User Reviews

To understand the failure of WHITE BUFFALO, one has to explain what moviegoers and critics were expecting when the film was released back in 1977.

WHITE BUFFALO was released in the late 1970s, in between KING KONG and ORCA, which were all produced by Dino de Laurentiis. WHITE BUFFALO was seen then as part of this unofficial "Big Animal on the Rampage" trilogy de Laurentiis produced. This is unfortunate because amongst the three movies, WB is the best and, clearly, the most misunderstood movie of the bunch, and one of the most misunderstood movies ever made. Timing is everything and in WHITE BUFFALO's case, everything went against it.

After the spat of spaghetti westerns made during the 1960s and early 1970s, audiences grew tired of them. They wanted something else. By the early 1970s to mid 70s, the number of westerns was dwindling fast and western stars like Charles Bronson needed to make a transition away from the tired genre. In 1974, Bronson starred in DEATH WISH, which became a huge hit all over the world. Bronson was suddenly seen as a contemporary action hero (Clint Eastwood also made the same transition from western star to action hero with the Dirty Harry series around the same time).

By the time WHITE BUFFALO was released, Charles Bronson had made a couple of modern-day action movies and his new audience (that made DEATH WISH such a smash) expected to see the Charles Bronson they knew and liked in contemporary action roles and were disappointed with what WHITE BUFFALO had to offer in terms of action, violence and sex.

But then the people who still remembered Charles Bronson as a western movie star were also disappointed with WHITE BUFFALO because the role Charles Bronson played, the legendary Wild Bill Hickok, was so different from the type of roles he did in his previous westerns that they didn't warm up to this strange shoot 'em up.

And then there are the horror/sci-fi fans, who went to see KING KONG or JAWS, and expected to see another type of "Big Animal on the Rampage" film, and were clearly disappointed with WB because it is NOT a JAWS-like movie (even if there are some scary JAWS-like moments in WB). This is due mainly to the terrible advertising from the studio, which had NO idea how to sell this odd western, and decided to sell WB as a "Big Animal on the Rampage" film because of the theme present in the title and story.

So, when one looks at all of this in hindsight, one can clearly see that WHITE BUFFALO simply had NO chance of succeeding, with critics or at the B.O., regardless of how good or bad the movie was in itself. There were too many misleading and conflicting factors outside of the film itself for anyone to have a clear and objective view of it. This is why it's always good to look at a movie decades after it was made when all the hype and/or expectations are by now forgotten or gone and one can (hope to) view a movie for what it was, not necessarily for what people, critics or even movie studios and stars expected it to be. So when I watched WHITE BUFFALO recently (I had already seen it back in the 80s and always remembered it), I was pleasantly surprised by it. It is much better than what anyone thinks of it.

I'm the first to say that Dino de Laurentiis is a hack. And that director J. Lee Thompson is not a very good director. And that Charles Bronson is not the best actor in the world. But even with all these seemingly negative elements, WHITE BUFFALO is pretty good. It's obvious that Bronson and Thompson saw an opportunity to create something that was close to their hearts and basically created an "artsy" kind of western, most likely without Dino being aware of this. Yes, there are several problems with WHITE BUFFALO but the good qualities of the movie overshadow the bad ones. And watching the movie today, one can clearly see that the film is supposed to be seen, first and foremost, as a MYTHICAL ALLEGORY (It's no wonder United Artists had no idea how to sell this movie. How do you promote an allegorical film?) The white buffalo; the meeting of Wild Bill Hickok and Crazy Horse, etc. The dream-like atmosphere is what makes WHITE BUFFALO so memorable. The conflicting narratives, between the standard western and the one with allegorical elements, give the latter even more power because as we watch the movie, one sorta forgets that the film has a white buffalo in it and when it finally arrives, the whole thing seems even more unreal. Imagine a western directed by David Lynch.

Aside from the couple of shots where you can clearly see the track on which the mechanical buffalo is mounted on, the buffalo itself is okay. There isn't any scene in WB that last long enough with a clear view of the mechanical animal to have a really good idea how it looks like. The scenery is beautiful and the music by John Barry is excellent. And there is a strange, foreboding claustrophobic mood that permeates the whole film. And Jack Warden gives an excellent performance as Bill's partner. His performance anchors the dream-like film. WHITE BUFFALO is NOT the disaster that everyone claims it to be. And it definitely has a cult following.

