Well, the very combination of western, Civil War movie, love story, even some tawdry comedy and drama is not always as exciting as it can seem. Major Dundee is a very typical period piece, such a movie could have been done in the 60's only, and in the 60's only such dialogs and prolonged battle scenes could be shot. The movie suffers a lot from a very sketchy narration, obviously badly shot battle scenes, some real poor dialogs and some unnatural sentiments and/or drama moments. The movie is not that all bad, as there are some real gorgeous Texan scenes, some cool moments of jail routine, some very fine plot ideas. The very story is nothing new - revenge, duty call, treachery, blood, war. Well, it is OK, well done in most moments. But not that great as it could be Only for Peckinpah's fans

I grew up watching westerns, and saw this one every now and then on TV. Heston played one of my great heroes; a Federal Army Officer commanding a regiment squarely situated with Lincoln's United States, and under the command of General Ulysses S. Grant. He is out in the west, has men of honor under his command, save for the occasional horse thief and rebel.It's a tale of obsession. With Melville as the inspiration and Peckinpah helming the project, how could it go wrong?Well, as the historians on the commentary track reminded me, market forces were at work back at the studio. And so it was that what could have been a historic film about tracking down an Apache war-band, was turned into an overlong film involving a love interest and Imperial French guards.Oh boy.For the most part it's exceptionally staged. The only foible is the story itself. The main plot gets resolved in act two, and so the story falters there. The story also meanders with the love interest, and what started out as a plot driven story regarding justice and revenge in the never-ending struggle between the natives and the white-man, turns into an elongated adventure regarding the life and times of Major Amos Charles Dundee. Instead of a Melville like tale, we get a brief chronology of an army officer as went to resolve one issue, but stirred up others in the process. Huh.So, can we castigate it as a bad film? It's a tough call. I think it's better to say that the film started out on an almost misleading note, but promised on the title; a film about Major Dundee. We get the sense that the film is going to stay on one topic, one plot, one story, but winds up embracing a ton of others.For all that there is a lot of symbolism and deep stuff operating here. We examine Dundee's command decisions and his command detachment to pursue a single minded goal. Note Harris's change in shirts as Heston's character flirts with debauchery. Note the change in landscape as Heston and his forces pursue their goal. Note the uniforms and comment on contemporary social upheavals of the time (as was noted on the commentary track, but yes, I spotted it before it was pointed out).That's not all, there's also a coming of age tale here, as well as a romance (however retrofitted, and I'll go ahead and say it, I don't care how beautiful the Austrian actress is, and she is stunning, her role and tale do not belong).All in all it is an entertaining tale, and the ever sly mind might see the climatic finale as Peckinpah's comment on what power got us embroiled in conflicts involving US forces fighting native contingents. Ring any bells? That could be reading too much into it, but based on what I know about the director, I don't find it too far off the mark.It's almost an ingenious film. It's almost a classic. One could even call it a flawed classic. View it for what it's worth. If it seems somewhat odd, then keep what I told you in mind.

Though at times this displays director Sam Peckinpah's penchant for self-indulgence, most of the film is spot-on, with a muscular script, great Mexican locations, and an excellent, macho performance by Charleton Heston, in a role he was seemingly born to play. Likewise, Richard Harris is magnetic (in his first western) as his imprisoned Confederate counterpart, while James Coburn, along with the Peckinpah stock company, are a whole lot of fun to watch too.The only real flaw, in my opinion, is the subplot involving Dundee's seemingly forced romance with European widow Senta Berger and his recuperation from an enemy's arrow. I really couldn't imagine Heston's character having much time for courting the opposite sex. Berger does look nice though.Underrated.

.............but very little in the way of logic and continuity."Major Dundee" is,quite frankly,a mess and a disappointment after "Ride the High Country" - arguably Mr S.Peckinpah's greatest work.The Major himself is not an enigma,merely a bore and a boor to boot.Arrogant and unable to see the big picture,impulsive and a glory hunter - just the kind of officer soldiers all over the world and throughout history dread to come across. His former colleague Captain Tyreen (Mr R.Harris ridiculously Oirish) has his measure from the start and tries to deflect some of his more outlandish plans and the clash between the two of them dominates the film despite being but one of several story ideas that are run up to see who salutes them. What might have been a competent and mildly interesting Civil War tale becomes a overheated mess of pseudo Spaghetti Western clichés.Mr Peckinpah eventually gained the reputation of a "maverick",but I think it more likely he simply didn't give a s***t.Certainly that insouciance is there for all to see in "Major Dundee"which is royally screwed up and is rescued from absolute disaster only by the pleasure of watching hams like Mr S Pickens, Mr R.G.Armstrong and Mr Warren Oates ripping up the studio cactus. Back in 1965 Miss S.Berger seemed very sexy.Now she seems merely superfluous.A clear case of Art imitating life.