Screen legend Wes Studi teamed up with fellow legends Gene Hackman, Robert Duvall, Matt Damon to make an epic western about an American icon who’s taken on a mythical-like status in American culture. Geronimo: An American Legend is an exciting but harrowing story of how the Apache tribes fought back against the American government, which forced them to live on reservations. Directed by Walter Hill and released in 1993, it’s both a beautiful western and a brutal war film that sheds light on the carnage of the Apache Wars in the 1880s. It received generally positive reviews, but was a box office bomb, despite its star power.
While there was some discord among critics, Roger Ebert championed Geronimo: An American Legend and its frank depiction of genocide as well as Geronimo himself. From Studi’s star-making performance to the sweeping cinematography and heartbreaking score, he praised its story and message. While it largely faded from memory during the Western boom in the ’90s, which had classics like Unforgiven and Tombstone, it remains like no other western, and an important one. Written by John Milius (Apocalypse Now) and Larry Gross, it’s a passionate portrayal of an American legend, sacrifice, and prejudice in the American West.
What Is ‘Geronimo: An American Legend’ About?

Image via Columbia Pictures

Geronimo: An American Legend follows the end of the Apache wars back in 1886, when the last of the Apaches surrendered to the American army and were forced to relocate to reservations based on the Indian Removal Act in accordance with the American government. One of the last to surrender was Geronimo (Studi), a fierce Apache fighter and healer, who surrendered to real-life Lieutenant Charles B. Gatewood (Jason Patric) and Britton Davis (Damon). Geronimo and the Apache settle on the reservation but struggle to acclimate, and when one of the Apache is brutally killed for his heathen practice, Geronimo leads a rebellion by forming a militia to fight against the American army in guerrilla warfare. Hackman plays a real-life general, George Crook, who considers himself a friend of Geronimo and feels guilt over what he and the American government are doing. Duvall plays the gritty army man, Al Seiber, and the army continuously fails to capture Geronimo and his men, as Damon serves as the film’s narrator.
Wes Studi Plays Real-Life Apache Warrior, Geronimo, Who Led a Rebellion Against the American Army

Prior to Geronimo: An American Legend, Studi had supporting roles in ’90s westerns, Dances With Wolves, and a slightly more prominent role in The Last of the Mohicans. Despite its bombing at the box office, Geronimo remains a cornerstone performance of his, as his every glance and stare-down with army men cut like a knife across the screen. A former soldier himself who served in the Vietnam War, Studi brings a realness to Geronimo as a fighter in combat that is hypnotizing, as he lets out battle cries that are both scary and awe-inspiring. With little dialogue, he communicates Geronimo’s sadness at the slaughter of his people and erasure of their way of life through a fuming silence. With the wince of an eye or jut of his jaw as he aims and fires his rifle that will bring about another death, the film lets the tragedy of war speak for itself.

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“You can’t stop what’s coming. It ain’t all waiting on you. That’s vanity.”

Studi never loses an inch of his intensity across the 2-hour film and is excellent with his equally ferocious co-stars, especially Hackman as the sympathetic Crook. Their greatest scene arrives when Crook visits Geronimo during a break from battle, and the two grapple with the killings both have committed. Geronimo then simply asks Crook why the American government must own all the land, and they share a disquieting stare-down. Guilt fills Hackman’s eyes, and he hangs his head in silence with a surprising vulnerability that Studi looks down upon with a rightful disgust. He has no answer to make sense of the carnage, because in war, there is simply no sense to it. This, ultimately, is a story of greed and domination, and the subtle way Studi and Hackman play the scene in their inability to make sense of why men do the evil they commit is what drives home the movie’s message of the senselessness of war.
Roger Ebert Praised ‘Geronimo: An American Legend,’ And Its Depiction of the Apache Wars

Image via Columbia Pictures

Geronimo: An American Legend is a welcome departure from the many Hollywood Westerns that like to soften the true violence of how Native American tribes were treated and the thousands that were killed by the American army and imprisoned by the government. Roger Ebert loved it and awarded it an almost-perfect score, highlighting its bold depiction of a dark period of American history that is seldom given attention in westerns, saying:

“Walter Hill’s “Geronimo,” a film of great beauty and considerable intelligence, covers the same ground as many other movies about Indians, but in a new way…there are no artificial climaxes caused by “victories” or “defeats,” but instead the sadness of one race taking the land and pride of another.”

The growing sorrow etched into every line of Studi’s face in the film is haunting, especially during the last scene as he and his comrades in guerrilla warfare are on a train, headed to imprisonment after surrendering. It’s not romanticized or a happy ending, and Geronimo lived the rest of his life as a prisoner of war. Damon’s narration is also haunting during the last scene, and at a young age, his presence on screen—even through just his voice—anchors the movie in its exploration of violence and war. It’s a gem of a ’90s western, with many epic performances delivered by some of the best actors of our time.