O Grande Búfalo Branco

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!

This rare but intriguing western deals with Will Bill Hickok ( Charles Bronson)who suffers several nightmares about an enormous white buffalo. Will Hickok join forces with Indian chief, Crazy Horse, previous to Little Big Horn battle, (here also named Worm and well played by Will Sampson) and a rifleman named Zane (Jack Warden) to track down a breathtaking white buffalo in the Black Hills . Hickok holds a dodgy obsession with the mythical animal until a spectacular final duel.

This strange picture packs nois action , thrills , chills, tension , violence and semi-surreal outdoors. The highlights of the movie are the impressive mountain of bones and the buffalo attacks with the victims running afoul that deliver excitement enough. Packs something of 'Moby Dick' theme with the obstinate fight of a man to chase his prey . Other reviewers say that the white buffalo represents the fear to mortality . Features good performances from starring trio , Bronson, Sampson and Warden. Ample plethora of veteran secondaries , such as Slim Pickens as a stagecoach conductor , Stuart Whitman as a passenger , Clint Walker as a gunfighter, Douglas Fowley as a train conductor and also narrator , besides John Carradine . Other supporting cast in minor roles are the following ones : Ed Lauter, Martin Kove and of course Kim Novak in a special appearance. Although much is filmed in studio, the freezing frontiers , filthy towns and snowy locations are shot in Bronson Canyon Los Angeles, Chana New Mexico and Canon City, Colorado. Appropriate and atmospheric musical score by the classic composer John Barry.

The picture is produced in average budget by Dino De Laurentis who made a trilogy with giant beasts (King Kong, Orca, White buffalo) and creature design by Carlo Rambaldi (E. T.). The film was professionally directed by J. Lee Thomson who directed good Western ( McKenna gold) and all kinds of genres such as Sci-Fi (Conquest and Battle of planet of apes), terror (reincarnation of Peter Proud, Eye of the devil), adventures (King of the sun, Taras Bulba) and Warlike ( Guns of Navarone, Von Braun). J. Lee Thomson working from the 50s in England, finished his career making Chuck Norris (Firewalker) and Charles Bronson vehicles (Evil that men do, Messenger of death, Death Wish 4 : Crackdown, Caboblanco, St Ives). Watchable results for this outlandish Western.

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 thing about the White Buffalo itself is pretty hokey, the buffalo is really not scary enough to give anybody nightmares. What makes this movie a standout are the supporting roles by Stuart Whitman, Kim Novak, Jack Warden, etc. Also it's great to see Will Sampson as Crazy Horse. However the best thing about this movie is the language. Words like "flummoxed" appear. It's how I imagine people in the 1870's would have talked in the American West. I cannot recall another Western where language has been put to better use.