This rare but intriguing western deals with Will Bill Hickok ( Charles Bronson)who suffers several nightmares about an enormous white buffalo. Will Hickok join forces with Indian chief, Crazy Horse, previous to Little Big Horn battle, (here also named Worm and well played by Will Sampson) and a rifleman named Zane (Jack Warden) to track down a breathtaking white buffalo in the Black Hills . Hickok holds a dodgy obsession with the mythical animal until a spectacular final duel.

This strange picture packs nois action , thrills , chills, tension , violence and semi-surreal outdoors. The highlights of the movie are the impressive mountain of bones and the buffalo attacks with the victims running afoul that deliver excitement enough. Packs something of 'Moby Dick' theme with the obstinate fight of a man to chase his prey . Other reviewers say that the white buffalo represents the fear to mortality . Features good performances from starring trio , Bronson, Sampson and Warden. Ample plethora of veteran secondaries , such as Slim Pickens as a stagecoach conductor , Stuart Whitman as a passenger , Clint Walker as a gunfighter, Douglas Fowley as a train conductor and also narrator , besides John Carradine . Other supporting cast in minor roles are the following ones : Ed Lauter, Martin Kove and of course Kim Novak in a special appearance. Although much is filmed in studio, the freezing frontiers , filthy towns and snowy locations are shot in Bronson Canyon Los Angeles, Chana New Mexico and Canon City, Colorado. Appropriate and atmospheric musical score by the classic composer John Barry.

The picture is produced in average budget by Dino De Laurentis who made a trilogy with giant beasts (King Kong, Orca, White buffalo) and creature design by Carlo Rambaldi (E. T.). The film was professionally directed by J. Lee Thomson who directed good Western ( McKenna gold) and all kinds of genres such as Sci-Fi (Conquest and Battle of planet of apes), terror (reincarnation of Peter Proud, Eye of the devil), adventures (King of the sun, Taras Bulba) and Warlike ( Guns of Navarone, Von Braun). J. Lee Thomson working from the 50s in England, finished his career making Chuck Norris (Firewalker) and Charles Bronson vehicles (Evil that men do, Messenger of death, Death Wish 4 : Crackdown, Caboblanco, St Ives). Watchable results for this outlandish Western.

...with shades of Moby Dick thrown in. Wild Bill Hickok has nightmares about a giant white buffalo (a foreshadowing of his own death?) which he feels can only be eliminated by hunting down a giant white buffalo that is striking terror in the Black Hills. Will Sampson plays Crazy Horse, also seeking the same creature after it rampaged through his village and killed his child.

It's all pure fiction, of course, and Charles Bronson's casting as Hickok is laughable, historically speaking, but, I suppose, no more so than that of half a dozen other actors over the years being cast as Hickcok. One historically accurate aspect of the film is that, rather than wearing a holster, Bronson wears a scarlet sash around his waist in which he tucks his guns, as did the real Hickok at times.

The performances are quite good, and there is a colorful supporting cast of familiar faces including Jack Warden in a sizable role as a one eyed Indian-hating frontiersman who goes on the buffalo hunt with Bronson as well as smaller guest star appearances by Kim Novak, Clint Walker, John Carradine, Stuart Whitman and Cara Williams. J. Lee Thompson (Guns of Navarone, Cape Fear, Mackenna's Gold) was the director.

The white buffalo is presented as an almost legendary larger than life destructive force, not unlike a lumbering four legged version of Melville's great white whale, one that causes rocks to tumble down the sides of mountains when it lets out a giant bellow and can charge though walls of ice and snow. At one point, in fact, in a direct parallel to Herman Melville's tale, Crazy Horse will leap on the animal's back to repeatedly stab it with a spear.

The problem for the film, though, are in those pivotal scenes involving the buffalo in which, unfortunately, the creature looks exactly like what it undoubtedly was, some kind of animatronic construction, lacking any sense of reality. It's far more effective when he frighteningly bellows in the mountains than when we actually see him. No amount of fast editing can hide the artificiality of those scenes with the buffalo. The poster advertising the film said "You Won't Believe Your Eyes." That's true, but, unfortunately, not in a good way.

