StudioCanal Blu-ray Film Review

Soldier Blue (1970) • Blu-ray [StudioCanal, Cult Classics] — a “Vietnam western”, briefly shocking but rarely convincing

After a group of soldiers is ambushed by the Cheyenne, the two survivors, a young private and a woman, must reach the safety of the nearest fort.

The notoriety of Soldier Blue’s climactic sequence, depicting in savage detail the slaughter of a Native American community by US soldiers, has so completely dominated the film’s reputation since its release that the rest of it is somewhat forgotten. The filmmakers themselves were far from unaware of the impact this section would have, and melodramatic opening titles lead to the suggestion that “the greatest horror of all is that it is true,” while the title song by Buffy Sainte-Marie promises to “tell you a story, it’s a true one.”

This itself is only true to a point; the sequence is indeed based on the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864, where perhaps 150 Native Americans were killed, but much was altered and the film’s central story…