Der weiße Büffel

In fact, "The White Buffalo" may on the surface appear to be just another Dino De Laurentiis production of the time like "King Kong" or "Orca", but it's rather intriguing and very moody. It's really an offbeat character study in which the character in question, none other than Wild Bill Hickock (Charles Bronson) has to face an internal demon of his by also doing battle with a real one, supposedly the last of the great white buffaloes that have mostly been wiped out.

On his way to meet his destiny, Wild Bill - now travelling under the alias James Otis - meets a variety of colourful characters, including his old friend Charlie Zane (a hearty Jack Warden) and Poker Jenny (Kim Novak, looking as beautiful as ever). Some of his encounters get intense, with the requisite amount of gunfire and bloodshed, but things really pick up once Bill and Charlie make the acquaintance of the Indian named Crazy Horse (Will Sampson), who is on his own quest to slay the beast.

The special effects may draw criticisms from some viewers, but this viewer never had any problem with them, and certainly appreciated seeing old style animatronics. The wintry atmosphere of "The White Buffalo" is incredible, accompanied by genuinely spooky music by John Barry, and the film has a wonderful spiritual quality not to be found in other collaborations between Bronson and director J. Lee Thompson. It's an unconventional choice of material for them, and today it rates as an under-rated entry on their resumes.

Much of the cast are relegated to cameo roles, but make the most out of their brief screen time: Clint Walker, Stuart Whitman, Slim Pickens, John Carradine, Cara Williams, Douglas Fowley, Ed Lauter, and Martin Kove, among others.

With this assemblage of talent and a decent script (by Richard Sale, based on his novel), this makes for fairly compelling viewing.

Seven out of 10.

I know a lot of people are not too impressed with this film. However when i first saw this about 14 years ago the images and atmosphere and chilly locations made an impact on my mind. I have seen this film several times and agree it is not one of Charles Bronson's best efforts but I still love watching this film regularly. The hunt for the white buffalo in the Black Hills is presented as a psychological battle in the mind of Wild Bill Hickok (Bronson) and a spiritual one for Chief Crazy Horse (Will Sampson). Sure the creature itself may look unrealistic,but the concept of battling your nightmares and the teaming up of two racial enemies as well as the dark cold almost sinister locations make this an interesting experience in my view. I also feel the dialogue is extremely appropriate with the use of 'Gold Diggers slang'. I am sure I am in a minority when I say I like this film so much.

'The White Buffalo' is one strange western. Some call it western version of the 'Jaws'. Anyway, this is not bad movie at all, far from greatness, but definitely entertaining. The buffalo itself isn't very scary as a monster, but rather hokey. The film is carried by star power of Charles Bronson who gives stellar performance as Wild Bill Hickok on the hunt of terrifying white buffalo. He is supported by wonderful cast with Will Sampson and Jack Warden, and Kim Novak, John Carradine and Ed Lauter making cameos. After magnificently directed opening scene rest of the film might feel little bit let down, but the atmosphere is held together by John Barry's haunting score.

Nothing sensational or thought provoking, but still worth to watch when you want to see some different twist in the western genre.

I was amazed that this film was on the bottom 20 IMDB list of westerns! Like Darrell1969, I too love this movie. Maybe Bronson was not the best choice for Wild Bill, (although he is a fine western star,) but the sets, dialogue, and the entire western/horror mood of this film are just great. If the buffalo is not 100% lifelike, well, just show me some CGI special effects that don't look fake! I would rather see the jerky robotic White Buffalo than some cartoon creature that looks like it hopped out of a Super Mario game! The frontier dialogue was the best and most realistic since 'True Grit', and the whole movie maintained a sense of wild west myth and strangeness. If you like westerns with a touch of dark, gothic mood, by all means watch The White Buffalo.

Although I can't find any information on what the budget for White Buffalo was, I suspect that the Dino de Laurentiis Corporation provided a reasonable amount of money considering they were 1977 dollars. I mention this because the most typical comments state that the laughable buff effects were due to low budget constraints.

But consider this. 2001: A Space Odyssey's effects were set to screen nine years before 1977 and Star Wars was released the same year as White Buffalo.

So special effects, although not CGI, were certainly advanced enough to satisfy those who have commented negatively here. So ... why were more advanced effects not used?

My theory is that the makers wanted to create a surreal, dreamlike feeling, much like it might have been to listen to an Indian storyteller around a village campfire a hundred and fifty years ago. In those times, human imagination could not have constructed the special effects images that we take for granted in our present-day monsters. Modern effects would detract from the misty, myth-like ambiance of this movie ... the myth of James Butler Hickok, the myth of Crazy Horse, the myth of the white buffalo.

When combined with John Barry's haunting score, this movie really has an effect on me. I give it an 8 out of 10 and hope to see it on a 1.85:1 widescreen DVD soon. I also hope the sound will be remastered better than the bloody mono track many of these cheap disk production companies are passing off on us!