Soldier Blue (1970)

"A Real Horror Western"

Ralph Nelson's controversial and brutal revisionist western gets a brand new restoration, now out on UHD, Blu-ray and DVD from Studio Canal.

Colorado Territory, 1877. A patrol of US cavalry officers are escorting Cresta Lee (Candice Bergen) to meet her fiancé who is the right hand man of Colonel Iverson (John Anderson). The Cheyenne waylay the patrol and massacre nearly everyone, with the only survivors being Cresta and Private Honus Grant (Peter Straus) who then have to make the four day journey on foot to Fort Reunion, dealing with hunger, native Americans and Donald Pleasence along the way. When they finally get to their destination, they end up involved in an horrific massacre of the defenceless Cheyenne in revenge for the attack on the patrol.

The climax of SOLDIER BLUE is based on the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre, one of the most infamous and horrific incidents in the history of the American frontier. The film itself was part of a short burst of savagely brutal westerns including Peckinpah's THE WILD BUNCH, Michael Winner's CHATO'S LAND and Don Medford's THE HUNTING PARTY. SOLDIER BLUE, however, may well be the most extreme and affecting of the lot, so those of a more delicate disposition may well need to think twice before letting themselves in for the lengthy, brutal, mutilation and rape-filled final twenty minutes in which genuine amputees were recruited from Mexico City to add to the authenticity.

A massive hit in the UK and everywhere around the world except, perhaps unsurprisingly, in the US, SOLDIER BLUE has been called one of the most radical films in the history of American cinema, and belongs to a sub-genre of western that arose very much in reaction to the Vietnam war and, according to director Nelson in this case, the My Lai massacre in particular. 

Studio Canal's new 4K scan has undergone picture and sound restoration using the original 35mm picture and sound negatives and the landscape here looks just fabulous. According to the BBFC site the film has undergone minor cuts mainly for trip-wired horse falls and this is likely the fullest version the UK is going to get. The disc comes with a 12 minute interview with Bergen where she talks about her dog and giggles quite a bit, and a commentary track from Steve Mitchel and Howard S Berger recorded during lockdown.

Ralph Nelson's SOLDIER BLUE is out on UHD, Blu-ray and DVD from Studio Canal on Monday 15th July 2024