Soldier Blue Review

Interest: 7.5/10

Acting: 8/10

Storyline: 8/10

Intensity: 9/10

Fights Guns or Otherwise: 9/10

Nudity: 7/10

Western Elements: 7.5/10

War: 7.5/10

Drama: 8/10

Logic: 8/10

Soldier Blue is a 1970 Western film. Its run time is one hour and fifty-five minutes. Soldier Blue stars are Candice Bergen (Known for Murphy Brown, Miss Congeniality, Bride Wars, and Sweet Home Alabama), Peter Strauss (Known For Rich Man, Poor Man, The Jericho Mile, and Masada) and Donald Pleasence ( Known for Halloween II, Halloween, The Great Escape, and Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers). Also heads up, there is rape in this film, for historical purposes, of how vile we were (and still are). But let’s take a look at the film shall we?

Interest: Soldier Blue is interesting as a movie and a social commentary. It shows the hardships of the both Native Americans and the white people. Indians actually tried to live with white men and we raped and pillaged the land and woman and killed everything. We were complete savages, and while we thought we had the high ground, we were probably worse than them, and it makes for a better western than any other, in my opinion.

Acting: I think the acting was well done for a film that apparently no one has really seen. And for the 1970’s this film had some great acting. Everyone played their character well, gave them life and made you care. People grew, you saw quickly who was who, and it made for a very enjoyable experience.

Storyline: Typically I find in westerns the storyline to be the weakest part, mostly because everything can be guessed pretty easily, and while Soldier Blue falls into that trope some, it definitely does things its way. And while being supposedly a true story (Hollywood has no rules about plastering “Based on a True Story” on things that aren’t even true.), it means things are really just that crazy, assuming that again, it is true. I liked the story because The west tends to be romanticized, when in reality it was gritty raw and terrible.

Intensity: The movie can get intense and that for the most part is a good thing. The fights are good and make you worry about what will happen, who will win, and what is the aftermath. Also with being out in the old west, things were tough out there and you had no idea if you were going to make it from day to do, especially if something went wrong like your horse died, or gun stopped functioning. Really makes you think.

Fights, Guns or Otherwise: All the fights in the film are good and fun. There is a small fist fight, knife fights, guns, you name it, it probably was used and it is good stuff. The verbal and mental side of things also don’t let you down, as with both the main characters are bantering back and forth about being modest, or being more manly. And the war makes them both riddled with mental problems.

Nudity: I hadn’t planned to say that this film has nudity, but it certainly does, and it is during the rape that you happen to see nudity. It in a movie sense it makes sense, especially if it is a true story, or just to show how we probably were then (not like we have become much better). So yes there is nudity, and no it isn’t a good thing, but for the sake of the movie, makes sense.

Western Elements: The western Elements of Soldier Blue are strange to me. I think of a typical western in a desert, lots of horses, and fighting over a woman. Some things like this do happen, but not frequently, and honestly I’d call this movie more of an action adventure in the west, but not a western. But I think if you like westerns, you may like this as well.

War: War is prevalent in Soldier Blue. It is either shown, or you can feel the tension of war throughout the whole film. You feel the despair, plus the political climate, and how both sides few the same thing completely differently. It may not be a modern war film by any means, but I think it’s a good insight into war.

Drama: Soldier Blue uses drama well. The drama is what truly carries the movie from point A to point B. From meeting to the ending our two main characters bicker, bitch and piss and moan the whole way, learning and growing as people, and it’s a nice change of pace. It was funny, mean, and insightful to the time.

Logic: The logic in the film seemed good. I didn’t feel like anything was glaring besides the solider character seemed really uninformed about real life, I feel like everyone back in the day even romanticized their lives and were so very willing to live a lie about the real world. I’m not sure if that was truly the case, but I find it so strange and unusual. Otherwise it seemed logical and that I can’t poke holes into it.

Did I enjoy the film? Yes I did. Do I recommend it? Also yes, although again I advise there is a rape scene and it isn’t for everyone, and it is near the end of the movie. But for a “western” that is pretty unknown I’d say this should be known by many more people that it is. It was a fun watch, kept my interest, and assuming it is true, I even learned something. The rating I give for this film in total is 79.5%. I’d say this film is more for just plain viewing enjoyment rather than ripping the film a new one with some friends. Until Next Time!