The comedy is a little forced for my taste, but Fonda and Wayne are fine, and the script and direction--particularly in the scene of the non-commissioned officers' dance--make very clear the respect due and the privileges allowed to the various military ranks on a small, tightly knit base. The ending is nuanced, ironic and moving: despite "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," the heroic dead are mere imagined reflections on a window, and it is the suicidal martinet who grabs all the glory.

A solid, good, reasonably enjoyable movie. It's interesting to see Fonda and Wayne reverse types a bit. It was also nice that Ford makes some attempt at adding depth to the soldiers vs indians concept, but he can't fully commit to it, which keeps the film from being something special.

Camerawork for me is the first installment of the "Calvary trilogy's" strong point . It has its problems but for the most part its a well balanced western with solid performances from Wayne and Fonda.

Ford is such a master of juggling a myriad of dynamics and storylines. Every character has enough depth to be either compelling, entertaining, or both. The film is also unexpectedly complex with its approach to Indian portrayal; it's probably still a failure with regards to image politics, but they're not even close to bad guys. The cinematography is great. The landscapes get all the credit, but the interiors are just as amazing. There's just so much to look at, and with such stunning contrast!

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The stuff at the outpost is good fun and in all its sentimentality and romance and such is utterly charming (and the 20 year old Shirley Temple is positively droolworthy). The stuff with the warmaking and so forth didn't interest me as much. For a start I found the main character Colonel Thursday unbearable in his idiocy, but also something about these sort of war scenes just doesn't appeal to me and the patriotic speech at the end of the film was nauseating.

The first of Ford's calvary trilogy, Fort Apache is based on Bellah's short story, Massacre. It follows the goings on at an outpost in the American west, with Ford especially keen to show the daily rhythms of the post. This yields both comedy and drama; however, the key action sequences come in the final 30 minutes--they are both exhilarating and foreboding. The photography is also top-notch, as the white clouds seem to pop out of the screen and the characters are dwarfed by the rocks and sky.

Completely uninvolving \"classic\".

I actually didn't hate this as much as I expected to. Wayne is a far more likeable character than usual, a just and reasonable man without all the macho dick-swinging. And the story is mostly engaging and touches on compelling themes of honor. But the film is still buried in those Ford-isms that bug me so much, and my stomach clenched when Wayne gives his little speech at the end, with "Battle Hymn of the Republic" swelling in the background.

There isn't 2 hours of material here, and you spend far too much time having to look at Shirley Temple's shit eating grin. As often is the case with Ford, the real movie is the last 30 or so minutes. And it wouldn't be a John Ford movie if some poor stunt guy didn't get crushed under a horse.

One of John Ford's most versatile pictures, featuring a fine ensemble cast. He balances many subplots, smoothly weaving drama and comedy, which isn't something that can be said of much of his work. It's especially interesting to see Henry Fonda play the stern and callous Colonel Thursday. It ends on an unfortunate note of sentimentality, but this doesn't negate any of the film's previous qualities.

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