being the head baddie,there is very little in the way of characterisation for the Apache's,and we take it as red that they are just evil. Uk version has noticeable cuts for horse falls,but otherwise uncut for violence to humans.