Fort Apache

This is the gem of the Wayne/Ford Calvary trilogy, and I am delighted it's finally coming to DVD.

But a question: Can anyone heal me of the following misjudgment?

Try as I may, I cannot shake off my estimation of Fort Apache as a more complete and substantially higher overall cinematic accomplishment in comparison with The Searchers.

Partly it may consist in the fact that The Searchers is a great movie to watch -- and watch again -- but Fort Apache somehow succeeds as a more nearly perfect, complete and wholly rounded experience. The Searchers shines due to its externals, but Apache proceeds and then later culminates in a richer, deeper and more satisfying way, and the whole movie experience resonates with you in a way that The Searchers does not quite achieve.

this the first of ford's cavalry trilogy and also one of his best films. casting wayne and fonda aganist type he pulled preformances out of both that are just incredible. fonda is a martinet new commnder to fort apache and wayne the seasoned captain that the men love and trust. fonda playes his part to the nines as he struts around wanting everything by the book even when the book is wrong. his col. thursday is looking for a way to prove his genius and his posting at fort apache is just what he does not want. as he and wayne clash over everything from rules to how to treat the indians we learn he plans to use this command to get himself a better rank no matter the cost.
the battle at the end is true ford action and has one of the greatest visual scenes in any western or any movie i think.fonda and wayne were friends and that helps them play out their battle of wills. one of the all time best westerns ever made and ford,wayne,and fonda at their best

FORT APACHE (1948) was John Ford's and John Wayne's first western together since STAGECOACH (1939) they would go on to make six more culminating in THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE (1962). This film was also the first of what became known as Ford's Cavalry Trilogy. The others were SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON 1949) and RIO GRANDE (1950) and were Ford's splendid tribute to the U.S. Cavalry and as such deserve to be judged as a body of work that as yet has no equal!

Wayne in this film shares top billing with Henry Fonda who a couple of years earlier had starred as the hero Wyatt Earp in John Ford's marvellous MY DARLING CLEMENTINE (1946) this time Ford has him as the unsympathetic martinet Lt Col Owen Thursday against the experienced Captain Kirby York (John Wayne). Incidentally when Wayne reprised this role for the last outing in the trilogy in RIO GRANDE he not only gained promotion but an extra letter to his name by becoming Lt Col Kirby Yorke.

The story is basically a study of frontier life against the backdrop of the Indian Wars and the end bears more than a passing resemblance to Custer's Last Stand with the Fonda character leading his men into an Apache massacre from which few return. The final theme when it's all over was "when the legend becomes fact, print the legend" which would be used to such good effect in the aforementioned THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE some fourteen years later.

This is an incredible movie, one of my favorites, and I know many others love it too. I do not understand why there has not been an official DVD release yet, the only DVD versions I have seen of this film are Asian imports on Ebay. We can only hope that one is on the way.

The exceptional grandness and the singularity of his genius resides in that unique approach dressed with mythical breath, which origins hi Westerns remains in our memory with such intensity level. He knew as any other filmmaker the Western constitutes the true American Mythology, and that is why his characters are always depicted with this certain mystery 's aura. They do not seem to obey exactly the rules of the establishment, but seem to merge with the inner passion and natural commitment, that in certain moments may agree with the state of things but not always fit; there is something out of context in their attitudes. They fight following their own codes.

This is a clear example: Fonda like Icarus decides to confront the Apaches, despite John Wayne 's wisdom so typical of Athena 's prudence who advises not to make it; once more face the mature wisdom and the irreverent epic mood, which eventually will clash with the expected consequences.

An admirable saga and the First part of his Trilogy.