User Reviews

This episode has a TZ twist, as one would expect, but it seemed to violate a certain rule observed by other Twilight Zone time travel stories. In the other stories, like "Back There" or "The Odyssey of Flight 33," the characters don't start with the time travel explanation. Instead, they come round to it only when there's copious evidence right in front of them.

In this episode, however, they leap directly to the time travel explanation with very little evidence. The canteen? A tourist could have dropped a souvenir. The distant sounds of battle? A recorded program for the tourists, or a reenactment group. Unoccupied tepees? Something for the tourists. Regular watchers of the Twilight Zone know right away, of course, that the canteen is no tourist souvenir. The 20th- century characters in the story, however, weren't regular TZ watchers, so for them, it was a big leap for anyone to conclude that time had been traveled.

The Twilight Zone was replete with time travel stories and they generally provided a good hook for the viewer in the way of a twist ending or thought provoking finale. By the fifth season, the idea might have grown tired, but if you're watching them today with no context other than the individual story you're watching, this one is as good as the rest. Since my favorite movie genre is the Western and this one deals with Custer's Last Stand, I'll be glad to afford it the slack some other reviewers on this board don't seem to concede. Especially since one of my favorite Western character actors, Warren Oates, shows up as one of the principals.

I find it curious that some of the detractors of this story find fault with the character of Sergeant Connors (Ron Foster) for knowing so much about the Little Big Horn. Quite the contrary, if you had an intense interest in a subject and made it a point to study everything you could about it, you would be just as knowledgeable. Connors exhibited a basic understanding of the battle and it's participants, and it's not like this was an obscure event in the history of the West.

The bigger question mark for me, as it was in so many Twilight Zone episodes, is how the characters left behind would be able to explain the disappearance of three of their members. Connors, Langsford and McCluskey must have had family back home, so how do you deal with them not returning from maneuvers? There was too often that leap of faith that the story ended right there, instead of in that dimension known as reality.

Love the tank crew,esp Boone & Foster.What a thrill to see a young Greg Morris,and the capt.As for 3-man crew,you could plainly see the three stars riding atop the tank and the MSgt giving orders to someone within the tank,the driver.Great historical information and the clearly historic buffs of the tank crew regarding Little Big Horn Battle.Watched during the Twilight Zone New Year Marathon.A new favorite of mine.WarrenOates good,too,but prefer Ron and Boone for their dedicated performances as Sgt and Private in tank of the National Guard.

So many of the comments here seem to disregard the realities of weekly TV production in the 1960's--especially in an era when a full season consisted of 32-36 episodes!

Rod Serling, brilliant as he was, wrote TONS of radio scripts and teleplays in the late 40's through the 1960's, and many of them were of average quality; only rarely did a "Patterns" or "Requiem for a Heavyweight" come along. The guy was only human, and a very hard-working one at that. By his own admission he was suffering from writer's fatigue as early as the start of TZ's 3rd season.

Also, keep in mind that CBS had cut the budget rather drastically for TZ's Season 5, and, as a result, most of the episodes were scaled down to include few actors and a couple of indoor sets (Uncle Simon, Living Doll, Short Drink, Sounds & Silences, The Masks, What's in the Box, etc etc), which greatly limited the dramatic possibilities for the writers. Thus, "The 7th" is quite a standout.

So when we pass judgement on Twilight Zone from the comfort of our armchairs 50-60 years after it was filmed, let's be realistic. (And BTW, I get tired of reading the carping and blathering about the supposed "politically- INcorrect" content of these shows; if it makes you feel "uncomfortable", watch something else and stop wasting space here).

And what's with the frequent kvetching in these comments about the fact that 2 of the 3 guys in the episode are familiar with the historical details of Custer's Last Stand?? C'mon, dudes! These guys are military-trained, and Little Big Horn is only one of the most famous of all American battles. Haven't you ever known a history buff?

What I like about "The 7th" is its novelty and simplicity: 3 guys and a tank out on location, and a fascinating concept from Serling. It's tough to build a sense of creepy tension out in an open field in broad daylight, but Serling's imaginative, taut writing, the show's strong direction, and the fine performances by the 3 lead actors really pull it off--at least until the final 5 minutes.