Although I can't find any information on what the budget for White Buffalo was, I suspect that the Dino de Laurentiis Corporation provided a reasonable amount of money considering they were 1977 dollars. I mention this because the most typical comments state that the laughable buff effects were due to low budget constraints.

But consider this. 2001: A Space Odyssey's effects were set to screen nine years before 1977 and Star Wars was released the same year as White Buffalo.

So special effects, although not CGI, were certainly advanced enough to satisfy those who have commented negatively here. So ... why were more advanced effects not used?

My theory is that the makers wanted to create a surreal, dreamlike feeling, much like it might have been to listen to an Indian storyteller around a village campfire a hundred and fifty years ago. In those times, human imagination could not have constructed the special effects images that we take for granted in our present-day monsters. Modern effects would detract from the misty, myth-like ambiance of this movie ... the myth of James Butler Hickok, the myth of Crazy Horse, the myth of the white buffalo.

When combined with John Barry's haunting score, this movie really has an effect on me. I give it an 8 out of 10 and hope to see it on a 1.85:1 widescreen DVD soon. I also hope the sound will be remastered better than the bloody mono track many of these cheap disk production companies are passing off on us!

'The White Buffalo' is one strange western. Some call it western version of the 'Jaws'. Anyway, this is not bad movie at all, far from greatness, but definitely entertaining. The buffalo itself isn't very scary as a monster, but rather hokey. The film is carried by star power of Charles Bronson who gives stellar performance as Wild Bill Hickok on the hunt of terrifying white buffalo. He is supported by wonderful cast with Will Sampson and Jack Warden, and Kim Novak, John Carradine and Ed Lauter making cameos. After magnificently directed opening scene rest of the film might feel little bit let down, but the atmosphere is held together by John Barry's haunting score.

Nothing sensational or thought provoking, but still worth to watch when you want to see some different twist in the western genre.

It seems within THE WHITE BUFFALO is a different kind of Western that Charles Bronson and director J. Lee Thompson not only wanted to make, but did... at least halfway through...

One where "human antagonist" Clint Walker has the kind of vengeful passion to kill main character/real life legend Bill Hickock because of the past he's both dodging and facing... thrust towards the gigantic title beast that, like JAWS, a trio of contrary men are joined together to expire...

Especially Native American Will Sampson who, like the other gentle giant actor Walker, has never been so intense, also portraying a fictionally-set true legend, Crazy Horse, and with his own revenge towards the buffalo that'd killed his child... giving his overboard performance more than a touch of camp...

And the always capably-cast Jack Warden is a one-eyed codger/trapper... the Robert Shaw here and, though full of tough dialogue, he's rather underused...

Then again this is Bronson's slowburn ride; a kind of metaphysical Western with exploitation style deaths including a loudmouth racist and foul-mouthed hooker (feeling like a deleted scene) and a grungy tavern brawl/shootout, harsh and grainy despite the period-clothing that, like the much superior BREAKHART PASS, seems both newly-made then contrived-dirty and dusted clean, right out of the studio's costume department...

Leading to a climax that's more anticipation than the kind of marring violence the first half had already disposed of... making this a unique passion-project from its very incarnation, so there was no other choice than for THE WHITE BUFFALO to become a cult film.

I have seen almost all the films signed by J. Lee Thompson, a very good director, a lot of action films. He worked very often with Charles Bronson, a very dear actor, for him and for me. This is not one of the best, neither for Bronson or Thompson. It's decent enough but, the subject itself and how that buffalo look, it's more appropriate for teenagers. The best performances comes from Will Sampson and Jack Warden.

I know a lot of people are not too impressed with this film. However when i first saw this about 14 years ago the images and atmosphere and chilly locations made an impact on my mind. I have seen this film several times and agree it is not one of Charles Bronson's best efforts but I still love watching this film regularly. The hunt for the white buffalo in the Black Hills is presented as a psychological battle in the mind of Wild Bill Hickok (Bronson) and a spiritual one for Chief Crazy Horse (Will Sampson). Sure the creature itself may look unrealistic,but the concept of battling your nightmares and the teaming up of two racial enemies as well as the dark cold almost sinister locations make this an interesting experience in my view. I also feel the dialogue is extremely appropriate with the use of 'Gold Diggers slang'. I am sure I am in a minority when I say I like this film so much.

