Savage Pampas

Rating:
Summary: CURIOUS WESTERN SET IN ARGENTINA
Review: One of Robert Taylor's last pictures, SAVAGE PAMPAS was directed by Hugo Fregonese, who made such westerns as APACHE DRUMS, BLOWING WILD and, in Europe, one of the WINNETOU westerns in 1965, which alos dealt with Apaches on the war path. Here, he sets his action in ARgentina in the 1870's and casts Taylor as a cavalry officer and Ty Hardin as a revolutionnary, facing Indians and rebels.

Visually, the film is rather curious. The soldiers' uniforms are a mix of mexican uniforms, french legion uniforms and gauchos' large chaps. The Indians look like Apaches and the white rebels siding with them, more or less, look like mexican bandits.

The story revolves around an officer concerned with the lack of women in his fort which causes his men to defect to the Indians, who offer them women, and a revolutionnary who joins a group of white women bein brought to the fort by Taylor and his men to prevent the troopers from defecting. On the way, Taylor and Hardin get to know and respect each other, while Indians and rebels prepare to attack them. Cornered in a deserted village, soldiers are under heavy attack by the Indians, but Taylor manages, first, to get help, and second, to perform a deed (which I don't want to explain here) which will with any luck save the troopers...

The film was shot in 70 mm, but sadly is presented here in its Pan & Scan version. Master and MPEG2 compression are not particularly good, but this DVD remains quite watcheable, especially for western and/or Robert Taylor fans.

Besides, its price is quite reasonable, so don't hesitate to take a ride in those SAVAGE PAMPAS.

Rating:
Summary: Director Hugo Fregonese delivers ...
Review: The technical part of this review refers to the Brentwood Home Video or BCI Eclipse version.

Mutiny on the Argentine plains. Fort commander Robert Taylor tries to stop the hemorrhaging of his squad to a deserter gone bad and mad! How to keep the boys at home in the fort? Bring in the women. I'm sure some women's groups would have a field day with this picture. It's a unique story where love and lust turn into survival in a harsh environment. Director Hugo Fregonese has delivered a Spanish film that is interesting and moves at quite a good pace.

The print used is fairly decent for this budget release. A film that was definitely widescreen shot in 70mm, it suffers in places in this pan-and-scan version. Still worth a look. Brentwood/BCI put in 6 chapter stops, a trivia game and a Casper the Friendly Ghost cartoon. So you can't go wrong. This movie is also in a 10 pack of westerns at about triple the price for this one film from Brentwood Home Video called "The Wild West" and is available from Amazon.com.