Soldier Blue DVD: Review By Kaya Savas

I have to admit; before I got this DVD to review I had never heard of this movie. In fact I had no idea who the film's director, Ralph Nelson, was. I clicked a couple times in IMDb and found out that Nelson directed Lillies Of The Field, and now the reason became clear as to why he chose to make this movie. Soldier Blue is a story about the birth of America and what happened to the Native Americans who inhabited the land. The film opens with a cavalry group being brutally attacked by the Cheyenne Indians. The only two survivors are soldier Honus Gent and Cresta, a woman being escorted back to her fianc&#233. What follows is a long journey through the open plains of Colorado to get back to the base camp. At first the two are completely incompatible, but they soon open up to each other. We later learn that Cresta actually lived with the Cheyennes for two years and actually is supporting them to help them. Honus feels like she is a traitor to her country until finally we see what horrors are being committed by American soldiers.

Candice Bergen and Peter Strauss are the main characters in this film and their characters are really unique to the film. The movie does indeed have a female lead with the male character providing support. Not only is this female the lead, she is also a very strong and independent woman. As a filmmaker I think it's important to note that this film made in 1970 has this strong female lead in a western of all genres. Even though race is the main topic of the film, I think the gender quarreling between the two characters really lifted the development. In fact I think it was ironic that Honus was a soldier and he looked like a child in the presence of Cresta. It was also ironic that Honus was offended by the way she talked, the way she presented herself and even her manners as she eats.

Now, it seems that I am making the movie to be some kind of masterpiece when in reality it has a whole heap of problems. The biggest problem is the film's score. Music cannot save a bad film, but music can indeed ruin a good film. The case here is that composer Roy Budd just never supported the film's narrative and just flooded in the wrong emotions at the wrong times. I checked his filmography and this was in fact only his third score, but I can't help but imagine how much greater this film would have been with a better score. The acting as well was a bit over the top and could have been labeled as "cheesy" with today's standards, but once the characters get established it smoothens out. Something that didn't smooth out was the pacing and overall structure of the film. The first half of the film is incredibly light and playful, and not until the third act do we actually change to a tone that should have been established from the start. This leads to a different aspect of the film, which is the violence.

The film was extremely powerful, more so than I was expecting. I was expecting a very melodramatic and bland western. I think it's important to say that the film is very violent, it was extremely violent considering the movie was made in 1970. While I am a person who doesn't believe in violence for violence's sake, I do believe the film was rightfully violent to support the message of the film. There are scenes of graphic rape and scenes that will make the audience uncomfortable, but showing what actually happened makes this story all the more powerful. I applaud it for being a film that shines a negative light on the foundations of our country since everything we read about usually shines a positive light about our founders. The fact is that slavery of African Americans was not the only injustice to humanity that took place during the early years of our nation, and that the Native Americans were removed from their lands forcefully even though they wanted to coexist in peace. This is the message of the film and is important for having that message.

None, it's understandable though since the film was a low profile western made in 1970. I suppose you can consider the fact that this is the first time Soldier Blue is available uncut here in region 1. The movie was criminally re-edited down to a PG rating in 1974 and I can't even imagine the climax as a PG movie. Everything the film has would have been removed. So, thanks to Lionsgate for getting this version out there.

While I applaud the fact that this film is being released for the first time in its original version I have to start being mean. The transfer is absolutely atrocious. It says on the back cover that the film has been "digitally mastered" and I think what we are looking for is the word "remastered" or "restored". The transfer has not been touched. You'll see from the very beginning that dirt, grain, scratches and color fading have plagued the print of the film. We do get a 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreeen transfer, but the quality on a large screen is so noticeably bad. I'm not sure if this movie will ever get the funds to be restored, but I think it's important enough to do so.

We have a Dolby 1.0 mono mix. Not fun to listen to on a 6.1 surround system, but then again you have to look at the movie. I'd be against making a 5.1 mix of this movie even though I supported the 5.1 mix for The Good, The Bad & The Ugly. A stereo track would have been nice though. I mean, come on, mono?

The film comes in a standard single-disc case with no insert.

I was really surprised about how powerful Soldier Blue was. I can just imagine the opposition that this film must have gotten upon its release. After seeing it I really felt like it needs to be remade for today's audience. I think it could have been so much better than how it turned out; it's an amazing and emotional story. I think it's worth a purchase since the price is very nice at most retailers. The music did kill the movie though, and I'm sure anyone would agree with me. I don't really hold it against Lionsgate for not putting any special features mainly because I doubt there are any to put on.