EDITOR’S NOTE: This was originally on the site on but it’s back thanks to Kino Lorber releasing it on blu ray. It comes with some great extras, including a brand new 2K scan from the 35mm Interpositive, new commentary by the absolute master of all things Bronson Paul Talbot, 4 TV spots that are remastered in 2K and a trailer. You can get it from Kino Lorber.
Wild Bill Hickok (Charles Bronson) is so haunted by dreams of a giant white buffalo that he hunts the monster like he’s the Ahab to its Moby Dick, soon to be joined by Crazy Horse (Will Sampson), who also hunts the beast as it killed his daughter.
Director J. Lee Thompson and Bronson worked together quite a bit. This was written by Richard Sale, who would also write Assassination for Bronson. This would be Bronson’s last Western after doing so many in his career.
For some reason, Wild Bill has a steampunk look to him*, but man, that opening gunfight is great. A lot of the crew came from King Kong, which was also produced by Dino De Laurentiis, including actors Ed Lauter and David Roya, composer John Barry and special effects magician Carlo Rambaldi, who created the animatronic life-sized bison for this movie.
Seriously, when that buffalo comes attacking them at the end, I lost my mind. It’s a full-size bison that would slide around on tracks and it’s seriously so eerie looking.
In The Golden Turkey Awards, the Medveds said, “Another De Laurentiis epic about a giant buffalo that chews on Indians for bite-sized snacks. Charles Bronson manfully does his bit to sink this infamous White Elephant.”
With roles for Jack Warden, Kim Novak, Stuart Whitman, Clint Walker, John Carradine, Slim Pickens and Maryin Kove — did I cast this film? — I was always led to believe by this being in the Medveds’ book that it was horrible. Nope.
*Quentin Tarantino is also a fan of this movie, which explains the similar glasses that Django wears in Django Unchained.
You can watch this on Tubi.
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