GamerTab That was an excellent one.

SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Cleveronix A different way of telling a story

Jenni Devyn Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

Matt Otter Is it really lost on everyone that the makers of this film were purposely trying to make the buffalo look "unreal" if you will? The Buffalo was a mystery, a boogeyman, a force of nature.I can't believe people knock this film for it's lack of realism, are you seriously telling me you think it would have been more effective to paint a real buffalo white and get some wranglers to try and coach it into the actions the writers needed? Give me a break.The effects were not cheap, they did exactly what they were intended, this whole movie had an eerie feel to it, and the buffalo was the source of it, so of course it's not going to look "real" or act realistic.I can understand however, that at the time people were tired of the "shoot um up" Westerns and no doubt that hurt this film, but I saw it as a kid and loved it, I was apprehensive about watching it as an adult since so many childhood films don't quite hold up when seeing them through adult eyes, but I was happy to say this film was as good as I remembered.

skiptaggart The dialogue is wildly authentic. But the mechanical buffalo shows his real tracks during the final confrontation when you can briefly see the actual tracks it's riding on during its charge through the pines. Hard to believe that got past the editing process

connorbbalboa Sometimes, you come across movies that you know everyone thinks are terrible, but then you watch them and come out realizing you've just seen some great films.The White Buffalo, with Charles Bronson and Will Sampson, is one of those movies. Based on a novel by Richard Sale, this film takes place in the American West post-Civil War and sees Bronson as historical figure "Wild Bill" Hickok preparing to fight a giant white bison that haunts his dreams. Sampson plays another historical figure, Native American chief Crazy Horse, who is also after the beast because it killed his infant daughter. Right away, we have a great kind of story: normal men going up into the snowy mountains of the West to fight a legendary monster that haunts anyone who feels its presence and lives in its territory. However, what makes it much better is the dark themes within. One thing to note is that this is not a "fun" version of the West with cowboys and bandits. The minute Bronson arrives into town and sees a big pile of bison bones, you know that this film is going to feel pretty bleak. In fact, around the time the film takes place, the "white man" had started to expand into the West and with that, started to push out the local Native American tribes and take over their lands. Not only that, the "white man" had killed off most of the bison that Native Americans relied on for every aspect of their lives, from food to clothing to shelter to tools. Still on the subject, hatred of the "white man" towards Native Americans is something else that is a heavy presence in the film. During his journey to find the beast, Bronson takes his old friend, Charlie Zane, played by Jack Warden with him, but when Crazy Horse joins them, Zane dislikes him pretty much instantly and one can watch and wonder if he's going to let his personal racism get in the way of the hunt. Hickok and Crazy Horse are both aware of the hatred between their people and yet somehow are able to see past those hatreds and become understanding friends. Both Bronson and Sampson give pretty restrained but effective performances. A good number of side characters are also interesting. We have John Carradine in a small role as an undertaker and a sultry Kim Novak as an old lover of Hickok's. A few of the scenes with these side characters could admittedly come across as filler, but the best ones establish what kind of relationships Hickok has developed over the years and how he reacts to each of them. People usually say that the bison is simply a demon that Hickok fears, but it may be more than that: it could be a representation of the guilt he feels and the pain he has caused others over the years. It is even mentioned throughout the film that he blew away a Native American called the Peacemaker, and he later acknowledges his guilt over the incident. What the film also has going for it is the haunting atmospheres and music. How good is the music? All I can say is, by the time the end credits started with pictures of Bronson and Sampson as their respective characters, and the music started, I truly felt that I had witnessed a haunting battle between a legendary monster and two historical figures in a bleak American West on the verge of being changed completely by the "white man."

Spikeopath The White Buffalo is directed by J. Lee Thompson and adapted to screenplay by Richard Sale from his own novel of the same name. It stars Charles Bronson, Will Sampson, Jack Warden, Clint Walker, Slim Pickens and Kim Novak. Music is scored by John Barry and cinematography by Paul Lohmann. Plot finds Wild Bill Hickok (Bronson) and Crazy Horse (Sampson) teaming up to fight a giant white buffalo during the bleak winter of 1874. Hickok is plagued by nightmares of the beast, Crazy Horse is out purely for revenge after the rampaging creature laid waste to his village and killed his newly born son.It flopped at the box office, which in all honesty is not hard to understand, for The White Buffalo had too many things to fight against to put up a good showing. It's very much an odd movie, a strange blending of genres, it often looks cheap and it had the unenviable task of trying to stay in the giant beast slipstream created by Jaws two years previously. After Spielberg unleashed his Carcharodon Carcharias on the cinema loving world, a number of film makers tried the same idea but with different creatures, Grizzly and the star studded Tentacles were just two around the same period, even King Kong got a re-imaging in 76, while The White Buffalo was also up against the Richard Harris led Orca: Killer Whale (also featuring Will Sampson) this same year. Was the 1970s film lover in need of a hybrid creature feature Western with shades of Moby Dick stitched into the narrative? One with an oddly cast Bronson playing a legendary man of the West with sun glasses and penis rot? No was the answer, but a cult fan base grew over the years and it's definitely worth more than a second glance these days.Film pretty much thrives on mystical symbolism, shades of the supernatural hang over proceedings, while the Native American culture is given adherence as well. The idea of teaming up two legends of the West, enemies at that, also gives the picture a high novelty factor. As the two men, and Warden's gruff Charlie Zane who is along for the ride, go off in search of the beast, they must overcome hostilities of the human kind as well as the harsh winter that nature has provided for the back drop. Time is afforded development of story and principle characters, this is not merely an excuse to be a carnage based creature feature, it has ideas formed around man against nature, men against their fate, often it is philosophical, even literate. Of course this has proved to be seen as pretentious by some, and once the big white animatronic thunders into view with its awesome sound effects, it's easy to be steered away from the more brainy aspects of the piece!John Barry lays a magnificent foreboding score over the top of it, a score that deserves a better film in truth, but it imbues the picture with a sense of dread, helping us to stay with Wild Bill and Crazy Horse to see if they can cut down the demon while casting off their own? The studio filmed sequences are unfortunate, but necessary considering the budget restrictions, yet the sets do have a garish quality about them, further aiding the weirdness on offer. Cast performances are perfectly in keeping with the material, Bronson as cool as ever, though it should be noted that Novak, Walker, Pickens and Stuart Whitman really are light support players here. Much has been made of the creature design, unfavourably so, but it's one of the better animatronic creations of the 70s. Put it alongside those used in the Kevin Connor pictures around this period and you can see its benefits. Though facial close ups should have been kept to a minimum!It's obviously not high art and it has ideas above its station, while some of Michael F. Anderson's editing is so dizzying your head might explode. But this is no ordinary picture, surreal and hypnotic, intelligent yet off beat, it's better than you might think and worth viewing more than once with expectations levels correctly channelled. 7/10