Additionally, I enjoyed the interplay between the 3 guys-- well-written, directed and performed, especially since Randy Boone appears to be rather dim-witted in the beginning, only to come through as quite knowledgeable.

My problem with this show is twofold. 1.) An arrow in the back is a seriously devastating wound (in TV terms, just watch Matt Dillion in Gunsmoke's superb "Long, Long Trail" episode from season 7). No way would Randy have been able to walk up that hill, continue to stumble around and even join the final charge. Which leads me to No. 2)-- Did I miss something?-- or was the trio's final charge into the battle kind'a silly and pointless? I didn't get it. ------------------------------------------------------- At least Serling and friends were doing their best to preserve the series' uniquely imaginative qualities alive--- which became increasingly challenging as the years passed. [Two similar episodes appeared near the end of TZ's run: "Come Wander With Me"--hopelessly muddled, but still adventurous in its use of locations, and "Garrity and the Graves" which, despite a glaring plot flaw, still ranks as one of TZ's most enjoyable episodes). LR

This was one of my favorite episodes, too. I won't rehash. But I liked the eerie feeling it seemed they were experiencing as it became more and more apparent they had gone back in time and were thrust right onto the site of that gruesome battle. What make it even more spooky was you never saw the enemy (the Indians, that is). The smoke signals. The horse with no rider, the empty tepee, no one in sight in the village. I'm not that up on the actual battle, but it was always fascinated me. It did seem a bit politically incorrect, though, as they seemed to be portraying the Indians as the bad guys. I thought of this episode as I get set to watch it on Sci-Fi's annual "Zone'' 4th of July marathon.

"The 7th is Made of Phantoms" was written by Rod Serling and the time travel theme is a familiar one, at least for the Twilight Zone. Three National Guardsmen are training near the exact spot where Custer and men were killed in 1876. The sergeant, played by Ron Foster, begins to notice some peculiar items in the landscape of the area (i.e. Indian tents and other artifacts from a bygone era). With his two bewildered companions, Randy Boone and Warren Oates, Foster sets out to discover what the heck is going on. The men soon find out that they have been transported back to the Battle of the Little Big Horn and, as good soldiers, they feel obliged to join in on the action. After that, they're never seen again. When they show up missing from their present day unit, their commander notices their names on the Custer monument and ruefully comments, "They should have brought the tank."

While watching this entry now, one can't help but feel that it has dated badly, especially considering the Guardsmens' attitudes towards the Indians. They're the enemy in 1963 just like they were in 1876 during Custer's day. Yet this was how mainstream television and the media portrayed Native Americans for years. They were the "bad guys" and that was about it. Despite the somewhat twisted morality of the story, the actors give it their best and make it all believable. For TV buffs, "Mission Impossible" actor Greg Morris can be spotted in a small supporting role. Serling was famous for hiring African-American actors when practically no one else would. Unfortunately, he didn't give Sitting Bull or Crazy Horse much of a fair shake in this entry. And there's no question about it, Custer could have really used a tank that day, and a few grenades too.

This episode is like taking a tiny fish fillet and coating it in padding 15 times! That's because the summary given by IMDb IS all there is to the episode. Some National Guardsmen find themselves magically transported (why?) to Little Big Horn in 1876 and they, like Custer's men, are about to be massacred. What was the point? I dunno. Maybe if they'd given the solders some machine guns or a tank it would have been more interesting.

Sadly, I'm not sure this sort of idea ever works that well. I saw THE FINAL COUNTDOWN years ago (where a modern US aircraft carrier is transported back to WWII in the Pacific) and it, too, was pretty much a tiny idea stretched too far.

Overall, not terrible but not even close to being up to the standards that the show has set for itself.

**SPOILERS** Like most of the other reviewers, I remembered this episode. One thing, though, I was also in Boy Scouts, and at one of the Camporees we all went to, there was an authentic Indian Tipi set up on display. It was canvas, but decorated, staked, tight, tall and beautiful. I remember also the next day going to our local library and checking out a book on Tipis, history, and construction. The raggy, crummy things that Serling used in this episode were and are an insult to the wonderful mobile habitats of the Plains Indians, including Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho.

