Latest Updates - Michael Anderson Jr.

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Comment by Magic Marmalade:

Apocalypse... Then?

Evidently based on the real diary of a soldier who served under Major Dundee at the time, which relates the story of this, effectively "passed over" Major, sent to the arse-end of nowhere to be a kind of prison warden, as nobody really has any faith in him as a soldier or a leader, but when a marauding Apache group take prisoners from a town they have destroyed, Dundee sees his chance to prove himself, by hunting down, capturing or killing the semi-legendary leader of the Apaches, rescuing the captives, and generally saving the day.

...And that's where the trouble starts.

As, while the pieces of narration taken from the diary to frame the story, as well as the essential plot point of renegade leader in forgotten part of the world gives a very strong reminder of Apocalypse Now, with Heston's Dundee being a kind of Anti-Kurtz...

(He's not crackers, but neither is he entirely brilliant as a leader - deeply flawed)

... this also has a prototype Dirty Dozen element to the story, as Dundee must round up a troupe to help him in his possibly foolish enterprise from among the waifs, strays, vagabonds and prisoners under his supervision, including a squad of captured Confederate soldiers, who naturally enough, don't like him very much (or the black soldier under Dundee's command, for that matter).

So there's enough tension and contention from within his own ranks with which to contend, let alone finding the Apache, rescuing the captives... oh, and dealing with the French army too!

Only the fact that Dundee is also a kind of Captain Ahab figure really drives him through the obstacles in his way against all better advice, as he must hunt down his own personal "White Whale".

Super stuff.