Charles Bronson (The Magnificent Seven) and Academy Award(r) winner* Jack Palance (City Slickers) star in a magnificent western as wild and untamed as the Old West itself. Bristling with dynamic action sequences and riveting performances, Chato's Land is a bold, sweeping tale of passion, vengeance and cold-blooded murder. Chato (Bronson) is a half-breed Apache Indian who treads the line between two cultures, balancing allegiance to his tribe with the allure of the white man's world. But when Chato kills a vicious sheriff in self-defense, he finds himselfhunted by a posse led by the ruthless Quincey Whitmore (Palance), a former Confederate soldier who is determined to see him hang. It's 13 men against one, but the odds shift in Chato's favor when he leads his pursuers into Apache territory, where the harsh, cruel countryside can kill as surely as agunman's bullet. *1991: Supporting Actor, City Slickers

Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent Western
Comment: I enjoyed this Western. Bronson does not have much of a speaking role and is the target of the posse played by an excellent cast. Some great landscapes in the film. Only gripe is that the vultures used in the film were not native to North America. They looked like African vultures to me.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: The hunted becomes the hunter
Comment: A racist sheriff loses a gunfight in a saloon to an Apache (Chato - played by Charles Bronson) he was tormenting. Chato takes off into the bad lands, and a posse is formed to bring the Apache to justice (i.e. lynch him). Chato eludes the posse with ease until they find his home and rape his wife. He then turns on the posse, the hunted becoming the hunter, and starts to kill them one by one. The story centers on the dynamics of the members of the posse as they are initially enthusiastic about lynching an Indian (whom they view as little more than an animal). Jack Palance plays the wise, grizzled Civil War (Confederate) veteran who leads the posse. As the tracking becomes more difficult, many of the members of the posse are revealed to be less than upstanding members of society and they start fighting amongst themselves. After Chato's wife is raped by several posse members, it is no longer a question of bringing the Indian to justice, but simply of survival. Charles Bronson may have gotten top billing on this picture, but it is really Jack Palance's film and he carries it well. CB doesn't have more than a dozen lines or so. This is a well worn theme (the American Indian as the noble savage, and the white settler as the racist bigot), but perhaps not so cliched when this film first came out in the early 70s. Definitely entertaining, even if the story is fairly simple and the outcome is fairly predictable. Some great cinematography as well. Most of the members of the posse are pretty despicable and have it coming.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Lean, Mean, Revenge Western
Comment: This one -- directed by the man who helmed the later Death Wish series -- is an early template of that revenge fantasy, except transposed to the Wild West. If possible, this one is leaner, meaner, and more focused than the Death Wish films, in that there is little in terms of plot other than exposition and set up, and then a slow, methodical execution of the revenge theme, brilliantly done.

I particularly enjoyed the characterization of the members of the doomed posse -- a motley crew of a few good souls, some in the middle, and quite a few on the wrong side of the tracks.

Bronson is silent, deadly, and in fine form.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Two Versions?
Comment: Are there two versions of this movie. The cable western channel version is longer and shows more of the violence and nudity. The DVD I bought excludes the nudity and some of the violence, blood and killing. What's up??

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Customer Rating:
Summary: surprising complex "old" western
Comment: If you like stoic Bronsonesque action movies, you will enjoy Chato's Land. There is surprisingly good character development which shows how much trouble you can create by blind hatred combined with arrogance. The movie presents Bronson at his best in great physical condition manipulating the posse obsessed with killing him. The supporting cast is excellent with Richard Basehart, Jack Palance and James Whitmore. This movie is well worth your time and deserves being listed as a Classic Western.

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