In fact, "The White Buffalo" may on the surface appear to be just another Dino De Laurentiis production of the time like "King Kong" or "Orca", but it's rather intriguing and very moody. It's really an offbeat character study in which the character in question, none other than Wild Bill Hickock (Charles Bronson) has to face an internal demon of his by also doing battle with a real one, supposedly the last of the great white buffaloes that have mostly been wiped out.

On his way to meet his destiny, Wild Bill - now travelling under the alias James Otis - meets a variety of colourful characters, including his old friend Charlie Zane (a hearty Jack Warden) and Poker Jenny (Kim Novak, looking as beautiful as ever). Some of his encounters get intense, with the requisite amount of gunfire and bloodshed, but things really pick up once Bill and Charlie make the acquaintance of the Indian named Crazy Horse (Will Sampson), who is on his own quest to slay the beast.

The special effects may draw criticisms from some viewers, but this viewer never had any problem with them, and certainly appreciated seeing old style animatronics. The wintry atmosphere of "The White Buffalo" is incredible, accompanied by genuinely spooky music by John Barry, and the film has a wonderful spiritual quality not to be found in other collaborations between Bronson and director J. Lee Thompson. It's an unconventional choice of material for them, and today it rates as an under-rated entry on their resumes.

Much of the cast are relegated to cameo roles, but make the most out of their brief screen time: Clint Walker, Stuart Whitman, Slim Pickens, John Carradine, Cara Williams, Douglas Fowley, Ed Lauter, and Martin Kove, among others.

With this assemblage of talent and a decent script (by Richard Sale, based on his novel), this makes for fairly compelling viewing.

Seven out of 10.

This is a tale with the swagger of reality. The famed Wild Bill Hickock, oddly enough, becomes friends with big Chief Crazy Horse and both compete in tracking down a legendary white buffalo in the snow covered Black Hills. The frontier banter of the late 1800's gave the film realism. Of course, the white buffalo was hardly enough to cause a real nightmare. An updated version of this flick with a more fearsome animal would be very interesting.

A real talented cast makes this film worth your while watching. Charles Bronson is Hickock. Will Samson is Crazy Horse. Also appearing are John Carradine, Kim Novack and Clint Walker.

I was amazed that this film was on the bottom 20 IMDB list of westerns! Like Darrell1969, I too love this movie. Maybe Bronson was not the best choice for Wild Bill, (although he is a fine western star,) but the sets, dialogue, and the entire western/horror mood of this film are just great. If the buffalo is not 100% lifelike, well, just show me some CGI special effects that don't look fake! I would rather see the jerky robotic White Buffalo than some cartoon creature that looks like it hopped out of a Super Mario game! The frontier dialogue was the best and most realistic since 'True Grit', and the whole movie maintained a sense of wild west myth and strangeness. If you like westerns with a touch of dark, gothic mood, by all means watch The White Buffalo.

... And the eerie cold mountain scenes, the oniric atmospheres, were quite well rendered. There's a supernatural, symbolic quality about it, which was a selling point of R. Sale's book. Also great were the actors (even if the bore few physical likeness to the people they impersonated), the nordic western sets and the languages used, both in white and red expressions, that felt authentic.

Alas, some irritants made the sum less than its parts; among them, the short running time (the movie was repackaged as a "Jaws-like" summer buster), the poor filming of the animatronics (whose rails are plain obvious in the picture) and, most of all, the lack of "red" chapters, that were not only essential to the story, but about half of the book itself. It could have been deeper.

Apart from that, actions scenes are great - since they're this movie's focus - and overall one gets a good time watching what can be described as an Old West myth.

Wild Bill Hickok (Charles Bronson) is haunted by nightmares involving a legendary white buffalo and so travels to the Black Hills region to hunt the creature with his old geezer pardner (Jack Warden). The problem is Crazy Horse (Will Sampson) is seeking vengeance on the beast for killing his daughter. Meanwhile Clint Walker appears as a heavy.

