This unusual, allegorical western seems to disappoint as many people as it pleases, leaving its success to be a matter of taste. Bronson plays the legendary Wild Bill Hickok, traveling under an assumed name, on his way to confronting a mysterious and rare white buffalo which, though the creature is real, symbolizes his impending death. He's haunted by dreams of the creature and knows he must conquer it when the time comes or die. Sampson plays Crazy Horse, also going by an assumed name because of shame brought on by his reaction to the death of his daughter at the hooves of the title creature. These two men are both bent on being the one to kill the animal, yet are separated by their hatred of one another's race. Killing the creature is monumentally important to both of them. Clearly, there's a lot going on here psychologically than just two men hunting for a buffalo. Bronson is joined by a wily, one-eyed trapper (a nearly unrecognizable Warden.) On his journey, Bronson encounters an array of colorful characters enacted in cameos by various well-known film personalities. These include ever-reliable Pickens as a besieged stage driver, Whitman and Williams as unfortunate passengers, Novak as a reformed whore with one eye on Bronson, Carradine as the town undertaker and Walker as a steely-eyed outlaw. What works in the film is its colorful dialogue and attention to character (though Bronson has a little trouble early on wrapping his mouth around some of the more wordy dialogue. He's at his best when monosyllabic.) Some neat bar room tension exists during one sequence. There is also some striking Colorado scenery. What doesn't work is the uneasy mixture of outdoor locations and obviously fake indoor recreations. A soundstage is not an acceptable substitute for entire Indian villages or snow-covered valleys, at least not the way they're presented here. The title creature is also very badly handled and is never fully convincing. The opening sequence of a buffalo attack on a village is laughably bad. People keep running in the path of the animal without ever considering just moving to the side of it's rampage. It's poorly conceived, poorly shot and poorly edited. Somehow, the actors manage to convey fear and awe of it and help put the story across, even when Sampson hops on it and looks as if he's riding a new mechanism at some dive country-western bar. Bronson is solid in a role that's a bit of a departure for him. Sampson does well and has a believable rapport with Bronson. Warden provides a strong, authentic characterization.
None of the guest stars are given a lot to do, but Novak (despite her ridiculous hair) scores with an earthy and understated performance and Walker gets to play a bad guy which is a pretty rare occurrence for him. He does surprisingly well at it, his menacing gaze, six and a half foot frame and thick beard doing a lot of the work. This is not a standard western and some of it is awkwardly done, but it's got several memorable sequences (check out the mountainous heap of buffalo bones at the train station!) and some decent acting to recommend it.
None of the guest stars are given a lot to do, but Novak (despite her ridiculous hair) scores with an earthy and understated performance and Walker gets to play a bad guy which is a pretty rare occurrence for him. He does surprisingly well at it, his menacing gaze, six and a half foot frame and thick beard doing a lot of the work. This is not a standard western and some of it is awkwardly done, but it's got several memorable sequences (check out the mountainous heap of buffalo bones at the train station!) and some decent acting to recommend it.