ThiefHott Too much of everything

Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

kfo9494 Was a wet afternoon and thought I would watch one of those free movies on the internet. Since I like westerns, this was the first movie that displayed that I had not seen. So sat down and prepared myself for a movie that I was sure would be a low budget affair.The movie started well as Fort Courageous came under attack from a large group of Indians. The Indians over-ran the Fort and then the scene changed to a patrol of Cavalry officers that was leading a court-martial Sergeant Lucas to the fort on their way to prison. It seems that Lucas was accused of a crime that he claims that he did not commit.On the way they come across a group of Indians attacking a wagon that was occupied by a woman and her teen-aged daughter. Ms Tate and her daughter, Elizabeth, was on their way to settle down in a place that was free of trouble but instead found themselves surrounded and the young daughter raped by the Indians. The Cavalry came to the aid of the women but at the cost of the Captain that was on his way to become leader of the fort. They all began the long journey to the fort.When arriving at the fort they find all the people, except for one Major, dead. Now they will become the hunted for the Indians that are stationed outside the fort and will have to deal with many situations.This was not the best performed acting for a movie but the western genre did provided for some things to be overlooked. And as other have already said, the ending to this story was terrible. There is no closure to the main plot plus the lot of characters well-being in never finally determined. It was if the money for the production ran-out and they just needed an ending for the cheapest price possible. And I can say that they succeeded making a cheap ending.Even with the poor acting, the story was not really that bad. If the movie had closure then this would have been a surprising view. Instead, it comes across as a class B movie.

FightingWesterner On his way to the military prison on Alcatraz, wrongly convicted soldier Fred Beir and his transport are attacked by marauding Indians. Barely making it to the fort, Beir and the rest of his men find it the site of a massacre and themselves surrounded.One of the last of the old-fashioned studio B-westerns, this is a stark, grim affair, with some nasty bits of violence and torture, a weird preoccupation with sexual assault(!) and a mean performance by Donald "Red" Barry as the fort's commanding officer and lone survivor.However, it drops the ball in the end, with a hastily tacked-on romance and a conclusion that's abrupt, painfully unrealistic and patently bizarre. Clocking in at a slim seventy-two minutes, there's really no excuse in the world for it to end so abruptly and so unsatisfactory!Still, it's worth watching for the most part. There's some nice black-and-white photography and a grittiness that anticipates the wave of spaghetti westerns and their American counterparts that flooded US theaters the following year and pretty much ended the need for these kind of cheaply made westerns.

bsmith5552 "Fort Courageous" was a largely forgotten "B" plus western until ti's recent release on DVD. It was ably directed by veteran "B" movie director Lesley Selander and has no major stars. Most of the players are recognizable character actors.The film opens with the fort of the title under the command of Donald Barry, being besieged by Indians. We are left to believe that the occupants of the fort will not survive. Cut to the desert. Prisoner Fred Beir is being escorted to the fort for transportation to a federal prison for a rape which he did not commit. Along the way the group rescues a woman (Hanna Landy) and her daughter (Cheryl MacDonald) from the Indians. The boozy doctor (Walter Reed) does what he can between gulps of whiskey.The Indians attack the group and run off most of their horses. The commanding officer is wounded forcing Sgt. Lucas (Beir) to take command. Led by scout Joe (Harry Lauter) the group starts out across the desert largely on foot. They are attacked by the Indians but manage to capture the son of the Indian Chief.Finall. they reach the forth and find it littered with bodies. The commander (Barry) and a couple of soldiers has survived the earlier attack. Barry has gone slightly mad and is resentful of being forced to retire after 25 years. A romance develops between Lucas and the woman rescued on the trail.Several Indian raid follow as they try to rescue the son of their chief. Gradually, the soldiers are being killed off. When all seems lost, the Indians group for a final attack.....or do they?I must apologize for not naming more of the actors involved. IMDb didn't list most of the characters with the roles that they played. Many of the supporting players were unknown to me so I was unable to match them up with their roles. The Captain and the sea-faring sergeant are examples.Donald Barry was better known as Don "Red" Barry from his years at Republic Pictures where he played Red Ryder in a 1940 serial. The name "Red" stuck. His performance as the mad major is excellent and his death scene is one of the highlights of the film. Fred Beir in probably his only starring role, was good as the hero. Harry Lauter appeared in many westerns both of the "A" and "B" variety, on both sides of the law. Walter Reed was a member of Director John Ford's stock company and you'll see him in many of Ford's films. Hanna Landy complete with thick accent is totally out of place as the romantic lead.Shot back to back with "The Convict Stage" (1965) with largely the same cast.

cockerspaniels3 The male leads were basically fine but the women and the Indians, such poor acting! I own 250 Westerns and this is likely the worst one. Enjoy Cavalry vs Indians and not filmed this way anymore. A weakness to buy this one. If viewed, make it a midnighter.The ending comes up sudden and most unsatisfactory and silly.Anyways, always good to see more Westerns released. Guess never a Western not worthy for a watch, even if need be a midnighter.Rated it a 4. Struggled to say a 5 but that ending and poor acting! Worse if not a Western.A recent release "White Feather" was much better and very acceptable.