Review of Major Dundee (1965) by Walt H — 20 Dec 2005

Sony spent a lot of effort restoring this old movie, even getting a brand new musical score made for it. Initially Columbia studio hijacked the raw film and issued its own cut without the director's input, and it was a messy story. The new DVD issue offers something approaching what Peckinpah originally had in mind, filling in lots of gaps in the story.

Loads of great cinematography and early signs of Peckinpah's talent for staging gun battles kept interest alive for Dundee. Now that there's a whole story it plays quite well, and has quite a few character actors from the Western era. The tension between the temporarily allied Union and Confederate troops, and some racial tension are strong elements, with the pursuit of Apache renegade secondary for most of the show. The characters are all flawed with varied defects to explore. The restored version runs a little long, plodding at times, but finishes with a great battle. Lots of good classic movie stuntwork. Gratuitous female love interests.

The DVD has a decent docu on making Major Dundee, with commentary carrying most of the weight but it still surprises with some still shots of the production and some filmed staging. It looks and sounds good and gets an 8/10 as well.