Arrow Video, with domestic sales and distribution provided by MVD Entertainment Group, has selected June 29 as the street date for the double-disc, limited edition Blu-ray release of auteur filmmaker Sam Peckinpah’s 1965 Civil War “Western,” Major Dundee, starring Charlton Heston, Richard Harris, Senta Berger, Jim Hutton, James Coburn and Peckinpah’s cadre of familiar faces, Warren Oates, L.Q. Jones, Slim Pickens and Ben Johnson.
Legend has it that Sam Peckinpah’s film career got a huge boost from Heston, who attended a screening of Ride the High Country, which was Peckinpah’s breakout film in 1962. Heston, after seeing the film, agreed to being cast as the lead in Peckinpah’s Major Dundee on condition that Peckinpah be involved in the writing of the screenplay.
Being a studio production, all sorts of names appeared in trades, but Peckinpah knew what he wanted and to get that, he filmed the entire production in Mexico where the politics of “Hollywood” had little sway. Except, and it is a big “EXCEPT,” the studio got worried when the production fell behind (Harris was sick) and so the solution was to cut nearly two-weeks of filming (just hack out scenes and move on).
Once again Heston stepped in and backed Peckinpah, but eventually Peckinpah was removed from post-production supervision (editing, etc.). Heston, who had backed Peckinpah during these issues with the Columbia, sent his paycheck back in protest.
The film itself has Heston as a frontier Union Cavalry officer who has the pitiful duty of guarding rebel prisoners and other “scum of the earth.” When the Apaches massacre a nearby town and troop detachment and make off with three children, Dundee (Heston) recruits rebel prisoners, headed by Capt. Tyreen (Richard Harris), to join with his Buffalo Soldiers (black recruits) to head into Mexico on a rescue mission.
Dundee has a war on three fronts — the prisoners, the Apaches and Maximillian’s French troops. Not all will finish this mission safely.
Bonus features from Arrow Video include two cuts of the film. The “common” theatrical cut, which ran 122 minutes, and the “extended” version of the film, which clocks in at 136 minutes.
There are three commentary options on the “extended” version of the film. The first features documentary filmmaker Nick Redman (Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid: Deconstructing Pat & Billy, A Justified Life: Sam Peckinpah and the High Country), author David Weddle (“If They Move Kill ‘Em: Peckinpah”), author Garner Simmons (“Peckinpah: A Portrait in Montage”) and documentary filmmaker Paul Seydor (Peckinpah in Black and White and Color).
The other two commentary options feature film critic Glenn Erickson solo and with writer/critic Alan K. Rode.
Other bonus goodies include documentary filmmaker Mike Siegel’s 2019 feature-length documentary titled Passion & Poetry - The Dundee Odyssey, the companion featurette titled “Mike Siegel: About the Passion & Poetry Project.” Plus, there is a vintage featurette titled “Riding for a Fall,” deleted scenes and selected extended scenes, deleted scenes and outtakes with commentary by historian Glenn Erickson.
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