Soldier Blue [VHS]

Soldier Blue was made as a biting allegory of the Vietnam war. It divided critics at the time of its release and indeed, continues to do so. It is extremely brutal but not gratuitously so. The appalling acts depicted are shown from the point of view that this actually happened, as opposed to well lets give the audience some gore. People seeing the film tend to be shocked from the former point of view as opposed to the latter.

The film opens deceptively with a Cheyenne massacre of a US Cavalry troop guarding a pay chest. The survivors of the massacre are one naive boy soldier and a savvy, young frontier woman, played superbly by Peter Strauss, and Candice Bergen respectively. Their adventures and subsequent romance are then chronicled. Along the way they encounter Donald Pleasance's superbly sinister arms smuggler. The film's climax is a savage massacre of a Cheyenne village by the US Army - based on the real life events at Sand Creek, Colorado. In an orgy of blood lust, women and children are slaughtered and body parts are taken as trophies. By this time the film has swung 180 degrees from its opening, and has established the root cause of the suffering which is the white man's treatment of the native american. During all this, Strauss' character has changed from naive volunteer soldier to conscientious objector while the character of Candice Bergen remains the hope of reconciliation and co-existence.

The film is brutally honest and makes its point more effectively than other bigger budget films of the same genre eg. Dances With Wolves. Sadly the film is not readily available in the USA. I would strongly urge MGM who now own the rights to re release the film on dvd, preferably in its' completely uncut version (The film is available on vhs only here in the UK but it is the cut version). In the current climate where Fahrenheit 9/11 is generating massive interest in the US, the re release of a brutally honest recreation of a bloody piece of American history would be timely and well received. In the meantime, if you can get a copy, I strongly urge people to see this film and form their own conclusions.

As a footnote the film has been released on dvd in its completely uncut version in Germany, as of July 2004. The film looks absolutely fantastic on dvd, picture and sound quality are incredible for a film of this age. Having just seen this version, has made me realise that the 'uncut' version I saw in the UK years ago was in fact slightly cut. Therefore, be warned, this version is very strong viewing, indeed. Any previously 'uncut' version that you saw in the past probably was in fact censored to some degree. This version of the film is titled 'Das Wiegenlied Vom Totschlag' and is available from Amazon De, which is where I got my copy from. It is a Region 2/Pal dvd, so just be aware that your dvd player may not be able to play this format. Definitely a film worth upgrading to multi region play though.
Technical details as follows:
- Title is Das Wiegenlied Vom Totschlag
- Sound is Dolby Digital mono.
- Format is 16.9 anamorphic
- Area is Region 2/Pal
- Extras are a theatrical trailer
- Running time is 110 mins.
- Languages available are English, German, Italian, and Spanish

Soldier Blue was made as a biting allegory of the Vietnam war. It divided critics at the time of its release and indeed, continues to do so. It is extremely brutal but not gratuitously so. The appalling acts depicted are shown from the point of view that this actually happened, as opposed to well lets give the audience some gore. People seeing the film tend to be shocked from the former point of view as opposed to the latter.

The film opens deceptively with a Cheyenne massacre of a US Cavalry troop guarding a pay chest. The survivors of the massacre are one naive boy soldier and a savvy, young frontier woman, played superbly by Peter Strauss, and Candice Bergen respectively. Their adventures and subsequent romance are then chronicled. Along the way they encounter Donald Pleasance's superbly sinister arms smuggler. The film's climax is a savage massacre of a Cheyenne village by the US Army - based on the real life events at Sand Creek, Colorado. In an orgy of blood lust, women and children are slaughtered and body parts are taken as trophies. By this time the film has swung 180 degrees from its opening, and has established the root cause of the suffering which is the White Man's treatment of the Native American. During all this, Strauss' character has changed from naive volunteer soldier to conscientious objector while the character of Candice Bergen remains the hope of reconciliation and co-existence.

The film is brutally honest and makes its point more effectively than other bigger budget films of the same genre eg. Dances With Wolves. Sadly the film is not readily available in the USA. I would strongly urge MGM who now own the rights to re release the film on dvd, preferably in its' completely uncut version (The film is available on dvd and vhs here in the UK but it is the cut version). In the current climate where Fahrenheit 9/11 is generating massive interest in the US, the re release of a brutally honest recreation of a bloody piece of American history would be timely and well received. In the meantime, if you can get a copy, I strongly urge people to see this film and form their own conclusions.

As a footnote the film has been released on dvd in its completely uncut version in Germany, as of July 2004. The film looks absolutely fantastic on dvd, picture and sound quality are incredible for a film of this age. Having just seen this version, has made me realise that the 'uncut' version I saw in the UK years ago was in fact slightly cut. Therefore, be warned, this version is very strong viewing, indeed. Any previously 'uncut' version that you saw in the past probably was in fact censored to some degree. This version of the film is titled 'Das Wiegenlied Vom Totschlag' and is available from Amazon De, which is where I got my copy from. For UK viewers this is on our existing DVD format. If you live in the US this though, be aware that this is a Region 2/Pal dvd, therefore your dvd player will probably not be able to play this format. Definitely a film worth upgrading to Multi Region DVD player for though.
Technical details as follows:
- Title is Das Wiegenlied Vom Totschlag
- Sound is Dolby Digital mono.
- Format is 16.9 anamorphic
- Area is Region 2/Pal
- Extras are a theatrical trailer
- Running time is 110 mins.
- Languages available are English, German, Italian, and Spanish

Candice Bergen once said that Soldier Blue was her worst film. No doubt this was said in reponse to its controversial nature and by no means exemplifies the worst of Ms Bergen's acting talents. Candice Bergen made another horrifically tasteless violent western the following year- The Hunting Party. Ms Bergen was one of many detractors who would come to chorus what is now the usually held opinion of this under rated semi-classic. Based on and differing wildly from Theodore V. Olsen's book 'Arrow in the Sun' it is not surprising, given the era of its production, that the film should climax with a bloody massacre and present the horrors in unflinching detail. But, criticised as it is, Soldier Blue effectively weaves from adventure to romance to horror without ever losing the power to entertain, to shock, to make you feel and to leave you thinking. This notoriously violent 'western' comes to DVD at last in a beautiful 2.35:1 presentation but lamentably (and strangely - considering the now emphasis on film restoration) is still missing the 'rape scene' in which an Indian woman has her breast cut off (included in the original Magnetic Video VHS release). A trailer is the only extra.