Truly Dreadful Film

Stylish but barely mediocre overall

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Perhaps the only film henry fonda had to actually act in because he wasn't playing henry fonda... i didn't care for his role either ... i'm sure john ford made his gnash his teeth over and over to get this performance ... shirley temple was the best in this film ... its probably the only film she was in that i liked ... john wayne played john wayne very well...

FORT APACHE is quite possibly my favourite of the John Ford westerns I've watched thus far, featuring a winning combination of male stars Henry Fonda and John Wayne. The story is a thinly-guised version of the famous Custer tale in which a lieutenant colonel's hubris and hatred of the Apaches leads to an ill-advised venture against them, ultimately spelling disaster. Although the running time is lengthy, this is a well-mounted production that has a bit of everything, from humour to drama, romance to tragedy. Wayne's upstanding protagonist is a good guy to vouch for, Fonda's acting is commendable, and the supporting cast is chock-full of familiar faces including a grown-up Shirley Temple alongside Victor McLaglen, Ward Bond, Grant Withers, et al.

This film is the first and to my mind the best of John Ford's cavalry trilogy. It is the Custer story in all but name, with Henry Fonda as Colonel Owen Thursday in the Custer role, and John Wayne's Captain York presumably representing Captain Benteen, one of Custer's subordinates at the Little Big Horn, who despised Custer and openly clashed with him several times. This film is notable for its detailed portrayal of life on an army outpost, the like of which I cannot recall seeing to this extent in any other film. The Apaches are treated with sympathy in the film. Captain York respects them, and tries to get Colonel Thursday to, but Colonel Thursday is more interested in winning glory by defeating them. During the film, Colonel Thursday and Captain York clash several times, but at the end, with Thursday's attack on the Apaches a disaster, Captain York tries to rescue him and take him to safety. It is here that Colonel Thursday redeems himself to some extent by insisting on returning to the remains of his command to die with them. All in all, a great film.

Having loved the Ford/Wayne collaboration The Searchers and in general become more positive towards "classic movies" since I last saw Fort Apache, I was hoping it would have something of a renaissance now, but no, it's still pretty lame. It's not downright bad, just very…not interesting in any way. The barren Arizonan landscapes are cool when they don't look too much like a set, although the colorization I watched looked slightly cheap. Henry Fonda is pretty good as the overzealous colonel, determined to gain glory despite having been sidelined by the US army, and when his conflict with good guy John Wayne intensifies, it is elevated to a decently interesting question of honor and the rights of the Native Americans.