I've long been aware of this miniseries, both in its book form (this non-fiction epic) and here as 3-hour TV movie. Right up there with the siege of the Alamo, Custer's Last Stand at the Little Bighorn has always fascinated me. I don't know why, but something about a last stand expresses a courage (however foolhardy) and a look at life that is hard to express. Netflix has it available to watch on Instant watch so I was finally able to catch up to this hard-to-find movie. Like the man its based on, it is a deeply flawed telling with problems that threaten to derail the whole thing. In the end though, the positives outweigh the negatives.
In the months following the Civil War as the United States looks to expansion into the west, George Armstrong Custer (Gary Cole) is posted to a frontier fort in command of the 7th Cavalry. The Civil War hero makes the most of his posting, becoming a famed Indian fighter as his regiment battles the Sioux and Cheyenne on the plains. In the process though of creating his reputation, Custer rubs many around him the wrong way, from his regiment's officer to politicians and generals back in Washington DC to the public at large. His fame continues to grow, and it goes to his head to a point, convincing himself that he is invincible. But as the Indian wars escalate, a fight is on the horizon in the Black Hills in the Dakotas, and Custer and the 7th seem destined to play a major role in the conflict. Glory and possibly death awaits them on the Little Big Horn River.
My first reaction of Gary Cole playing Custer was of confusion. I'm used to him in Office Space, The Brady Bunch movies, and any number of other worthwhile comedies. He was still a virtual unknown in 1991 and brings Custer to life. He doesn't try and make him a likable character, not in the least. His Custer is a gloryhound, a braggart, a bit of an idiot even. He is also a capable leader with drive and motivation, sure that he can handle everything put in front of him. What works is that Cole (committing to a brutally honest portrayal of Custer as in the book) goes all the way in playing this historical figure. He doesn't pull up and go for sympathy. This is Custer, the hero, the fool, the man, and through all its flaws, you get the sense of who the man really was. He was good and bad. He wasn't just a hero or just an incompetent braggart. George Custer was all of those things.
The biggest complaint though here is one I usually have with revisionist takes on history. It tries too hard to strip away all the romance and legend, telling a historical story with all its warts and blemishes. Call it white man's guilt, but this story goes for a more politically correct angle. The Plains Indians are the noble warriors, and the cavalry troopers are the bloodthirsty, murdering white men. Too much time is spent on the narration from either side too, Rosanna Arquette as Libby Custer and Buffy Sainte-Marie as a young Indian girl who saw Custer's involvement in the Plains war. The Crazy Horse (Rodney A. Grant, Wind in his Hair from Dances With Wolves) subplot goes nowhere and is wasted. Instead of showing both sides of the story -- white vs. Indian -- the Crazy Horse part feels tacked on. Custer's officers, Major Reno (Michael Medeiros) and Capt. Benteen (David Strathairn) are bumbling, conniving, and even cowardly. The story even claims Custer had a child with an Indian woman. It's an attempt that just tries too hard to feel and be authentic, robbing the movie of what could have been classic status.
With any movie telling a story that somewhat knowledgeable viewers will be aware of (the Alamo, the Titanic, the JFK assassination), the threat is that audiences will lose interest because they know (or should know) the ending before the film starts. Director Mike Robe accomplishes that with the second part of his miniseries. The first 90 minutes are somewhat tedious, setting everything up and establishing all the characters and background. Almost nine years are covered so it has a rushed feel. The second half deals exclusively from January 1876 to the Little Big Horn massacre, allowing the story to at least take a breath. As Custer and the Seventh Cavalry ride out to certain death (of course they don't know it at the time), Robe creates a sense of impending doom that hangs over these men. Knowing that most of these men will be massacred, it's an unsettling feeling watching them ride toward that death. It's a powerful ending, especially the portrayal of the final battle.
The romantic portrayal of Custer's Last Stand is the regiment's commander at the summit of a hill, his men all around him, firing into the mass of Indian warriors below before they're finally overwhelmed by sheer numbers. The actual battle? More chaotic, more horrific, more downright terrifying. Son's depiction of the battle is the most authentic and historically accurate version I've seen. The massacre was more of a running firefight as the Seventh desperately tried to escape the overwhelming numbers of the immense Indian camp they intended to attack. You can watch portions of the battle at Youtube (here's Custer's death), but just in terms of illustrating how terrifying a battle is, I can't come up with more than two or three other movies that put you right there with the men in battle, right there as the bullets and arrows whiz past you. Credit to Craig Safan's epic and moving score (listen to the main theme HERE) for bringing it all together. If I can recommend anything here, stick with this movie. The pay-off is worth it.
Gary Cole as Custer dominates the movie, but for the most part the supporting parts more than hold their own. Arquette is just bearable as his wife, Libby. Stanley Anderson plays President Grant, Terry O'Quinn is General Terry, and Dean Stockwell is General Sheridan. Strathairn (with ridiculous blonde albino wig) and Medeiros make the most of parts that require them to be sniveling weaklings. Tim Ransom is excellent as Tom Custer, George's little brother and a two-time Congressional Medal of Honor winner, Tom O'Brien cool as veteran scout Charlie Reynolds, and Sheldon Peters Wolfchild memorable as Crow scout Bloody Knife.
This review's starting to ramble a bit so let's wrap it up. You can watch the whole miniseries at Youtube, starting with Part 1 of 19. It's not perfect, most of my complaints coming from the first half of the miniseries. The second half is nearly perfect. A well-made if flawed miniseries that deserves more recognition than it gets.
Son of the Morning Star (1991): ***/****
