Good concept, poorly executed.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

This is one movie, it pays to revisit OUT of the context of its time. I think we need to stop comparing it to Jaws or King Kong. I think the relationship between the leads is much more important, and I liked the character development devoid of many Bronson films. I liked the fact that creature special effects were "in the camera", animatronic rather than CGI. To be frank, CGI had NOT risen to the level of creature creations--stop motion, which was not used, was mainstay until the early '90's, even in Star Wars sequels five years later. And the mood music? The music is extraordinarily moody--this is a monaural track, yet it filled the military theater in Frankfurt Germany where I served back in '77 and paid my 50 cents to see it. Maybe the mood of the movie is too dark. Maybe it's too cold, it left me shivering. Maybe we're not supposed to think about characterization and WB makes you think about the relationships between the characters, and that's not what Bronson movies were supposed to be about. Maybe we don't like a little hard work.Give this one a chance. I think it is top notch.So hang up your prejudices and sit through it as if you never saw Bronson, or Will Sampson, or Jack Ward or Clint Walker in any previous role, because they're all outside the box in this one and they pull it off in my humble estimation.And that makes it one of my all time favorites.

What haunts the famous gunslinger of the West? A Native American who attacked the settlers? A group of Calvary soldiers who were fighting against the tribes? Well, it's none of them! The thing that haunts Wild Bill Hickok (Charles Bronson) is a white buffalo! Not only he was affected, Chief Crazy Horse (Will Sampson) has been too. When his daughter was killed by its stampede, he would give a mourning shout. For that, he was later reduced to the name, "Worm". This creature is far more elusive than Crazy Horse, himself. So Hickok goes by another name, James Otis. He does have one friend in the saloon, when Custer (Ed Lauter), and his Calvary confronted Hickok. But Hickok, took them out. After meeting Charlie Zane(Jack Warden), they go on the quest to find gold claims. Rather than finding the claims, they run afoul of Crazy Horse. Since they are enemies, they would bridge the gap between them to fulfill a quest: Hunt the White Buffalo. The Lakotas did have rivals back then, other Indian tribes who would want to take out Crazy Horse. Then it came the ultimate showdown: Men vs. Beast. And the nightmare was over for both. Of course, both of these enemies met a different fate later on. What did this animal do to this man? It's supposed to be a pure creature, however, this one is anything but that! Great, but weird movie of the Old West. 3 out of 5 stars

Chief Crazy Horse will join forces with Wild Bill Hickok and his Indian-hating long-time pal, Charley One-Eye, in pursuit of a giant white buffalo that is danger to all mankind. While the buffalo looks like something made in a Hollywood Jim Henson work shop that might pop up in a Neverending Story movie, I think it was important for the filmmakers to establish that this is larger than life and perhaps not just some ordinary creature any hunter could kill. Hickok has seen the buffalo in many a terrifying dream, knowing that he must find it or else he'll never have peace. Crazy Horse is out for revenge, his daughter a victim of the white buffalo's rampage through his people's village, his tears of agony reducing his role in the tribe from War Chief to Worm; he must find the buffalo, kill it, and take the skins back to his village, placing the fur around his daughter's dead body, freeing her soul from never-ending torment. Charley One-Eye sees $2000 worth of gold in the flesh of the beast, standing faithfully by Hickok's side, but their relationship becomes strained when Hickok befriends Crazy Horse. There are some great supporting parts (Jack Warden as high-strung, but reliable, Charley One-Eye Zane steals the film, even though his disgust for "redskins" can be tough to take; it is understandable that such sentiments would exist in abundance considering the race relations at the time of this story in the 1800s) such as Kim Novak (looking fabulous, but so woefully underused) as Poker Jenny Schermerhorn, a possible love interest if Hickok's life weren't preoccupied (she wants a little playtime with Hickok but he exasperatingly speaks about how such sexual relations aren't possible due to an incident involving his "peeper"), Slim Pickens as a stagecoach driver with a peculiar vocabulary (if you notice, the screenplay is full of colorful, quirky dialogue, attempting to authenticate the period and how the men of this time might talk), a gleam-in-the-eyes John Carradine as an undertaker who always appreciates business brought his way (Slim delivers unfortunate folks who suffer fatefully at the hands of the dangers of the Old West), Stuart Whitman as a no-good knife man who works with a con woman played by Cara Williams often working over victims who happen to ride the same coach as them, Ed Lauter as cowardly cavalry sergeant, Tom Custer, with an ax to grind with Hickok over a saloon incident, and especially Clint Walker as Whistling Jack Kileen, a towering figure who holds a grudge until those who earn his ire are dead. Douglas Fowley is a hoot as a conductor scolding Hickok for shooting his guns out of a nightmare awakening passengers on board a train seeing him to his destiny, even opening Wild Bill's story with some narration. The white bison is presented as a mystical creature symbolizing death to Hickok, its rampage handled in a way not to show direct contact on screen past seconds, as if it sweeps through, does the damage, and leaves the carnage as a reminder that while most of its kind are now damn near extinct (an incredible scene showing hills of bison bones as a telling example of man's unhinged need to satisfy greed and rob the land of the animals that walk the earth), man will be punished for the inability to co-exist with the buffalo. Contains statements about the inhospitable, hostile relations between the white man and red man, as Hickok attempts to make amends for his behavior in the past by offering peace with Crazy Horse, while Charley represents a racist hatred that runs so deep he'd soon shoot any Indian that comes in his sights. Will Sampson as Crazy Horse has quite a powerful presence; hesitant to get too close to the white man (for obvious reasons), yet dignified and courageous enough to accept Hickok's offer of food and shelter before their big hunt would really start. Atypical western for Chuck Bronson; his performance conveys a tired man who has burned every bridge and has lost all his friends, not even able to exist in the same proximity with his new one, Crazy Horse. You see the horror of the white buffalo, the fear that exists (look at how director J Lee Thompson shoots Chuck's eyes); it is a performance of subtlety, but I'm sure many will just call it non-acting. The location shooting of the cold, wintry landscape in the West our characters inhabit can be flat breathtaking. A criminally underrated western that deserves a second look, especially from Bronson's faithful.