It made me think about this subject when I saw it in 1963. At this time, I was no longer a Scout, but I still read about our native people. Even then, I realized that there were serious errors. When I saw it in reruns, I realized...it stinks. Not just historically, but from a science fiction point, as well. If they could take their sidearms, why NOT the tank? Another small point that was known back then was the very serious practice of "Counting Coup". A warrior wouldn't just target and hit his enemy with an arrow or two; they'd wanna get right up in their face, and either clobber them with a war club, or a knife. Actually put their hands on the enemy; THAT'S where they get the glory and recognition of courage. Just shooting them didn't mean much. When the Guardsman was wounded, the shooter would have followed up with a death blow.

I've been to Little Big Horn five times , and have about thirty five books on the subject of this battle. The land that these guys were supposedly running National Guard maneuvers over is and was (at that time), owned by private citizens and the Crow nation. THIS EPISODE, because it was so horribly done, made me want to study history. I have to credit it with that; and that is all.

The Twilight Zone is at the top of my short list of favorite TV or short films of any kind. When it is great there has been nothing better. But this is not to say that every episode is a gem. I am not alone in thinking that some are quite regrettable outcomes of multi-season burn-out (understandable to say the least), budget constraints, deadline pressure or a plain dud. The fourth season produced quite a few duds due to the effort of going to a full hour(*), while the fifth is a desert with a few oases of the quality of the first three seasons. Given the number of episodes per season in those days and the enormous challenge of coming up with fresh and distinct story ideas in this genre the achievement overall is unsurpassed.

This episode is one of the exceptionally weak episodes along with the one hour "Thirty Fathom Grave", "The Fear", "A Short Drink from a Certain Fountain", "Probe 7 Over and Out" and a few others. Aside from suffering from a bare and obvious gimmick arrived at tediously it also lacks the moral insight that illuminates so much of Serling's best work(**). It is a sign of writing fatigue after five years of outstanding work that Serling, who so cleanly and brilliantly dissected the Nazi "Final Solution" in "Deathshead Revisted", totalitarianism in "The Obsolete Man") and war in "The Purple Testament", should now evince enthusiasm for some slack weekend warriors joining the most famous failure in the very successful campaign to colonize North America by swindle when possible and force when necessary that came very close to outright genocide. It is a poor recycle of material from far better prior episodes, such as the time overlaps of "A Hundred Yards Over The Rim". This episode's only virtue is that it got a barely presentable show on the air on time.

Several reviewers wonder about "why not bring the tank (and a few grenades)"? Having the names on the memorial is one thing, explaining the presence of the hulk of a large technological weapon not even invented (or even invent-able) for another 50 years in a form not invented for another 20+ years would rupture the already strained suspension of disbelief inherent in time travel stories. In real life, Col. Custer had the option of packing Gatling guns but rejected them as too cumbersome, but if a tank should just show up, what the hell! I have always thought of Little Big Horn as simply the odds catching up with the recklessness of the most famous of all West Point goats to the great misfortune of his men.

One wonders what might have been done with the idea in the hands of a fresher Serling earlier in the run. Good point. I would like to think the Indians would get a better shake in the writing in keeping with Serling's other work, and it would have an ending up to the standard of "The Purple Testament".

I am glad so many others really enjoy this unfortunate leaving of the great Serling in burnout. It is a dirty job and someone has to do it!

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(*) you may have noticed that most good one hour fantasy shows like the Star Trek franchise usually employ two stories (i.e. material for two half hour episodes) interwoven to make the hour.

(**) Little Big Horn buff or not, I will note one fact that IS documented, that one big reason Serling took the Twilight Zone assignment was that in a fantasy context he could unload both barrels of the human insight and moral outrage that he could no longer get produced as straight contemporary drama. That point of view, so well expressed so many other times, seems lost or at least distorted beyond recognition in this episode.

Not bad, but more like T V theater! My parents saw The 7th is made up of Phantoms after a tour of Little Big horn for a summer holiday as a kid. Waited for years to see this one after mom mention see The 7th. Good acting, especially Warren Oats and directed well. The 7th is made up of Phantoms has no budget, sets, special effects and gets across as a play. The plot twist of a time warp with 60's National Guardsmen deciding to help aid Gen Custard is a neat concept. The plot twist ending saves the 7th is made up of phantoms. The commander looking for the troops lost men finds the troops names on the tombstone. Cool ending. 6 out of 10 stars.