"The White Buffalo" was ready for release by 1976, but was withheld for over a year before being dumped into the general-circulation market. Based on a 1975 book, Director J. Lee Thompson described it as Moby Dick of the West. There's also a "Jaws" (1975) angle with the three guys teaming up to find and slay the beast.

The wintery outdoor locations are wonderful and the cast is great, also including notables Kim Novak, Stuart Whitman, Slim Pickens, Ed Lauter and John Carradine. I also appreciate the sensitive story of Wild Bill and the great chief Crazy Horse overcoming prejudice to discover common ground and friendship of sorts. In addition, there's some profound explorations of finding yourself, seeking your destiny, ridding yourself of fears to become more human.

Regrettably, the indoor sets are too artificial and the bison animatronics leave a lot to be desired, resembling a giant shaggy toy, but I guess producers had limited options in the pre-CGI era, especially if they lacked the necessary funds. These elements plus the comic book vibe will leave you wondering "What were they thinking?" The white bison's godawful attack on the Oglala camp is Exhibit A. Another glaring issue is that not enough backstory is given for Hickok's nightmares that would provoke him to suddenly wake-up all guns blazing and travel to some remote area to slay this legendary beast (I'm assuming such scenes were cut).

But, if you can adjust, there's a lot to enjoy here. It's basically a cult Western - bad, for sure, but somehow entertaining and profound, IF you can adapt to its peculiarities.

The film runs 1 hours, 37 minutes, and was shot partially in the studio & Bronson Canyon, Los Angeles, but also in Colorado, Arizona & New Mexico.

GRADE: C.

In september 1874, Wild Bill Hickcok (Charles Bronson) returns to the old West under the alias James Otis. He is haunted by the image of a buffalo that symbolizes his fear of death. He awakens every time he tries to sleep from the same nightmare. He knows he must face his nightmare, or go insane.

Oldtimer (and Indian hater) Charlie Zane (Jack Warden), also known as "Oneye" - the great white warrior of Sand Creek - himself an famous Indian hunter in his younger days, go with Wild Bill Hickok to hunt down the White Buffalo.

The old Indian warrior, Chief Crazy Horse (Will Sampson), is looking for the White Buffalo for different reasons. For him, the hunt is sacred, and if he doesn't succeed, he cannot live with himself. His dead little daughter (killed by the White Buffalo) will be "forever tortured in the other world," until he has avenged his child's death. This he must do in the old way.

The realistic locations makes the film chilling indeed. It was filmed on scenic locations in Canon City, Colorado, with interiors at the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer lot. The scenes showing mountains of bleached white buffalo bones are harrowing, as are the cruelty by both whites and Indians.

Great supporting roles by Slim Pickens as a vocal stage driver, Stuart Whitman as a slimy gambler, Cara Williams as the gambler's loumouthed girlfriend, John Carradine as a undertaker, the monstrously big Clint Walker as the murderous trapper "Whistling Jack Kileen," Bert Williams as a barkeeper who helps Wild Bill Hickcok from being killed and finally, Kim Novak made an outstanding return to the screen as Wild Bill Hickcok's old love, and one-time hooker Poker Jenny, now turned respectable.

This is a strange, mythical and murky film. Forget the bad special buffalo effects, and the bad monster. The screenplay in this movie is the thing. The language in this movie is very realistic. I wouldn't be surprised if this was the way the tough, hard people up in the Black Hills really talked back in the 1870s.

I'm proud to call this my favorite western of the 1970s. Not because it was the best, but simply because of it's dark, mythical tone. I've had this on video for a very long time, and have seen it numerous times.

When you see a film over and over again, you notice all the little details, missed by the ones who saw it only once.

In the 1970s, only Sam Peckinpah's westerns were as, or more, interesting. Not to forget Clint Eastwood and Sergio Leone. A matter of taste, of course.

Charles Bronson plays real life figure Wild Bill Hickok, who in this story is suffering from nightmares where he is confronted by a huge(and charging) white buffalo. Bothered by these nightmares that even have him awakening shooting his guns in the air(!) he resolves to track this beast down. He travels with his friend Charlie(played by Jack Warden) through different frontier towns(meeting up with old flame Kim Novak) yet he plows on, eventually teaming up with real life Native American Crazy Horse, who is also out to kill the buffalo, who has decimated his village, killing many of his tribe. The three men eventually find the white buffalo, which is indeed huge, and no dream...

