Winner the most underrated...   March 17, 2005

"Chato's Land" is a violent fable of frontier injustice, terrorism, torture and revenge. It establishes the Native American as a proud, intelligent and noble warrior at odds in the world of the white man (through no fault of his own) yet chillingly in control in his native environment. Bronson's character is relentless, stoic and unforgiving and so is this film. If you're a western fan, this is a rare treat. And a reminder that although his film career may have slid into decline after the early seventies, Mr Winner was a filmaker with a rare vision and unique talent and his back catalogue is well overdue for re-appraisal. Forget what came after, appreciate what went before.


"Apache don't leave tracks unless they got a reason"   September 6, 2004
  26 out of 27 found this review helpful

In this tough and unrelenting Western, Charles Bronson plays Chato, an Apache who shoots a sheriff in an ugly bar dispute, and then finds himself being hunted by a posse, led by Jack Palance, who is the menacing, bigoted Capt. Quincey Whitmore.
Chato turns tables on the posse, who become the hunted, as Chato leaves signs to make it easy for them to track him, and draws them into his territory, where things go from bad to worse.
There is a lot of brutality in this film on both man and beast, but for those of us who are Bronson fans, violence is to be expected, and this is a marvelous performance, with Bronson in superb physical condition, as he stealthily moves about on suede-booted cat-like feet.

Jack Palance is terrific, and the supporting cast consists of seasoned, excellent character actors, like Richard Basehart, James Whitmore, Simon Oakland and Richard Jordan.
Directed by Michael Winner, who also did the editing under the alias of Arnold Crust Jr., and who was to work with Bronson on another fascinating film the following year, "The Mechanic", and of course their big success with "Death Wish" in 1974, keeps the pace fast. Cinematographer Robert Paynter shot the film on location in Spain, and Jerry Fielding adds to the atmosphere with his score.
I've seen this film numerous times, and though it's not for the squeamish, it's a must for Bronson fans.
DVD extra is the theatrical trailer, and total time is 1 hour and 40 minutes.