"Gunfight in Abilene" director William Hale's "Journey to Shiloh" qualifies as a fair to middling anti-war western set during the dawn of the American Civil War. "Star Trek" writer Gene L. Coon runs the protagonists through a gauntlet of predicaments that reveal their naivety. Furthermore, he relies on a healthy dosage of literary irony to score points for this downbeat oater. "Laredo" producer Howard Christie, however, missed the mark with "Journey to Shiloh." The heroes are cannon fodder and Hale doesn't depict them in any remotely memorable way.
Buck Burnett (James Caan of "The Killer Elite") leads six wild and woolly lads from West Texas eager to get into the fighting. Miller Nails (Michael Sarrazin of "The Film-Flam Man"),Todo McLean (Don Stroud of "Joe Kidd"), J.C. Sutton (Paul Peterson), Eubie Bell (Michael Burns of "The Raiders"), Little Bit (Jan-Michael Vincent of "Airwolf"), and Willie Bill Bearden (Harrison Ford of "Raiders of the Lost Ark) ride together with Buck as their self-appointed captain. These well-meaning fellows are clueless about the Civil War and its causes. They've never laid eyes on an African-American slave, and they've never seen a Yankee soldier. Nevertheless, they are determined to get to Richmond, Virginia, to join Confederate General John Bell Hood and his celebrated Texas Brigade. Like the tragic, message-laden adventure it is, our heroes are destined to have their dreams shattered. By the time that everything is over, only one survives, and he loses a limb. Our heroes do get to participate in the historic battle of Shiloh that appears to consist largely of stock footage borrowed from Andrew V. McLagen's "Shenandoah." The cast is strong with a couple of future stars in the ranks, chiefly Harrison Ford and Jan-Michael Vincent. Veteran heavy John Doucette is hopelessly miscast as the martinet Confederate General Braxton Bragg, while the ever dependable Noah Beery Jr., plays a savvy CSA sergeant.
Essentially, this Civil War western is a tale initiation. It doesn't take long for everything to go literally South for our protagonists. After they wear their horses out, they sell them to get tickets to ride the stagecoach. They encounter a runaway slave (Albert Popwell of "Dirty Harry") and they are appalled at the treatment he receives because they were obeying the local laws. Indeed, "Journey to Shiloh" exploits this opportunity to impunge Southern racial intolerance and show how naive our heroes are about slavery. Popwell attained fame as the black bank robber that Inspector Callahan pulled his Magnum 44 on in "Dirty Harry" and gave his lecture about his gun. Between the time that these footloose hellionsexperts with horsespull up stakes from West Texas and head out for Mississippi, they tangle with crooked gamblers in Shreveport, take on the entire southern army in a saloon brawl with a loud-mouthed corporal (Bing Russell of "The Magnificent Seven") and eventually get to Corinth wearing Confederate gray uniforms.
Scenarist Gene L. Coon and Hale carefully avoid presenting the Confederacy in a derogatory light. Instead, they give the antebellum slave-owning Southerners a black eye. The wealthy, upper-class, plantation-owning Southerners refuse to let our heroes participate at a cotillion because Burnett and company look, smell, and act like ruffians. In reality, Burnett and his followers are just a bunch of ignorant, unwashed fools that should have stayed in West Texas. Nothing good comes from their act of volunteering to join the Confederacy. The comparison between "Journey to Shiloh" and West Germany anti-Nazi movie "The Bridge" is appropriate. Actually, "The Bridge" was better. However, the convention of all Nazi World War II movies is that the enemy kill their own, and "Journey to Shiloh" replicates this with the Confederacy. The Caan hero is shot by his own Army. This smattering of irony enhances the plot but not enough to overlook its numerous flaws.
Universal Studios filmed this western on their back lot so none of the scenery appears authentic. James Caan looks miscast with long hair. Harrison Ford gives a good account of himself while Jan Michael Vincent oozes youthful vibrancy.
