From my favorite movies..

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

As acknowledged by various others, this is a very well acted dramatization of the last major battle campaign in the long 'Indian Wars' between the US army or other military organizations and various Native American tribes or confederations. scattered over the American West. Although some of the details may have been altered, it provides a generally accurate picture of the effort of the US army to compel a segment of Native Americans to abandon their traditional home territory and way of life and accept a much inferior life on some much inferior shrunken territory. The banter between James Whitmore, as General Howard, and his subordinate Captain Wood(Sam Elliott), between Whitmore and Ned Romeo, as Chief Joseph, and between various Nez Perce chiefs, provides an intimate view of the conflicts between and within the key personalities in this saga. One-armed, ex-Civil War officer, Howard is portrayed as the ideal army leader in the western theater of the times, charged with a policing function between the Native Americans and settlers/prospectors, as well as enforcing government dictates regarding Native Americans. Unfortunately, his new distasteful function of enforcing the dictate that the Nez Perce leave their home territory conflicts with his former friendly relationship with the Nez Perce.The film dramatizes the transformation of chief Joseph as a reluctant advocate of accepting the dictate to move to a reservation, into a skilled military leader in attempting to find a refuge, probably in Canada, where his people could continue their traditional life. Unfortunately, the US federal government is unwilling to allow his group to make this journey to Canada, resulting in a masterful long chase through several states or territories, which occupies much of the film. General Howard is much criticized by the public and army superiors for his inability to capture Joseph's rather small band. Finally, apparently cornered short of his goal, Joseph decides further resistance is futile, and delivers his famous capitulation speech to the assembled army leaders. Although he was speaking on behalf of his group, in effect, he was speaking for all Native Americans.We may think of Chief Joseph as the Nez Perce equivalent of the much celebrated Lakota chief Red Cloud, and the great Comanche leader Quanah Parker. All 3 men were recognized as skilled military leaders, repeatedly thwarting attempts by the US army to 'tame' them. Yet, eventually, all 3 realized that further resistance was suicidal, and led the effort to accommodate their people to reservation life. By way of historical background, the Nez Perce actually had long been the chief Native American allies of Europeans in the region of NE Oregon, SW Washington, and adjacent Idaho during the wars with a confederation of most of the other anti-reservation regional tribes two decades earlier, as dramatized in the earlier Hollywood film "Pillars of the Sky", presently available at YouTube, as well as a DVD. Unlike that film, the present film doesn't incorporate a phony European woman as a love interest/conflict. Chief Joseph's wife is the only woman occasionally featured. The present film is now available on a DVD of several films featuring Sam Elliott.

The picture is an epic portrait of the historic story about celebrated Chief Joseph (Ned Romero) and his legendary feat leading the Ned Perce tribe on a trek to Canada . Meanwhile , he squares off US cavalry commanded by General Howard (James Withmore and attended by his captain played by Sam Eliott) who leads his army on a wild chase across the plains and mountains in this saga of the old west . Joseph refuses to surrender in this chronicle of a bitter fight between the Ned Perce tribe and the US cavalry in the struggle for the west . The film displays action Western , shootouts , drama and spectacular battles . It's a thoughtful piece for its time that had an original tragic ending . The motion picture was brilliantly directed by Richard T. Heffron . This powerful TV movie will appeal to Indian Western fans.The movie was correctly based on real events . Thus , Chief Joseph (1832-1904) became a skilled military leader ,he won 18 battles in the 1877 war,then led the retreat to Canada,before surrendering. The reality happened when Ned Percé ceded a large part of their territory to the U.S. by treaty and settled on lands in Oregon and Idaho.Joseph's people occupied the ancestral lands of the fertile Wallowa Valley in Oregon.When gold was discovered in Nez Percé county,government agents proposed a new treaty which would remove Joseph's people from their Valley to a reservation in Idaho.He wanted no part of the treaty but in the summer of 1877 General Howard delivered an ultimatum that all must leave the Wallowa within thirty days or be forcibly removed by the cavalry.The Ned Percé tribe has always been friendly with the white men but when the situation developed into armed conflict between his warriors and the soldiers,he decided to fight.After defeating a column sent after them and bringing an angry Howard into the field with a big force, he decided refuge in Canada,as Sitting Bull had done after defeating Custer at the Little Big Horn(1876).So began the epic flight , a fighting march of 1300 miles across US,engaging separate commands of the Army all the way.On 5 October 1877 Joseph and his surviving people were surrounded by fresh troops about thirty miles from the Canadian border.The Indians were exhausted,starving and cold and Joseph surrendered to generals Howard and Miles,delivering his classic speech of the defeated Indian.The Ned Percé were sent to reservation in the Indian territory,now Oklahoma.In 1885 the great chief was sent to Colville reservation in Washington,where he died in 1904,still an exile from his beloved Wallowa Valley.

The story itself is powerful and engrossing on its own merits. The Nez Perce who had signed a treaty with the government to inhabit the Oregon River Valley were given an ultimatum by the US government in 1877 voiding that treaty. They had four days to decide whether to move or fight. General Howard -- after whom Howard University is named -- went to Congress personally to fight against this injustice, but in the end, as a general, felt compelled to execute his orders, even though he knew them to be unjust. He hates doing this because he considers Joseph a great Chief and a friend; his wife even made a doll for Joseph's expectant wife. Meanwhile, bitter at the sting of more injustices but resigned to reality, Chief Joseph (a breathtakingly great performance by Ned Romero) decides that it is in the best interests of the tribe to acquiese. But a civilian volunteer shoots and kills two of the Nez Perce delegation under a flag of truce, and the tribe fights for its survival. Now, even though General Howard (sympathetically portrayed by James Whitmore) knows the Army's volunteers fired first, he is compelled to attack the Nez Perce to attempt to round them up to the reservation. Too late. The Nez Perce have already left, attempting to find freedom, eventually trying to cross the Canadian border, while every step of the way, the Army tries to hunt them down and capture Chief Joseph. The movie, wisely, maintains its focus on the this journey and struggle. Gallantly, the tribe scales impossible terrain. Joseph frustrates the Army with false trails, games of cat-and-mouse, and resisting revenge. As the frustration wears on and the newspapers catch wind of the story, General Howard's life becomes a living hell. What was supposed to have been a two-week maneuver has been become a five-month campaign with hundreds of soldiers and Indians killed in the process. The General gets moral support from Colonel Miles (portrayed by Sam Elliott perhaps just a little bit too earnestly and emphatically); he speaks Nez Perce and Sioux and is disgusted by his government's lack of morals. His character will get on the nerve of those viewers who dislike "preachy" films. Every thing else feels amazingly authentic. The tribal counsels and increasing weariness as the struggles continue are vividly and unforgettably portrayed by a mostly Native American cast. The score and cinematography are quite gripping. Some of the technical support and cuts however do reflect the film's made-for-TV roots. This is one of the best historical movies I have ever seen, made-for-TV, or otherwise. I strongly recommend it to all readers of this review.

Like its hero, Chief Joseph of the Nez Pierce, this movie uses understatement to incredible effect. Ned Romero is brilliant as Chief Joseph, under who attempted to take his tribe to Canada. James Whitmore is marvelous as the Army officer, with an unusually progressive outlook, but powerless to assist Chief Joseph.The photography is exceptional, and the score is hauntingly beautiful. See it if you can.