Les Cavaliers rouges

Although this film stands outside the legendary trilogy and has never achieved the fame of The Treasure of the Silver Lake, it is a very entertaining contribution to the May western family. Although... It is obviously connected to the work of Karl May only by the names of the heroes, and unlike the film trilogy, it exhibits slightly incomprehensible deviations in the atmosphere (it tries to be more epic and kind of more credible in terms of realities, but the result hardly impresses) and the personalities of the characters (Winnetou gives off an animal and reckless impression)... The plot owes very much to Winnetou: Last of the Renegades, and its better variation can be found in The Last Shot, but... It's exciting, the Yugoslav natural gems are a delicacy for the eye, cardboard cacti are a dessert for the diaphragm, and Lex Barker is just as heroic as when I adored him as a child. The soundtrack is a pretty decent robbing of spaghetti westerns, and because of it, the overall impression corresponds to more like three stars... It just lacks the warmth and homeliness of the more famous May films. (02/01/2005)

Karel May did not tell this story, so I am surprised that it still works. In many ways, it goes against established peaceful rules, but Vinnetou's leading hatred that leads all the way to the warpath is greatly developed and understandable. However, it can be seen that the new production company (which only managed to acquire Brice and Barker with great luck) wanted to approach classic American westerns. The cold villain Bradley, the emancipated White Dove, or the zealous Tujunga are simply characters that wouldn't fit into May's books, especially not the plot, which does not add much optimism. Thanks to the charisma of the main duo, Old Shatterhand is at a solid 70%, and with a slight wink, it can be included in the golden collection. (11/11/2011)

A beautiful and naive example of how the white man is evil and how the redskins are bound by their own laws. There is not much Winnetou in this, it is focused a lot on Old Shatterhand, which is also evoked by the title, but in the end, neither of them is the winner. Instead, it is human stupidity that fortunately does not go that far. It's a bit drawn out, but there are good characters here. (29/01/2015)