Though it does not make my top 250 I have lots of love for this brilliant and truly emotional film. One of the greatest westerns of all time too. Rating 9.5, 93.5%.
Somebody here has been drinking and I'm sad to say it ain't me - Allan Francis Doyleshare
Uhhh... here goes my usual rant on the subject.
This is NOT a Western!
It takes place in Mississippi. During the Civil War. The only thing "western" about it by any stretch of the imagination is that during the Civil War, anything west of the Appalachians was considered the "Western Theater of Operations".
The idiots who packaged the DVD with a label calling it a "Western" obviously can't get past the idea that John Wayne + Horses = Western.
In this film (horse soldiers) there is a scene where the union army hide across a river from a passing confederate army who are singing about a single star does anyone know what that song is and what the single star significance is..??
shareThis sort of thing would drive anyone Mad, Tom. I would have responded to this thread, but you said almost exactly what I would have. This has been irritating to me ever since the first time I saw TV Guide listing it as a "western". I guess any movie with John Wayne riding a horse is a western. This must make The Quiet Man a western, as he had a saddle horse in this movie, never mind it was set in Ireland in the 20th century!
He maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good... St. Matthew 5:45
Was the Quiet Man set in Western Ireland? ;-)
"It ain't dying I'm talking about, it's LIVING!"
Captain Augustus McCrae
Well...Ireland is, after all, west of England.
He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good... St. Matthew 5:45
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but it would be a strongly and radically minority opinion to think this movie was Ford's greatest western. Most movie historians would break out in raucous laughter at the suggestion. Most would point out this film is not a western at all.
I merely mention some other Ford westerns which are all regarded as legitimately and superlatively great films:
1. The Searchers
2. Stagecoach
3. She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
4. Fort Apache
5. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Many could make a credible claim that ANY of those five films is the greatest American western ever made. I would assume the OP has never bothered to watch any of those Ford movies. The Horse Soldiers is a pleasant diversion with some interesting aspects. In the pantheon of John Ford films, it would be above average. The inclusion of Holden (terribly miscast!) mars the movie also, and I'm a fan of Bill Holden's.