Watch Escape from Fort Bravo For Free

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

In 1863 Confederate soldiers are prisoner at Fort Bravo, a Union fort out in Arizona, where Mescalero Apaches are waging a war to defend their land. The fort is not well-garrisoned because there isn't much chance of an escape from Fort Bravo given the Mescaleros and the inhospitable desert setting. The movie has some good actors in William Holden and Eleanor Parker, but the story in which their characters operate does not do much for the western genre. However, there are excellent action scenes when the actual escape takes place with Mescalero arrows raining down from the sky. An improbable dance for the fort's officers and ladies seemed like they felt as if they had to do this to give the film some unnecessary and out of place social context in which to balance out the rugged western landscape. And the nagging and preposterous romantic subplot between Holden and Eleanor Parker waters down the action considerably. Plus everyone was exceptionally well-dressed for the setting they're in makes the whole affair look even more dubious. They may have acted well enough but they didn't have enough desert dust on them. Good thing for the well-executed Apache arrow attack or this film would have been totally borderline.

I watched ESCAPE FROM FORT BRAVO with an open mind even though I'm no fan of Westerns . On paper it has a lot going for it starring William Holden , directed by John Sturges and cinematography by Robert Surtees all of whom rose to much greater prominence a few years later . The reality is however that even if the film does contain a lot of talent in front of and behind the camera if you don't like Westerns you won't be mad keen on this movie Set during the American Civil War the premise involves a Union officer played by Holden who has to escort a group of Confederate prisoners across hostile Indian territory where they have to team up to defend themselves against the Indian war party . This leads to a somewhat tricky moral point and one wonders what the point the film is making . Is it saying that the American Civil War was a mistake and North and South should have concentrated on taking the land of the Native Americans ? Of course cinematic convention dictates that the genre of the Western means we should always be cheering for the white man over the Indians but in that case it's difficult to argue against the point made in BLAZING SADDLES that the Western is an inherently and fundamentally racist genre That said from a technical viewpoint ESCAPE FROM FORT BRAVO is an impressive film and why it has a relatively high average vote on this website . The entire look of the film has a very rich and deep texture thanks to Surtees photography . Certainly if you watched this on its initial release in the 1950s you'd probably be used to constant film releases shot in black and white and then seeing this you'd be amazed by the possibilities of colour cinema . By a bitter irony though the good guys and the bad guys are painted in black and white with a very heavy and thick brush

Released in 1953 and directed by John Sturges, "Escape from Fort Bravo" was always one of my top Westerns of the 1950s. It stars William Holden as Capt. Roper, who ruthlessly oversees a group of Confederate prisoners at a fort in the SW wilderness. John Forsythe plays Confederate prisoner Capt. Marsh and Eleanor Parker stars as Carla, a woman who visits the fort under the pretense of attending a wedding. As Roper falls for Carla, the Confederates take advantage of his love blinded-ness. When Roper goes after a group of escapees the soldiers have no recourse but to team up against a band of marauding Mescalero Indians.William Holden was in his prime here, as was the breathtaking Eleanor Parker, both stunning examples of masculine strength and feminine charm respectively.Although the soldiers rarely miss and the Natives rarely hit, the Indians are depicted in a realistic, respectable manner, showing ingenuity in their resolve to wipe out the pinned-down group of whites.William Campbell, well-known for the lead Klingon in the original Star Trek episode "The Trouble with Tribbles" and less-so as the alien Trelane in "The Squire of Gothos," has a formidable supporting role as one of the escaping Confederates. He was almost fifteen years younger and barely recognizable.While the events take place in 1865 the song played at the fort dance, "Mountains of Mourne," was written by Percy French 31 years later. Someone must've come back from the future. FINAL WORD: I realize a lot of pre-60's Westerns come off eye-rolling or artificial, but "Escape from Fort Bravo," doesn't fall into that category; that is, aside from the dated opening tune and the aforementioned song at the dance, as well as the parts that were obviously shot in the studio, which was typical in that era.The film runs 99 minutes and was shot in desolate regions of California (Semi Valley) and New Mexico (Gallup), including Death Valley National Park.GRADE: B+

Tough-as-nails Cavalry officer William Holden prepares to protect a fort full of Confederate prisoners of war against an impending Indian uprising, while the rebels plot their escape with the help of a visiting beauty.Escape From Fort Bravo looks great but it's too slow and ultimately forgettable. Splendid locations and photography only barely manages to help mask the fact that, despite a few very short bursts of action, nothing worthwhile happens for a very long time.Holden's character fails to illicit any emotions from the viewer in either way. He's neither likable enough or ruthless enough and just isn't very interesting, even when he tries to romance the girl. What could she possibly see in him?Things pick up in the fairly exciting final thirty minutes. By then it's a little to late.With Holden's considerable star-power, the great talent of director John Sturges, and the weight of MGM behind it, this should have been a lot better!