"Journey to Shiloh" ranks as nothing memorable, just a polished potboiler with a little sizzle to it. The story is relentlessly depressing without any sense of poignancy. The dream of joining the Confederacy becomes a nightmare. Worse, some of our heroes perish off camera, such as Willie Bill, so we don't see their valiant deaths. The ballad is atrociously corny, too. As far as American Civil War movies go, "Journey to Shiloh" doesn't belong in the same league with "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" or "Gods & Generals."
Buck Burnett (James Caan of "The Killer Elite") leads six wild and woolly lads from West Texas eager to get into the fighting. Miller Nails (Michael Sarrazin of "The Film-Flam Man"),Todo McLean (Don Stroud of "Joe Kidd"), J.C. Sutton (Paul Peterson), Eubie Bell (Michael Burns of "The Raiders"), Little Bit (Jan-Michael Vincent of "Airwolf"), and Willie Bill Bearden (Harrison Ford of "Raiders of the Lost Ark) ride together with Buck as their self-appointed captain. These well-meaning fellows are clueless about the Civil War and its causes. They've never laid eyes on an African-American slave, and they've never seen a Yankee soldier. Nevertheless, they are determined to get to Richmond, Virginia, to join Confederate General John Bell Hood and his celebrated Texas Brigade. Like the tragic, message-laden adventure it is, our heroes are destined to have their dreams shattered. By the time that everything is over, only one survives, and he loses a limb. Our heroes do get to participate in the historic battle of Shiloh that appears to consist largely of stock footage borrowed from Andrew V. McLagen's "Shenandoah." The cast is strong with a couple of future stars in the ranks, chiefly Harrison Ford and Jan-Michael Vincent. Veteran heavy John Doucette is hopelessly miscast as the martinet Confederate General Braxton Bragg, while the ever dependable Noah Beery Jr., plays a savvy CSA sergeant.
Essentially, this Civil War western is a tale initiation. It doesn't take long for everything to go literally South for our protagonists. After they wear their horses out, they sell them to get tickets to ride the stagecoach. They encounter a runaway slave (Albert Popwell of "Dirty Harry") and they are appalled at the treatment he receives because they were obeying the local laws. Indeed, "Journey to Shiloh" exploits this opportunity to impunge Southern racial intolerance and show how naive our heroes are about slavery. Popwell attained fame as the black bank robber that Inspector Callahan pulled his Magnum 44 on in "Dirty Harry" and gave his lecture about his gun. Between the time that these footloose hellionsexperts with horsespull up stakes from West Texas and head out for Mississippi, they tangle with crooked gamblers in Shreveport, take on the entire southern army in a saloon brawl with a loud-mouthed corporal (Bing Russell of "The Magnificent Seven") and eventually get to Corinth wearing Confederate gray uniforms.
Scenarist Gene L. Coon and Hale carefully avoid presenting the Confederacy in a derogatory light. Instead, they give the antebellum slave-owning Southerners a black eye. The wealthy, upper-class, plantation-owning Southerners refuse to let our heroes participate at a cotillion because Burnett and company look, smell, and act like ruffians. In reality, Burnett and his followers are just a bunch of ignorant, unwashed fools that should have stayed in West Texas. Nothing good comes from their act of volunteering to join the Confederacy. The comparison between "Journey to Shiloh" and West Germany anti-Nazi movie "The Bridge" is appropriate. Actually, "The Bridge" was better. However, the convention of all Nazi World War II movies is that the enemy kill their own, and "Journey to Shiloh" replicates this with the Confederacy. The Caan hero is shot by his own Army. This smattering of irony enhances the plot but not enough to overlook its numerous flaws.
Universal Studios filmed this western on their back lot so none of the scenery appears authentic. James Caan looks miscast with long hair. Harrison Ford gives a good account of himself while Jan Michael Vincent oozes youthful vibrancy.
"Journey to Shiloh" ranks as nothing memorable, just a polished potboiler with a little sizzle to it. The story is relentlessly depressing without any sense of poignancy. The dream of joining the Confederacy becomes a nightmare. Worse, some of our heroes perish off camera, such as Willie Bill, so we don't see their valiant deaths. The ballad is atrociously corny, too. As far as American Civil War movies go, "Journey to Shiloh" doesn't belong in the same league with "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" or "Gods & Generals."