Watch The White Buffalo For Free

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

In my opinion - (Back in 1977) - If the genre of the Western wasn't already dead at that point, then, you can be sure that "The White Buffalo" permanently killed it.Featuring a totally laughable-looking (mechanical) albino buffalo (with a nasty mean-streak) who loves nothing more than to deliberately bulldoze straight into people (regardless of their race).....This Western/Horror/Fantasy film (set in 1874) also spotlights "Old West" legend, Wild Bill Hickok (in shades, no less) who's such an ace marksman that when he fires a single bullet from his trusty pistol - (get this!) - Three bad guys immediately fall dead on the spot.From start to finish - "The White Buffalo" (which stars a cast of worn-out looking actors) is an absolute embarrassment on all counts.The whole story is nothing but a 95-minute build-up to its climatic final showdown between Wild Bill and "you-know-who", which (unfortunately) quickly deteriorates into pure slapstick comedy.

Sometimes, you come across movies that you know everyone thinks are terrible, but then you watch them and come out realizing you've just seen some great films.The White Buffalo, with Charles Bronson and Will Sampson, is one of those movies. Based on a novel by Richard Sale, this film takes place in the American West post-Civil War and sees Bronson as historical figure "Wild Bill" Hickok preparing to fight a giant white bison that haunts his dreams. Sampson plays another historical figure, Native American chief Crazy Horse, who is also after the beast because it killed his infant daughter. Right away, we have a great kind of story: normal men going up into the snowy mountains of the West to fight a legendary monster that haunts anyone who feels its presence and lives in its territory. However, what makes it much better is the dark themes within. One thing to note is that this is not a "fun" version of the West with cowboys and bandits. The minute Bronson arrives into town and sees a big pile of bison bones, you know that this film is going to feel pretty bleak. In fact, around the time the film takes place, the "white man" had started to expand into the West and with that, started to push out the local Native American tribes and take over their lands. Not only that, the "white man" had killed off most of the bison that Native Americans relied on for every aspect of their lives, from food to clothing to shelter to tools. Still on the subject, hatred of the "white man" towards Native Americans is something else that is a heavy presence in the film. During his journey to find the beast, Bronson takes his old friend, Charlie Zane, played by Jack Warden with him, but when Crazy Horse joins them, Zane dislikes him pretty much instantly and one can watch and wonder if he's going to let his personal racism get in the way of the hunt. Hickok and Crazy Horse are both aware of the hatred between their people and yet somehow are able to see past those hatreds and become understanding friends. Both Bronson and Sampson give pretty restrained but effective performances. A good number of side characters are also interesting. We have John Carradine in a small role as an undertaker and a sultry Kim Novak as an old lover of Hickok's. A few of the scenes with these side characters could admittedly come across as filler, but the best ones establish what kind of relationships Hickok has developed over the years and how he reacts to each of them. People usually say that the bison is simply a demon that Hickok fears, but it may be more than that: it could be a representation of the guilt he feels and the pain he has caused others over the years. It is even mentioned throughout the film that he blew away a Native American called the Peacemaker, and he later acknowledges his guilt over the incident. What the film also has going for it is the haunting atmospheres and music. How good is the music? All I can say is, by the time the end credits started with pictures of Bronson and Sampson as their respective characters, and the music started, I truly felt that I had witnessed a haunting battle between a legendary monster and two historical figures in a bleak American West on the verge of being changed completely by the "white man."

Although Charles Bronson was somewhat uncomfortable with the adoration he received from his fans, he did try hard to please them in one aspect, by generally choosing movie projects that had his characters do things that his audience wanted to see. But every so often, Bronson would choose to do something different, "The White Buffalo" not only being one such film, but also being one of the strangest movies in his career. While there's action here and there, it is definitely not an action movie. It has a strange feel to it, almost surreal at times, due to many factors ranging from touches by director J. Lee Thompson to the eerie low key musical score by John Barry. I didn't know what to make of the movie for a while, but eventually its oddness won me over, and I was curious to see how things would be wrapped up. I will admit that while the movie does run only 97 minutes long, it is quite leisurely paced at times, and this slowness may turn off some viewers. But if you are in a patient mood, and you like both Bronson and westerns (and want to see those two things handled with a change of pace), the movie does manage to be captivating.

Some people read this film as being some sort of socio-political / existentialist metaphor /allegory . Would it be too simplistic to suggest it's simply a bad movie ? You can understand why a film like this might have some deeper meaning . It does have J Lee Thompson as director who did make the well regarded ICE COLD IN ALEX which did pit human beings against the amoral opponent of the Sahara Desert and so one might be forgiven thinking if THE WHITE BUFFALO is really about man versus nature . It's also a film that has a relatively big name cast but lets be honest how many times have you seen a big name ensemble cast in a movie and come to the conclusion there's no difference between being an actor and being a whore ? If you've seen as many bad movies as I have then I have no doubt that the average prostitute has higher standards than the average movie star Everything about this movie is summed up by the plot summary of the title page of this website : " In this strange western version of JAWS Wild Bill Hickok hunts a white buffalo he has seen in a dream " which is no doubt a euphemism for " Look guys it's not really a bad film , we're trying to be all metaphorical and poetic here , please be kind and gentle to us " . I'm afraid that when you're watching a film and you constantly find yourself laughing all the way through it as on screen events play out then it's not poetic film in the same way that Terence Malik would have directed but more of an unintentional comedy . Perhaps if you're going to be unkind then THE WHITE BUFFALO can be described as " Stylistic parody " but even then you're being more kind to a film that deserves little kindness