Intriguing western is certainly offbeat but effective, with good acting and direction(J. Lee Thompson) that builds to an exciting climax. Good music score and epic feel to the story also help, even if the supporting apparatus holding the charging buffalo is visible if you freeze-frame the DVD!

A dark and brooding Western adventure, concerning Wild Bill and Crazy Horse. Their quest is to hunt down a legendary and highly dangerous, White Buffalo. A very unusual, original story and Charles Bronson is always entertaining to watch. One that stands alone in the genre, whilst weathering the test of time. Worthy, thought provoking and some beautiful scenery.

The White Buffalo is directed by J. Lee Thompson and adapted to screenplay by Richard Sale from his own novel of the same name. It stars Charles Bronson, Will Sampson, Jack Warden, Clint Walker, Slim Pickens and Kim Novak. Music is scored by John Barry and cinematography by Paul Lohmann. Plot finds Wild Bill Hickok (Bronson) and Crazy Horse (Sampson) teaming up to fight a giant white buffalo during the bleak winter of 1874. Hickok is plagued by nightmares of the beast, Crazy Horse is out purely for revenge after the rampaging creature laid waste to his village and killed his newly born son.

It flopped at the box office, which in all honesty is not hard to understand, for The White Buffalo had too many things to fight against to put up a good showing. It's very much an odd movie, a strange blending of genres, it often looks cheap and it had the unenviable task of trying to stay in the giant beast slipstream created by Jaws two years previously. After Spielberg unleashed his Carcharodon Carcharias on the cinema loving world, a number of film makers tried the same idea but with different creatures, Grizzly and the star studded Tentacles were just two around the same period, even King Kong got a re-imaging in 76, while The White Buffalo was also up against the Richard Harris led Orca: Killer Whale (also featuring Will Sampson) this same year. Was the 1970s film lover in need of a hybrid creature feature Western with shades of Moby Dick stitched into the narrative? One with an oddly cast Bronson playing a legendary man of the West with sun glasses and penis rot? No was the answer, but a cult fan base grew over the years and it's definitely worth more than a second glance these days.

Film pretty much thrives on mystical symbolism, shades of the supernatural hang over proceedings, while the Native American culture is given adherence as well. The idea of teaming up two legends of the West, enemies at that, also gives the picture a high novelty factor. As the two men, and Warden's gruff Charlie Zane who is along for the ride, go off in search of the beast, they must overcome hostilities of the human kind as well as the harsh winter that nature has provided for the back drop. Time is afforded development of story and principle characters, this is not merely an excuse to be a carnage based creature feature, it has ideas formed around man against nature, men against their fate, often it is philosophical, even literate. Of course this has proved to be seen as pretentious by some, and once the big white animatronic thunders into view with its awesome sound effects, it's easy to be steered away from the more brainy aspects of the piece!

John Barry lays a magnificent foreboding score over the top of it, a score that deserves a better film in truth, but it imbues the picture with a sense of dread, helping us to stay with Wild Bill and Crazy Horse to see if they can cut down the demon while casting off their own? The studio filmed sequences are unfortunate, but necessary considering the budget restrictions, yet the sets do have a garish quality about them, further aiding the weirdness on offer. Cast performances are perfectly in keeping with the material, Bronson as cool as ever, though it should be noted that Novak, Walker, Pickens and Stuart Whitman really are light support players here. Much has been made of the creature design, unfavourably so, but it's one of the better animatronic creations of the 70s. Put it alongside those used in the Kevin Connor pictures around this period and you can see its benefits. Though facial close ups should have been kept to a minimum!

It's obviously not high art and it has ideas above its station, while some of Michael F. Anderson's editing is so dizzying your head might explode. But this is no ordinary picture, surreal and hypnotic, intelligent yet off beat, it's better than you might think and worth viewing more than once with expectations levels correctly channelled. 7/10

In my opinion - (Back in 1977) - If the genre of the Western wasn't already dead at that point, then, you can be sure that "The White Buffalo" permanently killed it.

Featuring a totally laughable-looking (mechanical) albino buffalo (with a nasty mean-streak) who loves nothing more than to deliberately bulldoze straight into people (regardless of their race).....

