Directed by Ralph Nelson, (Duel at Diablo (1966), Charly (1968) and ...tick...tick...tick... (1970)), this is one of the most violent westerns you will ever see, not even the films of Peckinpah and Leone had this much violence on display, and the worst horror of all is that all of it is true. Documented in the book Arrow in the Sun by Theodore V. Olsen, which was the basis for this tough western. Set in 1874, somewhere in the Colorado territory, a young woman Cresta Lee (Candice Bergen), and young U.S. private Honus Gent (Peter Strauss), end up trying to survive when their group is massacred by a band of vicious Cheyenne. However, Lee lived with Cheyenne Indians for two years, and she is able to talk to them to ensure she and Gent get a safe passage back to Fort Reunion. Much to her horror, she learns that Colonel Iverson (John Anderson) is planning on attacking a peaceful Cheyenne village as way of retaliation for the massacre earlier, Lee travels to the village to warn the Cheyenne, what follows is the Sand Creek massacre. How can America sleep at night knowing this went on in their own country, against people who never wanted to hurt them? There were illegal immigrants in America back then, and it wasn't the native Indians. America and indeed the rest of the world could learn from this film, and think twice before they go declaring wars willy-nilly.

You stupid, beardless, tenderfoot...A group of American cavalry soldiers are attacked by the Cheyenne Indians and brutally massacred. Only two individuals survive, a private who swears by his militia and a young woman who lived some years with the Indians and sees the errors of the white man's ways. Can the two survive on the plains and make it back to civilization or will they also fall victims to the attackers?"They're cutting off hands, they're cutting off feet, they're cutting off..."Ralph Nelson, director of Lilies of the Field, Father Goose, Charly, Requiem for a Heavyweight, The Wrath of God, Once a Thief, and Fate is the Hunter, delivers Soldier Blue. The storyline for this picture is very interesting and unfolds well. The action scenes are very solid and the acting was better than I anticipated. The cast includes Candice Bergen, Peter Strauss, Donald Pleasence, John Anderson, Dana Elcar, and James Hampton."You're robbing the dead."I grabbed this off Netflix because it looked fascinating and the plot had potential. I will say I enjoyed watching the picture unfold and it was definitely entertaining. This wasn't the best western I have ever seen, but the premise had good direction and drama. Overall, this is definitely a worthwhile addition to the western genre."If I'm going to look different you might as well smell different."Grade: B-

Didn't think this would be anything worth watching thinking it was another romance, but the movie makes a turn and we actually see the attrocities committed by US Cavalry in order to wipe out the natives of the continent. It's a very graphic movie considering the year it was made and about the story it speaks as we see rape, and mass murders of the grossest kind committed.

One of the first westerns to exhibit modern film violence and graphic warfare.

Hard hitting, gritty Western/buddy movie that works most of the time. Of course, all scenes lead up to the controversial, final slaughter sequence which is about as brutal as everyone says.

Light-hearted Karl May-esque adventure turns into one of the most gruesome depictions of the genocide on the Native Americans. Watch and then google its impact at the time...

A young woman, Cresta Lee (Candice Bergen), and young U.S. private Honus Gent (Peter Strauss) are joined together by fate when they are the only two survivors after a cavalry group is massacred by the Cheyenne. Gent is much devoted to his country and duty; Lee, who has lived with the Cheyenne for two years, declares that in this conflict she sympathizes more with them. The two must now try to make it to Fort Reunion, the army base camp, where Cresta's fiance, an army officer, waits for her. As they travel through the desert with very low supplies, they are confronted by different dangers and obstacles..."Soldier Blue" was inspired by events of the 1864 Sand Creek massacre in the Colorado Territory when a militia under Colonel John M. Chivington massacred a defenseless village of Cheyenne andArapahos, most of them women and children. This movie provided as well the first motion picture account of this event, one of the most infamous incidents in the history of the American frontier. In September 1970, Dotson Rader of The New York Times, wrote that Soldier Blue "must be numbered among the most significant, the most brutal and liberating, the most honest American films ever made". Released during the Vietnam War, shortly after public disclosure of the My Lai massacre, the film was controversial at the time not only for its subject matter, but also for its graphic depictions of violence. Nelson, who also appeared in the movie in a minor role, pushed the depiction of the violence to explicit levels, showing nudity during rape scenes, as well as realistic close-up shots of bullets ripping into flesh. The title song, written and performed by Buffy Sainte-Marie, was released as a single and became a top ten hit in the UK as well as other countries in Europe and Japan during the summer of 1971. I saw "Soldier Blue" a long time ago and I reckon it must have been a censored version for sure. Just bought the restored and uncut version and of course the graphic scenes are a bit wobbly, but yet it still offers a punch in the stomach. What I felt as well was that movie has this kind of weird balance, with an obvious standpoint towards the atrocities from the U.S Army (and of course it´s connected to what was going on in Vietnam at the same time) and graphic scenes (in 1970 I reckon it was quite controversial, not really today, I have seen much worse than this) and this slapsticky comedy structure. That creates a very uneven piece of film in my book. We have a beginning that´s quite graphic/violent, a middle that´s more comic and an ending that´s very graphic/violent. The journey of Cresta and Honus is somewhat boring and stretched, but then it explodes in the final act. Peter Strauss is good as Honus and Candice Bergen as well. And how can you not fall in love with Candice Bergen... And it made me think as well that Donald Pleasence has only done weird roles.. Nevertheless, despite the unbalance of "Soldier Blue", there´s an importance in making movies such as "Soldier Blue" and tell the story how it was, thus this is adocument to be seen, shown and remembered.

L'intelligence de la construction du film est totalement delirante car les differents gags qui ponctuent le film renforce d'autant plus la "magnifique" et spectaculaire fin de ce somptueux western. Un veritable choc. A VOIR.

Otro buen ejemplo de las atrocidades y los desmanes que cometieron, siguen y seguirán cometiendo los malditos yankis.

Wiped out. Victory and defeat. Right and wrong.

This is interesting and pretty raw, but not really all that good.

Just watched the uncut version of this 1970 film. It mostly drags between the start and the conclusion, but I found it watchable. The massacre at the end was highly intense... even by today's standards. Candice Bergen turns in a decent performance... imo.

L'intelligence de la construction du film est totalement delirante car les differents gags qui ponctuent le film renforce d'autant plus la "magnifique" et spectaculaire fin de ce somptueux western. Un veritable choc. A VOIR.

Heavy-handed revisionist Western, with a lot of clumsy dialogue. Much of it in the character Bergen is given to play, carrying most of the emotional range none of the male cast display. Strauss wises up and starts to show depth, but not until the viewer has to also see a decapitated head comin' at ya, trampled tots, and rape. Still, I'd rather see this again over Dances With Wolves, and an early score by Roy Budd only helps.

This is defently one of my Favourite Movies so skilled directed & shot and the Music is bombastic. The Film combine many extremly Violent Battles, a bounding Plot, intelligent Socio Critic and a Love Story Candice Bergen is breathtaking and shows the Horror of the Crimes against the Indians they just People from a Time which we long forgot a Time of Wilderness and the Native Culture of the People and one Day a Mighty Army from a another Part of the World comes to occupy their Lands and disban they in Fruitless Lands so they die in Pride and fight the White Invaders the Battle and the Extermination of the Village was so disturbing when the Soldiers celebrate their Victory they shown their Real Face they are the Wild Barbarians