Arguably one of the most graphically violent films in the Western genre is the 1970 film Soldier Blue. Directed by Ralph Nelson, he holds nothing back in his revisionist telling about the Sandy Creek Colorado massacre. Frankly, having watched dozens of Westerns I have never seen any of them quite so offensive and brutal. The film has so much graphic violence you would think you are watching a horror movie! Not many Westerns measure up to the raw power that Soldier Blue has.  

The film starts off with a bang. A cavalry patrol is ambushed by the Cheyenne, and two survivors, Honus Gant (Peter Strauss, Peter Gunn) a loyal soldier, and a white woman, Kathy Maribel “Cresta ”Lee (legendary actress Candace Bergen, The Hunting Party, Gandhi, Murphy Brown), that has been living amongst Native Americans for a few years join together to find shelter in the nearest fort. The two of them do not see eye to eye on the way they see the world and our country. Honus is a bit on the naïve side and wet behind the ears, while Cresta has seen the forest through the trees. She constantly swears and yells at poor Honus because he just does not understand what our country is doing to the Native American people. She has stronger feelings toward the Cheyenne rather than her own people in the US military. Along the way they run into a maniac, Isaac Q. Cumber (horror film legend Donald Pleasance, Halloween, Phantom of Death) and are nearly killed by him. Learning that he trades weapons to the Cheyenne, Honus disposes Cumber’s carriage that contains all the guns, due to his loyalty to his country. He is shot in the leg by Cumber for his troubles. They do escape the madman by hiding in a cave, where despite their differences, Honus, who is attracted to Cresta makes move on her, and she accepts. After the love making, Cresta leaves Honus behind in the cave to get help for him, and she learns of a planned attack on a peaceful Cheyenne village by the racist, corrupt Colonel Iverson (John Anderson, The Great Bank Robbery). She flees the fort to inform the leader of the tribe, Spotted Wolf (Jorge Rivero, Rio Lobo, Werewolf). Spotted Wolf goes to offer friendship, waving the American flag at Iverson and his squad as a friendly gesture but it does no good. Iverson leads the charge and the carnage begins. As this is going on, Honus finally learns the truth about how corrupt and psychopathic his commanding officer and our country is and gets a firsthand look at all the dead Native Americans, women and children alike.

Soldier Blue easily one of the most vicious Westerns ever made. The one film that comes close to this type of graphic violence is Bone Tomahawk. But in terms of racist themes and hatred toward another race, Soldier Blue holds nothing back in sheer mayhem. The film shows scenes of extreme brutality depicting women and children being attacked. There are several shocking scenes that I will not disclose that caused controversy at the time. This movie is not for kids and may even upset some adults. Despite some probably calling the film offensive, Soldier Blue is an excellent, captivating and controversial film, and one of the most unforgettable in Western cinema. I do not feel the graphic violence is a determent to the film whatsoever. This is an American movie where Americans are the bad guys which makes for some rather compelling cinema. In a way, this film reminds me of what is going on in our contemporary society. The acting by the cast is excellent with the leads Peter Strauss and Candace Bergen, who were just starting to climb their way to stardom handed in fantastic performances. Donald Pleasance was great as usual playing a maniacal character, somewhat reminiscent to his role in Will Penny. The film has solid direction by Ralph Nelson, who lets it all go at the climax, and beautiful cinematography by Robert B. Hauser.

Kino Lorber presents Soldier Blue on Blu-ray of, giving the film its debut on North American home video. If you are someone who picked up the German Blu-ray import, like me for example, I can say with confidence that it is safe to discard the German Blu-ray of the same movie. I think the picture quality in the Kino release is superior with more clarity, sharpness and richer colors. The colors are just magnificent with an abundance of gorgeous exterior shots of the valleys and frontiers. Blue skies, green hills are easily the most breathtaking. Skin tones look accurate and in close-up shots you can see plenty of details. There appears to be no digital manipulation to the film. And yes, this is the 115-minute uncut version of the film.    

The English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track for Soldier Blue is also crystal clear for the most part. The sharpness tends to lean more aggressive during the battle scenes and the great musical scores by Roy Budd. No audio defects were detected other than a couple of spots with some mild but not distracting muffling. It will not affect the listening experience. English subtitles are available.

Extras include a new commentary by Howard S. Berger and Steve Mitchell, and they do another outstanding, enthusiastic job discussing Soldier Blue. They talk about the picture in great detail, getting to view it in its uncut glory, the reception the film received and plenty of other information about the film and its performers.

Trailers for Soldier Blue, The Hunting Party, Valez is Coming, Billy Two Hats, Barquero, and The Jericho Mile is the only other extra for this release.

I very much enjoyed Soldier Blue, it is a powerful moving film that has finally made it to Blu-ray, looking and sounding as good as it gets for the foreseeable future. Throw in a couple of supplements and you have a highly recommended release that should be on the shelves of many a collector!

Soldier Blue

Director- Ralph Nelson

Cast- Candace Bergen, Peter Strauss, Donald Pleasence

Country of Origin- US

Distributor – Kino Lorber

Number of Discs – 1

Reviewed by – David Steigman

Date- 8/29/20