This Western/Horror/Fantasy film (set in 1874) also spotlights "Old West" legend, Wild Bill Hickok (in shades, no less) who's such an ace marksman that when he fires a single bullet from his trusty pistol - (get this!) - Three bad guys immediately fall dead on the spot.

From start to finish - "The White Buffalo" (which stars a cast of worn-out looking actors) is an absolute embarrassment on all counts.

The whole story is nothing but a 95-minute build-up to its climatic final showdown between Wild Bill and "you-know-who", which (unfortunately) quickly deteriorates into pure slapstick comedy.

I love this film and have done for going on 20 years - it was the film that first turned me on to Charles Bronson and I've been a fan ever since.

First time as a youngster seeing it the suspense was almost unbearable and the buffalo really isn't that bad considering it was over 25 years ago.

Buffalo scenes aside, the film scores for realism with believable characters, settings and dialogue.

Bronson turns in a fine performance and although I love most of his films, this remains one of my favourites.

Few films can be considered flawless but many survive their weaknesses by overcoming them in other departments. "The White Buffalo" is ultimately a very poor film because of a perfect storm of mediocrity that pervades most of its principal departments, flooding so many bulkheads that there is no possibility of keeping the movie afloat. If it has any saving graces, they are very small crumbs of comfort – some good scenery, a decent job by the wardrobe department and a no-expense-spared cast, although most of the supporting talent is wasted on short cameos not worth their time and effort.

The story, such as it is, brings Wild Bill Hickok back to the west to search out and confront the mythic white buffalo of his nightmares. Hickok in reality was a tragic character, but Bronson can't do tragic, and so the film is lost almost from the get-go. He can do pistol-packing, and soon he's involved in badly-staged shootouts and a short love-interest scene with Kim Novak. Despite second billing status, it takes too long for Jack Warden to be brought into the story and when he does arrive, he turns in an uncharacteristically flat performance. With his woolly white wig and beard and his glass eye, he could have been the buffalo. His character, a racist old buzzard, is unappealing but there can be no doubt that such characters existed in those times. The two set off to track Hickok's nemesis, meeting and teaming up with a Native American along the way, not immediately realizing he is Crazy Horse.

At times the movie appears to be filmed through onion soup, at others a dense fog – and that's just the indoors scenes. While the script has some lines that sound authentic, others are vaguely banal or downright cryptic, and the cast doesn't help by often delivering them in an incomprehensible manner. The sound quality fluctuates between aiding and abetting the muffled dialogue and deafening the audience with overloud gunshots. The direction is haphazardly chaotic, and that is being polite.

Piled on top of the film's other many flaws, the final indignity is the buffalo itself. Resembling a bedraggled, malnourished Muppet, its first on-screen appearance is a close-up of the face, which looks very much like the current logo of the Buffalo Sabres. When the beast is in full rampage, the over-the-top vocal effects are not dissimilar to the foghorn that sounds when the Sabres – or any other NHL team – score. There is nothing in the beast's appearance or manner that inspires fear in the audience, and its motion resembles a harmless carousel horse rather than a marauding wild animal.

The collective failings really don't make this film worth the time, and it can't even be saved by being so bad that it's good. The plot could be intriguing material if handled correctly, and it's a shame that such resources were spent producing a very underachieving, disjointed final product.

My movie book rates this movie as a Turkey. The critic should have watched it for what it was rather than trying to classify it. It wasn't really a western even though it had a similar setting. Both the lead characters were caricatures and not real. They told a simple story with embellishments, i.e. salty language - "no more hard tongue from you, Mr. Coxie or you'll deal with me". Train conductor: You have a cold in your head, Mr Otis, that never goes away. Poker Gen, etc, etc. Scene by scene it was a treat to watch. One surprise after another. Characters were excellent - Jack Warden, Kim Novak, Stuart Whitman, Will Sampson "We Will both solve the great mystery". All in all one of the best and most enchanting movies I have seen.

I think Bronson's attempt to do something different here is praiseworthy. But this attempt fails almost completely, due to unsatisfying script and sloppy editing of the action scenes. If you decide to see this movie, don't say you weren't warned!