Geronimo - An American Legend (1993)

[Neville]

Although I like modern westerns, I'm not exactly a fan of Walter Hill in this field. I feel that his westerns tend to fall short, either in style ("The Long Riders", which feels too much like a watered Peckinpah) or in substance, as it is the case here.

"Geronimo" is supposed to tell the story of the titular character, leader of the Apaches that was one of the last to surrender to the U.S. government in the 1880s. However, it is a phenomenal failure in that aspect.

I should start with the good things first. Being shot in Utah and having a wonderful cinematography, this is by gar the most visually appealing Walter Hill western. Even if the sotry or the characters may fail to interest, the landscapes alone are worth the rental. Then, we also have a great cast. Among Geronimo's pursuers we have the likes of Matt Damon (before he became famous), Jason Patric (in what probably is his best acting to date), Robert Duvall and Gene Hackman. Geronimo is played by intense native american Wes Studi, who considering the circumstances does quite well.

What are those circumstances? Well, Studi is given fourth billing, so you can imagine. Either by studio interference or just a lousy script by John Milius and frequent Hill collaborator Larry Gross, the movie does not tell the story of Geronimo, but the story of his pursuers, and it even fails at that, because the editing is so rough, with frequent blanks filled with voiceover, that we never get to know much of anybody. What's worse, things happen suddenly, out of the blue, and its consequences are equally vague. When the movie ends with a voiceover rambling about Geronimo's ultimate fate, any dramatism is absent, since there's no real buildup to such a scene.

At least Hill delivers on the occasional action, but if I watch a movie called "Geronimo" I couldn't care less if some soldiers get into a nasty bar fight in Mexico, no matter how well shot it is, damn it! At lest Hill did better on his latter westerns, such as "Wild Bill" and "Last Man Standing".




Portrait of a cavalry officer with Apache in the background.

[Shadowphile]

I've always wondered about the idea of screaming 'GERONIMO!'  before jumping off something.  Does anybody know where the idea comes from?  Obviously the Apache chief has relation.

On to other Geronimo trivia.  The picture of him posing with his rifle is considered the archetypal 'noble savage'.  Few people are aware of the photos taken of him years later, posing proudly not with a rifle or a horse but with a brand new car.....

[LilCerberus]

Shadowphile Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I've always wondered about the idea of screaming
> 'GERONIMO!'  before jumping off something.  Does
> anybody know where the idea comes from?  Obviously
> the Apache chief has relation.


If I recallect propper, my dad once told me that skydivers did that because the "mo" in 'GERONIMO!' did something to equalize the presure in their ears as they plummetted from a high altitude at a fast rate.
He did airborn in the service, so I 'assume' he would've known.

How it became Geronimo instead of some other guy who's name ended with "mo" may have something to do with this airborn division in WW2 that shaved their heads into mohawks, except they called it an Apache WarLock.

Of course, this is all just speculation on my part.

[Shadowphile]

I knew it had something to do with parachutes but had no idea about the pressure thing.

[Yaddo 42]

I too was disappointed by this one when I first saw it. Could have been called "Cavalry Officer: Legend of a Guy Who Hung Around Geronimo" considering which character was the lead. Duval seems to be playing Al Sieber the same way he plays crusty old guys in most westerns he's made in recent years.

Also I mentioned this before in another thread on this film way back when I was a semi-regular here, but why create a cavalry officer who bonds with Geronimo, when it was Sieber, his real life protege Tom Horn, and their native scouts who had the most interaction with Geronimo and his people? Horn was the one who is supposed to have negotiated Geronimo's surrender in real life. The real Tom Horn was more interesting than some character they could make up, even if they took liberites with the man, it seems a shame to leave him out of the story all together. With two films already made about parts of his life, I still can't figure out why they left him out.

[Neville]

I don't know much about the real Geronimo, but if that's true then you're right, they should have built the movie around Tom Horn rather than create not one but two (!) cavalry officers instead. Still don't know why Matt Damon's character was doinf around there, because Jason Patric's could have provided the voiceover instead, and he seemed far more interested in Geronimo than Damon.

[Shadowphile]

There was a Tom Horn movie, wasn't there?  With Steve McQueen?

[Yaddo 42]

That one covered the end of Horn's life, but made mention of his earlier exploits. There was also a movie called "Mr. Horn" starring David Carradine as Horn and Richard Widmark as Al Sieber. It covered more of his life, but also focused on his later life as a stock detective, enforcer for several cattle companies, and possible hired killer.

[Yaddo 42]

That one covered the end of Horn's life, but made mention of his earlier exploits. There was also a movie called "Mr. Horn" starring David Carradine as Horn and Richard Widmark as Al Sieber. It covered more of his life, but also focused on his later life as a stock detective, enforcer for several cattle companies, and possible hired killer.

[Yaddo 42]

Sorry about the double post, the Internet connection got cranky about the time I hit "post message". I hit it again when the connection picked up, instead of checking if it went through.

[BoyScoutKevin]

I haven't seen this, so I won't comment on the film, except to note that, at least, Wes Studi has brown eyes.

One of the critiques of Chuck Connors portrayal of Geronimo in "Geronimo" is that Geronimo has blue eyes. They did try to get around this by having Connors wearing colored contact lenses, but, for whatever reason, he couldn't wear them.

That is also the film that has Polish-born actor Ross Martin play an Apache Indian. Close enough I guess for Hollywood.

Besides the films mentioned by Yaddo 42, Al Sieber also appears in the film "Apache," played by John McIntire and the television show "Stories of the Century," played by Kenneth McDonald.
Both from 1954.

And while he is not named Al Sieber, Charlton Heston's role in "Arrowhead" from 1953, is supposedly based on Al Sieber.

And while he goes unnamed and uncredited in John Ford's version of "Stagecoach" from 1939, the Indian chief that attacks the stagecoach, is suppose to be Geronimo. Or, so I have heard.

[Scott]

GERONIMO: An American Legend - was much better than I expected when I rented it a few years ago. If you like Westerns or historical films you'll like this film. Well done.

I really appreciate Neville's Western journey here on the messageboard.