Geronimo: An American Legend

1993 "A Warrior. A Leader. A Legend."
6.5| 1h55m| PG-13| en| More Info
Released: 10 December 1993 Released
Producted By: Columbia Pictures
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

The Apache Indians have reluctantly agreed to settle on a US Government approved reservation. Not all the Apaches are able to adapt to the life of corn farmers. One in particular, Geronimo, is restless. Pushed over the edge by broken promises and necessary actions by the government, Geronimo and thirty or so other warriors form an attack team which humiliates the government by evading capture, while reclaiming what is rightfully theirs.

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Reviews

BallWubba Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.
Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.
Haven Kaycee It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film
Staci Frederick Blistering performances.
Mark Turner I'm a huge fan of director Walter Hill. For me he's made some of the most interesting and action packed films that I've enjoyed repeatedly. STREETS OF FIRE, SOUTHERN COMFORT, 48 HOURS, THE WARRIORS and THE LONG RIDERS to name a few. Hill has always made movies that would fall under the category of man's man films. So to learn he was making a movie about the old west and the hunt for Geronimo was not a surprise. As the Indian Wars were coming to an end the Cavalry was rounding up the remnants of the various tribes to escort them to reservations to live on. The story is narrated by young recently graduated military academy Lt. Britton Davis (Matt Damon). It is through his eyes we see the story unfold as well as his glimpse into the land it takes place in. Assigned to help Lt. Charles Gatewood (Jason Patric) escort Geronimo to a meeting with Brig. Gen. George Crook (Gene Hackman) he quickly learns what the west is all about.Learning from Gatewood and from Geronimo as they travel he develops a respect for the Apache warrior and the code of honor that he lives by. Gatewood has seen and done much while out west and is sympathetic to the plight this man is going through even though he follows the orders given to him. It is through these two that most of the story unfolds. Crook promises peace with the Indians as long as they remain on the reservation. He is a man they trust, one that they know will live up to his word. But the Apache were not farmers and it isn't long before one of the medicine men begins claiming visions and encourages war. As the Cavalry attempt to arrest him he is shot and killed resulting in the Apache warriors reacting in kind. The word broken Geronimo and his tribe head out on a rampage against the white man.Crook resigns after the failed attempt at peace and is replaced with Brig. Gen. Nelson Miles (Kevin Tighe) whose methods are not near so accommodating. Gatewood and his men accompanied by their long time tracker Al Sieber (Robert Duvall) hunt down Geronimo as he wreaks havoc across the countryside. But he is not their only problem. Bounty hunters trying to track him down turn out to be even more vicious than the Indian leader leaving bodies in their wake as well. The end result is known historically as Geronimo eventually was caught and surrendered spending the rest of his life in Florida, once more lied to as he was told he would only be there 2 years. One thing that makes this movie stand out as so different from others that discussed the same subject matter is that it doesn't condescend or preach about the topic at hand, the lies told to the Indians by a government intent of moving west. So many movies on the topic prior to this portrayed the Indians as "noble savages" which in itself seems to be an insulting phrase meant to be a compliment. On one hand we had movies made long ago that portrayed them as heartless killers but then after the 60s we had movies where they were the infringed upon owners of the west. Ignored was the fact that for centuries people around the world have been conquered by an invading force who determined their outcome.What made this different than most was the near attempt at genocide of the Native American Indian. And Hill doesn't dwell on this topic in a morose way that says oh poor me. Instead he shows a proud leader who is doing all he can to save his people from extinction even if that word was not in his vocabulary. It isn't until the final moments of the film when we see the Indians loaded in box cars on their way to Florida that one thinks of this. Images of Jews in the same sort of conditions making their way to concentration camps come easily to mind while seeing this.The movie is best because it doesn't take one extreme side or the other. It tells the tale of a vanquished people but never paints either side as wholly right or wrong. For the soldiers they are doing nothing more than following the directives sent to them from Washington. They're not the redneck gun toting soldiers as portrayed in those late 60s/early 70s films determined to do nothing more than "kill an 'injin". They are soldiers, nothing more. And in Gatewood, Crook and Davis we see that they not only learned to do their duty but learned something from the man they were sent to capture.All actors on hand here turn in great performances. Patric once more shows that he was an actor that should have been provided more and better roles that he received. Odds are it was his personal life (if memory serves me correctly) that prevented that which is sad. Hackman. Need I say more? Damon turns in a great performance as a naïve recruit in what is one of his earliest performances. The most wasted actor here is Wes Studi as Geronimo. For a movie with the character's name in the title it felt like he should have been onscreen more than he was. The moments with Studi there shows that we wasn't just a Native American Indian actor but a great actor. Here too we have an actor who has been wasted by Hollywood and should have had more and better opportunities than to just play Indians. The movie looks great in all the images presented with Hill being able to capture the vast openness of the west in golden hues that make you feel the oppressive heat as well as imagining inhaling the dust kicked up from the dirt strewn plains. It's beautiful and deadly at the same time. The costumes here are well done as well, a