A Saga Continua

Apache chief Pierre Brice saves Assiniboine princess Karin Dor from a guy in a bear suit. He takes her back to her village and discovers that the Assiniboines have captured cavalry officer Terence Hill and two of his men. Brice has a plan to meet with colonel Renato Baldini and make peace, so he convinces Assiniboine chief Rikard Brzeska to let Hill go with a message for the colonel, who happens to be his father. Brice and all the chiefs will come to the fort and they'll all talk peace.

On the way home, Hill sees a brutal attack on a native village by a group of men lead by Klaus Kinski. He fights them off with the help of Lex Barker, who was conveniently passing by and also happens to be pals with Brice. Kinski is working for Anthony Steel, an oil baron who wants no peace because he can use conflict with the natives as an excuse to steal their land.

Baldini and the native chiefs reach a peace agreement, mostly because Hill agrees to marry Dor (who's in love with Brice, but both of them agree to take one for the team). Steel attacks a group of settlers and blames it on the natives. It's up to Barker, Brice, Hill and comedic sidekick Eddi Arent (who I didn't mention previously because he annoys me) to stop Kinski and Steel and save the day.

One of a series of West German westerns based on the books of Karl May that have Native American heroes even though they are all played by white Europeans. This is fairly typical Euro-genre fare, not all that coherent in the plot department, but a hell of a lot of fun. It's pretty much worth seeing just to see Barker, Hill and Kinski together, but it's also just chock full of great little action set pieces.

This second picture of Karl May's Winnetou trilogy has everything required on a western movie, the upcoming war over White men and Indians, peace agreement, a white soldier marrying a native girl, ambush, a cruel gang extracting oils, a Fort's soldiers, settlers have been slaughtered by outlaws, for Indians be blamed, the casting are absolutely stellar, Lex Barker, Pierre Brice, Terence Hill, Klaus Kinski, Anthony Steel and Renato Baldini, although the high point is the marvelous breathtaking Yuguslavian landscape, calm clean rivers, blue lagoon, green forests, rocky peaks and a fabulous wide natural cave, like a greatest cathedral, where the showdown took place, apart some contrived scenes the picture allowed us see this amazing place, no blue screen or studio's sets, just shot on the wildest Yuguslavia countryside, not bad at all!!!

Resume:

First watch: 2019 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7

This one is regarded as one of the best "Karl-May-Movies" and is my personal favorite too. Lex Barker and Pierre Brice as the famous friends Winnetou and Old Shatterhand - as dignified as always. Supported by young Terence Hill in an early important part and the best cast ever seen in a May-Movie: Klaus Kinski, Anthony Steel, Karin Dor and the gorgeous yugoslavian actors Mirko Boman and Gojko Mitic. There is an emotional and thrilling story about Winnetou and his love Ribanna. Director Reinl - husband of Ribanna-performer Karin Dor - did an excellent job: There are great shootings of the landscape and the romantic May-feeling is stronger than ever before or after this little masterpiece.

"Winnetou 2" is the lucky one of the Winnetou trilogy, because in between the tragic events of part 1 and 3, none of the central characters needs to die. So it's a somewhat easier going show with a lot of great actors: a very young Terence Hill (then still Mario Girotti), Klaus Kinski, and notably Karin Dor ("The Green Archer", "You Only Live Twice") as Ribanna who falls in love with Winnetou but is expected to marry Lt.Merril for the sake of peace. Very impressive are the scene with countless extras (i.e. the meeting of the Indian chieftains) and in the cave when Winnetou comes to the rescue of Ribanna - and Merril whom he doesn't bear a grudge, that's noble Apaches for you. Director Reinl would take Lex Barker and Karin Dor into an even scarier place later with "Castle of the Walking Dead" ("Die Schlangengrube und das Pendel"). To sum it up: "Winnetou 2" was a good sequel that disappointed none of the audience, therefore part 3 was immediately on the schedule.

This film essentially starts with Apache chief "Winnetou" (Pierre Brice) riding on horseback to meet a Native American tribal chief of the Assiniboine about joining comprehensive peace talks with America. Along the way, he encounters a young Assiniboine maiden named "Ribanna" (Karin Dor) being attacked by a bear and rushes in to save her. Grateful for his help, she introduces herself and reveals that she is the daughter of the Assiniboine chief. His bravery strengthens his cause, and he convinces the Assiniboine chief to collaborate with several rival Native American tribes to negotiate peace with the American government. Additionally, while he's there, he frees three American soldiers held captive by the Assiniboine, including one named "Lieutenant Robert Merrill" (Terence Hill), who just so happens to be the son of the officer in charge of a nearby Army garrison. However, there is a wealthy oil baron named "Bud Forrester" (Anthony Steel) who has been causing chaos among the Native Americans to claim their lands--and he'll stop at nothing to sabotage all peace efforts. Rather than reveal more, I'll just say that I enjoyed this particular installment of the Winnetou series a bit more than the three films that came before it, especially due to the romantic drama involving Winnetou, Ribanna, and Lieutenant Merrill. Additionally, just like its three predecessors, it also features beautiful scenery and background music. In any case, I enjoyed this film for the most part, and I've rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.