Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Suman Roberson It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

atlasmb "Run of the Arrow" seems to have noble intentions. It portrays the conflict between the North and South in the Civil War as actually having two sides to it, as opposed to most films that only portray the North as having a moral imperative. It also shows the later conflicts with the Indians with more balance than most westerns, which usually make the Indians out to be heathens who impede the (rightful) progress of the American juggernaut across the continent.Rod Steiger plays O'Meara, a rebel infantryman who hates the Yankees and heads westward at the end of the Civil War. There, he confronts the Sioux who adopt him as one of their own. The story is all about allegiance. Does O'Meara identify more with Americans or Sioux? He hates the U.S. because it symbolizes the demise of the South, but what really is his country?He even marries a Sioux woman, Yellow Moccasin, played by Sara Montiel (dubbed by Angie Dickinson). For an interesting read, check out Montiel's bio; this film was not the highlight of her career.Despite a story that might have been riveting as a Louis Lamour novel, "Run of the Arrow" is plagued by technical glitches (problems with light/dark sections, continuity in a chase scene and regarding the use of flaming arrows, a bad special effect depicting the trail of an arrow) and numerous distractions.I could have done without some of the irrelevant religious symbolism. Did the Indians use so many flaming arrows just because it was more dramatic on film?And the heavy-handed ending is the worst. Wait till you see the written message.

drystyx Steiger plays a Reb who won't surrender, but unlike Ethan of "The Searchers", he embraces the native American culture when he loses his own country.We get a great adventure story here, with shades of the searchers, the Naked Prey, Dances with wolves, and long before those films were made.More important, we get three dimensional characters. Even the two "heavies", one from each culture, are depicted with added dimensions. They are cruel, but their cruelty is motivated. They aren't "rebels without a cause". Indeed, what we see is "rebel with a cause" throughout.There is much one could say to endorse this film, but I feel that would spoil it. What sticks out is how many of the characters behave in "humane" ways, even when they're expected not to, from both sides. Charles Bronson and Rod Steiger portray characters you feel actually existed, who mirror each other, and come to understand each other. The way this unfolds is amazing in script and directing, as well as acting.This is action packed, but also thought provoking drama. You could put this on a stage and get much the same reaction, but it works great in cinema, too.

Jeff (actionrating.com) Skip it – "When you get to the arrow, start running!" The "run of the arrow" is a torture game the Sioux played to give their prisoners a "running chance." Unfortunately, action buffs won't give this movie much of a chance. Rod Steiger plays an ex-Confederate who hates the U.S. and decides to become a Sioux. If you think this film sounds like "Dances with Wolves," you're right on the money. And like "Dances with Wolves," this western is slow and could have used a few more fight scenes. The "run of the arrow" scene is exciting, but it is the climax. And climaxes aren't supposed to come at the beginning of a movie. The biggest problem area is the sloppy quality of the scenes. The voices are dubbed poorly, the scenes are cut horribly, and the movie just flows badly, almost like parts are missing. Still, there are a few bright spots. A young, and super in-shape, Charles Bronson plays a pretty decent Indian chief. And if you can wait for it, the ending is very fitting.

Nazi_Fighter_David "Run of the Arrow" has an ex-Civil War soldier taking an Indian wife (Sarita Montiel) and here the Indians are less idealized… Steiger, deserter from the Southern cause, is a highly credible character, tough and able to effect a compromise with the Sioux until he finds one aspect of the culture he can't stomach, let alone assimilate—that of skinning a captive alive… He still, however, rides out of the picture with his Indian wife alongside… Whether she will assimilate what she finds in a different culture remains unanswered… The film remains a bloody little Western in the accustomed Fuller vein of unpleasantness...