Despite having a very good cast, this is a rather dull western movie with some parts frustrating to watch because of poor decisions made by Pike. The ending is rather unsatisfying - would it not have been more fitting for Pike, once he realized he could not regain the horse, to at least try to help the young Irish woman?
Obviously the very liberal English writer was very strongly pro-Indian. The main Indian character was portrayed as a very clever man who succeeded in all his encounters, while the Martin Sheen character was portrayed as an incompetent bumbler who, despite being brave and determined, lost a series of encounters with the Indians - for example, losing his partner played by Harvey Keitel along with some horses and supplies during the first encounter. The Mexicans were likewise portrayed in a rather negative way.
There were some plot holes along the way - for example, Pike has no horse after he loses Eagle's Wing, but then somehow has another horse, later lets that horse go free, but again later somehow has the horse. Pike has two guns, yet when he encounters White Bull who is shooting arrows at him, makes no attempt to use the smaller one - did the director forget showing the smaller gun in a previous scene? And it showed poor research when, in an early scene, a nocturnal Antrostomus bird species is heard singing in the daytime.
On the positive side, the cast (Sam Waterston, Caroline Langrishe, Martin Sheen, and Harvey Keitel) performed very well and the filming locations were well-chosen.
Obviously the very liberal English writer was very strongly pro-Indian. The main Indian character was portrayed as a very clever man who succeeded in all his encounters, while the Martin Sheen character was portrayed as an incompetent bumbler who, despite being brave and determined, lost a series of encounters with the Indians - for example, losing his partner played by Harvey Keitel along with some horses and supplies during the first encounter. The Mexicans were likewise portrayed in a rather negative way.
There were some plot holes along the way - for example, Pike has no horse after he loses Eagle's Wing, but then somehow has another horse, later lets that horse go free, but again later somehow has the horse. Pike has two guns, yet when he encounters White Bull who is shooting arrows at him, makes no attempt to use the smaller one - did the director forget showing the smaller gun in a previous scene? And it showed poor research when, in an early scene, a nocturnal Antrostomus bird species is heard singing in the daytime.
On the positive side, the cast (Sam Waterston, Caroline Langrishe, Martin Sheen, and Harvey Keitel) performed very well and the filming locations were well-chosen.