This is one of my three all time favorite Twilight Zone episodes- the others being "Perchance to Dream" and "The Howling Man." It combines two subjects which I have always been fascinated with- time travel and the Battle of the Little Big Horn, AKA Custer's Last Stand. The premise is an intriguing one- what would happen if a modern-day US Army tank crew went back in time to the actual battle? Three Montana National Guardsmen, on maneuvers near the site of the battle in June 1964, experience a series of anomalous events. The Master Sergeant in command of the tank(RON FOSTER), possesses an almost encyclopedic knowledge of the historical battle and rattles off details and minutiae that would make a college history professor envious. He is the first to accept the possibility that because of the physical, visual and auditory evidence they're encountering, that they might be slipping back and forth in time to 1876. He doesn't come right out and say this but hints at it when he tells his men that, somehow, they're "following the same trail that Custer did." The words "time warp" or "time travel" are never mentioned, but that is exactly what is happening. The time portal is never seen or described. When the tank goes through it, there is no "bump". One minute they're in the present and the next, they're 88 years in the past. When the Sergeant attempts to explain what they've seen and heard to his commanding officer Captain Dennet(ROBERT BRAY), the Captain starts measuring him for a strait jacket and asks him if he's "bucking for a Section 8." For those not familiar with that term, it refers to being discharged from the military for mental instability. The next day, June 25th, is the fateful day and the crewmen, ordered back out on maneuvers, find themselves at the Little Big Horn. Inexplicably leaving their tank behind, they climb to the crest of a hill overlooking the battlefield, individually lock and load their weapons and move forward amid the sound of gunfire and Indian war cries. When the crew doesn't return to base, the Captain sends out a search party to find them, but they're nowhere to be found. The abandoned tank is found, however, and this raises an interesting question that was glossed over. Since the physical condition of the tank is not commented on, it's assumed that it was found in the same pristine condition it was sent out in. But since the abandoned tank could not move under its own power, it could not drive into the time warp to appear back in the present. This would indicate that the time warp was mobile and that it "caught" the tank and sent it forward to 1964. Otherwise, when it was found it would have been a rusted-out hulk. In fact, that would have been an interesting twist to include at the end- "Sir, we found the tank. But there's something really strange going on. It's all rusted and decayed. Like it's been sitting out here for the last 100 years." The twist that Rod Serling opted for was when the Captain and his Lieutenant(GREG MORRIS) check out the stone memorial marker at Custer Battlefield National Monument. They see three names they recognize. The Lieutenant remarks at the coincidence and the Captain, having now done a one eighty, says "Too bad they couldn't have brought up the tank. It would have helped." This is a terrific episode and I give it a 10 out of 10.

These preternatural trips into the past are usually pretty enjoyable. This one is. Three National Guardsmen manning a light tank are isolated near the Little Big Horn Battlefield, where General Custer and some 200 of his troopers were wiped out by Sioux warriors in 1876. But something is up. A strange wind blows across the dry grass once in a while. They find a tepee and an old canteen. A war whoop comes from over a hill, and a smoke signal rises.

The three men argue about what's going on. Two are convinced they're entering the past, while one -- Warren Oates -- thinks "it's a gag" or "you're all crazy." Finally the men reach the top of a hill and see the battle raging below them, although the viewer doesn't. They lock and load, then charge down the hill. Later, their CO finds the three names written on the monument honoring the troopers of the 7th Cavalry.

It's a little spoiled by the Cavalry vs. Injuns theme but balanced by the CO's earlier observation that if the tank crew sight any Indians, leave them alone because they're all college graduates taking soil samples.

In truth, the sets are a bit on the skimpy side. "The Indian village" from which thousands of Sioux come consists of half a dozen tepees. The monument and the headstones around it are unimpressive and scant.

It conforms to a certain formula that had been developed over the years and can be watched with the comfort that familiarity brings, like any other ritual. It's surprising -- but not TOO surprising.

First of all, the one guy gets an arrow shot in his back. Aren't the others gonna call in for help? Also, it is so obvious that rhe WARREN OATES character knew absolutely nothing about Custer's Last Stand yet he reacted so strongly when the horse went by without a rider! Not realistic at all.