First, thank you if you are reading my review. Second, I highly recommend if you read mine, you read Jaibo of England review. It is one of the best reviews I have ever read here, and I feel that he fully gives one of the best analysis of a film I have ever seen.First, when this film came out, it was a bomb with both the critics and audiences, though I have recently read that it was a big hit in Asian countries. One writer has said this is the film that sank Bronson's career as a superstar, which is not true. During this era of Bronson films, his films after Hard times were really not all that well received. One problem with the critics of the film was their complaint about the silly looking White Buffalo, also the complaint was that it was trying to be a Jaws on Land. I believe I remember Bronson talking about this future film on the Mike Douglass show, and he appeared to have high hopes for it, mentioning Richard Sale the screen writer.When, however, all is said and done, and the film is finished. You have a point where a film is a new product, put out on the market. After that, and a lot of thanks to DVD's and other media, we can reexamine a film years later, and White Buffalo deserves reexamination.First, after Hard Times, I think that this is Bronson's best movie. Somehow, I feel that if this had come after Hard Times, it might have gotten better reviews, and seen for what I think what it is, an examination of white man's guilt.In the previous decade,with the civil rights movement, the Farm workers movement, and also the rising of Native American people, it often seemed that white Americans were being accused of somehow being enemies of humanity, and should somehow feel white guilt. White Buffalo metaphorically explores this idea through the character of Charles Bronson as Wild Bill Hickok.When Hickok arrives in the first town, he comes across a bunch of bones of dead buffalo, watching this scene, I could not help but think of the death camps of Europe during world war II. What is also interesting in this sequence, is that the first people who try to kill him are members of the US Cavalry, in a bar, by orders of one Custer, who does survive. According to IMDb, his name is Tom, whether he is supposed to be a George Custer is probably the case. Instead of previous films of lets say a John Wayne, where the cavalry comes to the rescue, here we are almost given an idea, and it the behaviors, of these men not being much different from German soldiers as depicted in films like "Where Eagles Dare".Hickok of course in the film is haunted by nightmares of a white buffalo, that he feels he must kill. He is told that the last white buffalo was killed, but that of course will not be the case. As another, he is told by Charlie (Jack Warden), is also around. He also says in his dream, this buffalo of his nightmares is in snow (white). and it is there that this buffalo must be killed. When Charlie asks Bill how many men he has killed, Bill can't say, but he tells Charlie that most of them were red men. He even states that an Indian is a better man dead. Will Sampson as Sitting Bull, wants to kill the Buffalo, because his child was killed by it, and his child can not rest peacefully in the other world until the buffalo is killed. When we see the Buffalo going through his village, killing all along the way, in this Kwaidanesqe sequence, we are reminded of earlier films from say 'Little Big Man' when the US Cavalry was shown massacring an Indian village. So while not a nightmare of Sitting Bull, it is certainly his metaphor of stopping the white man from trampling on his tribe.While it is true that Bill and Charlie help Sitting Bull kill 15 other Indians who would kill Sitting Bull, one realizes that Bill see's this as getting rid of 15 other Indians who might be a threat to Charlie and himself, not out of compassion, and also as a way to hopefully make this lone Indian not try to cause them harm. Later Sitting Bull will repay the favor to Bill by killing someone out to get him.While the buffalo in Bills dreams is a metaphor of his guilt, and what he has done to others, it is clear that Bill does not understand the meaning of his nightmare. This is brought out when he gives a speech to Sitting Bull about this expansion of the white settler, and that this is just part of the cycle of nature.This part of this not understanding, is perhaps some what is Bill is on the way to death. In the end, by his one more time befriending Sitting Bull, Charlie will reject and leave Bill, and sitting Bull will say we must never meet again. Bill is more lonely now, and his involvement in this venture will as we will know from history, and learn at the end will not save him. Sitting Bull we are informed will have been killed a year after Bill. Both will be killed by white men.How sad that critics at the time, and some still today did not view the film as a poetic work of art that it is.