Fresh and Exciting

The acting in this movie is really good.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Run of the Arrow is a slightly flawed but generally brilliant western, that deserves to be more widely seen. It's got a powerful story, epic battle scenes and some unique perspective on human nature and American history.The story rarely goes exactly where you expect it to. Along the way, it provides insight into Southern anger at the end of the War Between the States. And it dramatically shows the kind of duplicity that was routinely applied in treatment of Native Americans.Rod Steiger, never my favorite actor, is well-cast as a Southerner angry with the world. Ralph Meeker depicts extreme villainy deftly enough to somehow remain disconcertingly likable. Brian Keith has a pivotal but rather thankless role, which he handles with his usual aplomb. The biggest surprise is Charles Bronson, remarkably convincing as a Lakota chief.Despite the casting of Caucasians, Sam Fuller presents an unusually nuanced view of Native American culture, spanning both brutality and honor. And despite an obviously limited budget, Fuller directs brilliantly. The opening scenes are reminiscent of Peckinpah (especially Major Dundee), and the later Indian attacks rival the grandeur of John Ford. Run of the Arrow is a visually-arresting film that deserves high-def restoration.The flaws are minor. Someone has pointed out Steiger's weird accent. It is explained in the film, and is perhaps intended to establish the character as even more of an outsider. I didn't find it at all distracting. Some of the dialog is a bit awkward, but it always achieves its intended purpose - and actually gives the film more of a unique flavor. Worst of all is the preposterous casting of Jay C. Flippen as an Indian; you just have to accept him and move on.Run of the Arrow reminds me of other Western 'hidden gems,' such as Only the Valiant, or the films of Bud Boetticher. It's cleverly written and tautly directed, and leaves you with a lot to think about. See it if you get a chance.

Director/Writer Sam Fuller Always had a lot on His Mind and He wasn't going to let Hollywood or a Low-Budget Stop Him. His Movies are Unique, Interesting, and Entertaining. This One is No Exception, in Fact it is Exceptional. Showing itself to be one of the Best in the Glut of 1950's Westerns, if Anything it is Ambitious to a Fault.The Film can Hardly Contain all the Thoughts and Impressions that Fuller Included, but it is a Glorious Time Watching this Exciting, Rich, and Colorful Story that Has more Authenticity and Audacity in its Short Running Time than a John Ford Trilogy.Rod Steiger's Miscasting that at Times Feels so out of Place, cannot Stop the Movie from Relentlessly Reeling Out Scene After Visceral Scene, with Near Naked, Painted-Up, and Red Skinned Indians with Dialog so Cooked that the Film is Danger of Boiling Over on Occasion. But it Quickly Moves to Another Bloody Set-Piece of Suspense and Action to Counter-Point the Dense Dialog.Ralph Meeker, Brian Keith, J.C. Flippen, Charles Bronson, and Sara Monteil all Contribute to the Movie's Presence. It is a Violent, Thoughtful, and Even Handed Western with Strains of Southern Post War Resentment, Native American Plight, Religious Tolerance, Traditional Rituals, some Brutal Nastiness, an Atypical Ending and More. All Packed in this B-Movie that is as Good as it gets in the Fifties and is Another Feather in the Oversized Sam Fuller Cap.

Idont like this movie , i saw this movie only because sarita montiel was in it , she play an Indian and some of the review said the pretty Mexican actress please She was born in Campo de Criptana in the region of Castile-La Mancha in 1928 as María Antonia Abad (complete name María Antonia Alejandra Vicenta Elpidia Isidora Abad Fernández). After her unprecedented international hit in Juan de Orduña's El Último Cuplé in 1957, Montiel achieved the status of mega-star in Europe and Latin America. She was the first woman to distill sex openly in Spanish cinema at a time when even a low cut dress was not acceptable.sarita was not Mexican and she became the biggest European star of the cinema after Brigitte Bardot and today she make fun of American she said back in the 50s the American were so ignorant they don't know the different between Spain and Mexico they don't even know where Spain was located,Sarita thank god went back to Europe and the rest is history, BY THE WAY BACK THEN SHE WAS MARRIED TO ANTHONY MANN

Itself influenced by "the most dangerous game" (Cooper/Schoedsack,1932) "run for the arrow" inspired in part both Cornell Wilde 's overlooked "naked prey" (1966) and Gibson's overrated "Apocalypto" .All these films ,including Fuller's display a lot of sadism.A confederate ,after a war he just lost ,sick and tired of his compatriots, wants to live among the Indians.Is it crazier that the journalist who gets admitted to an insane asylum to unmask a murderer? ("shock corridor")or the GI who after the war wants to marry a German and unmask the "werevolves" these youngsters who want to carry on with Hitler's "work"?("Verboten" )or the prostitute in search of respectability who wants to help disabled children and believes that songs can cure them?("naked kiss")Sam Fuller's westerns are something different ;"Forty guns" and "run of the arrow" cannot be compared to the classics of the era (Ford,Mann,Daves ,etc)just as "shock corridor" is a thriller of its own kind or as "pick up on South street " is a spy thriller with no connection with those of Hitchcock and Lang.The hero portrayed by Rod Steiger thinks he has found a place and a new home in a new people ;but when war breaks out between his former compatriots and the Indians ,he does not know where he stands anymore .The frontier between the two worlds is frail .You can say the same for most of Fuller's movies