Journey to Shiloh (1968)

I have to say, somewhere in this badly-made 1968 civil war western directed by William Hale, there's an decent anti-war story of the same name by author Will Henry, dying for a remake. Perhaps in the right hands like a better director & screenwriter, this movie could had been, American Civil War's version of 1930's 'All Quiet in Western Front'. It had potential of being grand. After all, when the First World War started, young naïve men in both sides had romantic delusions about the glory of serving, the armies of their young nations. It wasn't until the gunfire & mortar started to rein down on them, that many of them, awoken to the horror sites & sounds of war. This movie has a similar story set, during the opening months of the War Between the States with one, such group, known as Concho County Comanches led by Captain Buck Burnett (James Caan), whom sets out from Texas to fight the Yankees in Virginia, unaware of the brutally, in which, they are getting, themselves into. Without spoiling the film, too much, I have to say, sadly, that 'Journey to Shiloh', at its currently state is a film worth seceding from. I have to blame this, on two things: the writer & director. Both men, create poor narrative. One, such example is the opening of the film, which cheesy changed lyrics to the popular old timely song "The Yellow Rose of Texas", so we can get introduced to each of the characters, in an odd way that is never brought up, again, until the end of the film. Whatever, happen to show, don't tell!? When expository information is given out cheaply through out of place narrative, you know that, you made a bad movie. Plus, it didn't really help, that the film, rarely focus on any of the other group members, besides the leader, Buck. In truth, most of the group, had little to no personality. There is no better example than Harrison Ford's blank character, Willie Bill Bearden. He doesn't stand out. They don't even, bother, showing what happen to him, in the end. That's how bad, his character, was. It's sad, because, we know, how well of actor, Ford is, but he isn't given, anything to work with. He barely speaks in the film at all. If he did, it's nothing memorable. It's the same, with most of the other characters in the group. The film could had, at least, give them, more run time for character development like the scenes where they question slavery, than introducing more minor characters for the main character to meet like Sgt. Mercer Barnes (Noah Berry) & Gabrielle DuPrey (Brenda Scott) to fall for. It felt like a lot of time wasting. It really kill the pacing for this movie. It really got slow at parts. It takes them, forever to get to Shiloh. Generally, I wouldn't mind this, if the film show more of the tragic events that questions the men, about their wiliness to fight for the war. Me, personally, I would had love to see, most of the group, unable to make the journey, due to violence, sickness and other problems, with stubborn Buck, fighting the war, he does not know, all by himself. It could be, wonderful message. Instead, the film, quickly eliminated everybody off, in the last couple of minutes, without much sense of tension, motivation or depth. To put it simply, the battle ending was very anticlimax. It doesn't help that, most of the stock battle footage was taken from director Andrew V. McLagen's superior 1965's film, "Shenandoah". It made me, wish, I was watching that, instead. Added to that problem, is the recycled Western sets and gun props. It made the film look like, it was set in the 1880's Wild West, rather than the 1860s Southern States. No matter how you slice it, the locations used for the film, also filmed in Southern California doesn't look like the Deep South, at all! The scenes in Louisiana should look, a little swampy than it does. As for the acting. It was very mediocre. 'Journey to Shiloh" was made in the era, where actors were limited with the range, in which, they can perform in. Seeing, a bunch of Texas rangers, born in the frontier, look and act so 'cartoony gentlemen' was jarring. The film could, at least, make them, talk about violence, sex or cuss, a little bit more. Because of this clear-shaven goodie good shoes image, the actors is performing as; none of them, seems truly historical accurate to frontier men at the time. It doesn't help that most of the actors are wearing some really dodgy wigs. Also, the idea of mid to late 20's actors playing young men, seem a bit too much to suspense my disbelief at. Overall: I was very disappointed with this film. It could had been a really great anti-war piece that parallels with the then current Vietnam War, and the feelings at the times with the Civil Rights movement. Instead, it fell short, of greatness. It's a film that will continue to be long forgotten.

A handful of Texas cowboys make the journey a thousand miles east to fight at the Battle of Shiloh. They're a varied lot. The most mature of the bunch is James Caan who has an easy smile, a cowboy hat with a white feather sticking out of the band, and he always says "Yes, sir," and "No, Ma'am." There is some talk of who is the fastest gun. There is the occasional outbreak of some abrasive feelings in the group but on the whole they're a good old bunch.I found it predictable, unimaginative, and boring. The men wear the long, carefully groomed styles of long hair found among the hep cats of 1968. The women folk have long hair too, and even longer eyelashes, some as long as the marquees that stretch out over the lawn at a fancy outdoor wedding. A good thing there was no wind. I winced when the character said over a man dying of a gunshot, "Get that preacher in here. He purely could use some readin' over." The script defies anything resembling credibility. During a stop over in a small town, Caan meets the uber-yummy Brenda Scott, who practically salivates over him and invites him to stay with her overnight because she ain't never met nobody as nice as him before. This happens to me all the time, but I have this cloud of pheromones I carry around with me and it's clear James Caan doesn't. It's true. A beautiful woman once fainted while walking past me in Julius's in the Village before it went gay. Couldn't take my molten hotness, I guess.I have a good deal of respect for hastily assembled and inexpensive Westerns but this one has no poetry. You know what this movie would have been good for? You take your girl to the drive in movie theater in 1968 Sweetwater, Texas, and then you turn down the volume, roll up the windows, and roll around in the back seat until the windows are all fogged up. Once having gotten that out of the way, you clamber back into the front seat, turn the volume back up, and doze off. But you can only do that if you're under twenty-one.

"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 hellions—experts with horses—pull 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."

It is a shame more people will not see this movie. From what I can find out, it has never been released for home viewing. Regardless that the weapons they used were not made until after the Civil War, I would not have known this if I had not read others comments. Its kinda like learning the secrets of magic, it just doesn't matter, you still enjoy watching. Nothing in this movie could be less real than any movie about Custer being a hero! Anyone interested in movies about how bad we did the Indians needs to see "I Buried My Heart at Wounded Knee". What a shame.If anyone has any luck finding "Journey to Shiloh" on video or DVD, I would appreciate them contacting [email protected] Thank-you