little thought of part of a movie but necessary in period films. When done wrong everything looks new and polished in the worst settings but here it was done perfectly with a well-worn look to clothing items making them seem real. My only issue with the movie was the sound. It seems movie makers are determined to shoot dialogue scenes with the lowest volume possible and action sequences as loud as can be. And having them occur back to back leads a viewer to strain to hear what's being said only to be blown out of their seats seconds later. Thank goodness for subtitles.When released the movie did decent numbers but nothing stupendous. That might be because at the same time another film based on Geronimo came out from Ted Turner that ran on TV. It might also have been the title which Hill is said to have been unhappy with preferring THE GERONIMO WAR to this one, a title that would have made more sense. The good news is that fans can now own a solid copy of the film and those that have never seen it have an opportunity to do so.Twilight Time. I never get tired of saying this. Twilight Time is releasing the film in the best possible format and presentation possible in 1080p hi-def blu-ray format. Perhaps the only disappointing thing about this release is that the extras are limited to an isolated music track and the original theatrical trailer. As with all of their releases this one is limited to just 3,000 copies so if interested pick one up soon.
mattdillon-92503 This movie is enthralling. I have always enjoyed well-done narration during a movie and this narration done by Gatewood, was excellent. It was not filled with emotion and yet the emotion was there without being evident.His voice is powerful and he reads extremely well. He also acts extremely well. The entire cast is equal to Hackman and THAT is an accomplishment. I remember when I became addicted to his breakthrough movie Bonnie and Clyde. I loved the movie and I had NEVER seen acting like Hackman's. Though I loved what he did I also did not want him to walk away with the movie. HE didn't Warren Beaty and Faye did not let this happen nor did the man who played "CW" In Real life there was a character that went by his initials and the betrayal actually did take place I do not know why they changed the initials of the man whose father betrayed Bonnie and Clyde.I did not mean to get off track and that movie is my favorite of all time.The legend of Geronimo is absolutely in the top five movies of my life. It is so well done that you can HEAR the crack and moaning of the saddles and they are mounted and the arrows hit home. The acting is superb by all who played in this movie-- it seemed like a docu. but it was not.IF you fail to watch this movie- you have missed out.The saddest part is that Geronimo lives another 20 + years and dies of pnemonia from lying in a ditch about a mile from the bar where he got drunk. He just died on the side of the road. A man who sent a chill into each whiteman's heart and a rush into every warriors heart- died in a drainage ditch. They may have brought his dying body to the hospital and I believe he made piece and spiritually died in that ditch. Fitting for what happened to the Natives of this land called America.I find it absurd that the settlers who came here from Europe were called Americans and the indigenous people who had been here long long before are called INdians--because of the stupidity of the settlers who seized what they wanted and called THEMSELVES Americans and called the spiritual people who did not suffer from much disease until the arrival of the Europeans-- Indians. The Indians were the Americans. The people who slaughtered their food supply and simply out-numbered and used superior technology to displace them were European invaders and should have been called such. Geronimo would have been a great man to share a few drinks. Just to meet him would have been an experience of a life time. He was NOT a savage--not more than WE would be if some superior force began to creep across our great country that we stole from the Americans.Warren E. Justice
Wuchak If you like Westerns, 1993's "Geronimo: An American Legend" is worth checking out; it's just not as good as you would expect from such an exemplary cast & crew.With the likes of Walter Hill, John Milius, Gene Hackman, Robert Duvall, Jason Patric, Wes Studi and Matt Damon you'd expect greatness on the level of "Last of the Mohicans," "Dances with Wolves" or even "Wyatt Earp," instead it's merely watchable.This is likely because, more than anything else, it comes across as a humdrum history lesson. At the same time, it's not bad. So, if you're a fan of Westerns, I encourage you to add it too your collection. Just don't expect anything outstanding.The film runs 115 minutes and was shot mostly in Southern Utah, but also Old Tucson, Arizona.GRADE: C+
chaos-rampant Despite the creative presence of Walter Hill and John Milius behind it, the movie gets a lot of things wrong. Matt Damon's grating voice-over is handled with little care and is nothing more than the grappling hook that drags the movie from one episode to the next as though we're reading an encyclopedic entry rather than watching a fully fleshed movie. The point-of-view is never allowed to remain within one side or group of characters long enough for them to come alive as anything than cutouts from a history page. We don't stay long enough to learn the actual problems that plagued the Chiricahua (and other Apache bands) in the San Carlos and White River reservations and we don't stay long enough with General Crook and his cavalry to begin to understand the tightrope the sympathetic General (who no less came to the Southwest after slaughtering Cheyennes in the North) has to walk in trying to appease an anxious government in the East while doing his best to save what remains of the Apaches from the encroachment of white settlers into their lands. As a piece of history the movie is naturally inadequate because the Indian affairs in the Southwest were more complex than a movie can afford to depict. As a gritty western action movie (the kind which Walter Hill is the expert) it's too sprawling and incoherent to ever get enough steam. We get the occasional slow-motion gunfight and a pretty good saloon standoff but they're not enough to save the movie from rumbling mediocrity.