Buffalo Rider

When I was 6 years old my grandfather took me to see this movie. The only scene I remember is a fight scene in a bar where the buffalo came in and kicked a bunch of people around. I assume that it probably stunk since I have never heard of it since, but it still holds a couple of good memories for me. The next year my grandfather died. This is a morbid comment huh? Does anyone know if it is possible to still see this move? I wouldn't think so, but who knows. Thanks for reading. I had read somewhere that this movie was based on a true story. I really can't imagine a real guy riding a buffalo around, but it was in Oregon so I quess they had "tree huggers" all the way back in the 1800's.

It was a cinematic masterpiece of epic buffalo proportions and the best film I have ever seen with a man riding on a buffalo. Although long, drawn out, poorly acted, with poor cinematography, poor sound quality, and a wandering nearly nonsensical plot, the buffalo and his rider will steal your heart. Many animals probably died in the making of this film, but it was filmed in 1977 and released in 1978 when people clearly didn't care about that. If a man riding on a buffalo doesn't spark your interest, maybe a man punching a cougar will. Rick Guinn (the guy on the buffalo) delights as actor, animal handler, and stunt man. Samson (the buffalo) entertains with his swift kicks and trampling abilities. Folks, this movie is not to be missed by anyone who loves a buffalo and a guy riding one.

I enjoyed this movie, considering what it apparently was ("hey, let's make a movie with Rick and some animals!"). It certainly wasn't top-notch, but it stayed fairly engaging throughout. I found the storytelling and most of the scenes to be great fodder for kids, but there's enough violence in it that I think it might be too much for younger ones. Middle-schoolers and up will be fine.

If there had been a little less violence I think it would be great for younger kids; older ones might not connect well with it these days, unless they're interested in "the olden days" or man/nature-type fare. So it seems to me that its target audience is rather limited at this point. Still, if you happen to be in the mood to see a guy riding a buffalo, here's your movie!

Consider yourself warned as this movie definitely cannot post that 'no animals were hurt during the making of this film'. I honestly think a lot of the actors and the one baby in this film were also probably hurt during the making of this film. This film is quite rough, suffice to say as it is almost a cross between a nature documentary and a movie. A movie that lectures us on how the buffalo were hunted to near extinction, but literally looks like the people in the film are gunning live buffalo down!

The story, what story? Literally, we get a narrator talking about buffalo and hunters for a while and then Buffalo Jones is introduced and he is apparently the Buffalo Rider of the title, but he is never referred to this in the film, but rather as Buffalo Jones, whose main skills seems impaired judgement as he has a horse, but wants to ride a buffalo, who sees these men and can tell they are dangerous, but lets himself get shot anyway. Then we witness a raccoon in a frolicking adventure battling a cougar which tries to drown the raccoon who then gets swept up in a huge flood and then a babies parents are killed and old Buffalo Jones is going to rescue said child right after he punches a cougar in the face!

The film is just crazy. The lead guy looks like a cross from a dude in a rock band and Donald Sutherland and the bad guys just stop in here and there to make it seem like the film is just not an animal nature documentary gone awry. If it were a nature doc, the animals fighting each other would be just nature's way, but in this film, we have bears fighting and you know the makers got them to fight, you have buffalo trampling wolves and several other instances of animal cruelty going on.

So, the film is rough if you cannot stand the sight of animals in pain. I can watch it, knowing that the animals would be long dead even if they were not subjected to this, but some of the scenes definitely made me wince; especially that bear fight. Just not sure why a film like this was made as it is about a man that loves animals, but then the animals that were used were definitely mistreated.

I was standing on a ledge about to jump to my death, when I saw this movie... It not only saved my life, but I went on to become a rich western writer. The film is an epic tale of a man and his mount. The world would have been a much darker place without this masterful piece of cinema. In my hometown we now have a mandatory once a week viewing of this film were everyone gathers around so we can revisit the trials and tribulations that Buffalo Jones endures. We are doing our best to get the Raccoon inducted into the acting hall of fame, maybe even get its little paw prints on the Walk of Fame in L.A. Thank you Buffalo Rider! You saved my life, that's what you did. <3 <3 <3