Review of Ulzana's Raid (1972) by Nate W — 06 May 2010

"Ulzana's Raid" is a battle of wits and stratagem between an Apache war party led by ruthless warrior Ulzana and a cavalry troop led by an inexperienced lieutenant and a veteran tracker (Burt Lancaster).

The young lieutenant's moral code is tested and bent during his eye-opening mission in the arid Arizona country, and this is where the film takes a step forward and a step back; the Native Americans are still depicted as demonic murderers and rapists as they were in classic Westerns â?? like John Ford's cavalry trilogy, for instance â?? but on the other hand, the savageness of the white men is also given attention, confusing the issue.

Typical of Robert Aldrich's films, it is a satisfying piece of entertainment aside from the thematic complexities. He knows how the edit action sequences well, and they're often quite violent (similar to his earlier picture "The Dirty Dozen").