This movie is essentially about three different groups which come into conflict with each other coupled with alliances shifting back and forth. The first group consists of Native Americans who live in extreme poverty. The second group is led by a rich but extremely controlling person named "Mr. Fillmore" (Mel Berger) who exploits the Native Americans and keeps them in line by using hired thugs whenever anyone dares to complain. The third group is a motorcycle gang known simply as "MC California" who drift into the ramshackle town with the idea of fighting, drinking beer and carousing with some of the Native American females. Needless to say, Mr. Fillmore doesn't quite like all of the chaos and destruction by the motorcycle gang. On that same note, some of the Native Americans don't like the way they are treated either. But the tactics used by Mr. Fillmore are just as bad and as it turns out he now has a secret plan which will leave the Native Americans even more destitute. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this movie has plenty of action but very little character development. As a result several scenes lacked the necessary setup which made the movie appear to be too spontaneous and shallow. But that's just my opinion. Be that as it may, although it does have some good qualities here and there, I was generally disappointed overall and I have rated it according. Slightly below average.
... View More**Some Spoilers** One of the many biker films coming out of the AIP studios during the 1960's and 70's "The Savage Seven" is also one of the most entertaining. The fact that were supposed to accept without question white blond and blue eyed Robert Walker Jr as American Indian Johnnie Blue Eyes is worth the price of admission alone.In the movie it's the bikers who at first are the bad guys in their rampaging through an Indian shanty town as they go on their way to bigger and better things. Like getting themselves stoned and drunk on pot and beer between raping the local Indian, young and old, women population. It's when the leader of the pack of bikers Kisum, Adam Roarke, tries to get a bit too friendly with local Indian Johnny Blue Eyes' sister Marcia, Joanna Frank, that the Indians, who at first avoided violence, started to get restless. We have a number of confrontations between Johnny and his Indian friends with Kisum's crew of drunk and rowdy motorcyclists that the local owner of the bar and convenience store Filmore, Mel Berger, tries to use to his advantage.Fillmore has been trying for some time to drive the pesky Indians off their land and turn it into a resort and shopping mall that would make him millions. Now with Kisum & Co. running amok and terrifying the Indians in town Fillmore plans to pay off Kisum to burn the Indians out of their homes at at the same time, by calling the state troopers, have him and his gang arrested for arson and murder. That's the proverbial knocking off two birds with one stone on Fillmore's part! ***SPOILERS*** It's when the bikers and Indians, seeing a common cause, become allied against Fillmore that he goes into overdrive in having a local Indian woman raped and murdered by his #1 henchman karate black belt Taggert, Charles Bail, and making it look like one of the bikers did it! When things still don't turn out the way he wanted them to, with the bikers and Indians not going for each other throats, Fillmore has Taggert & Co. murder Kisum's good friend Bull, Richard Anders, to get things, a war between the bikers & Indians, started. The stoned out of his skull, on pot uppers and downers, Bull is both murdered and then crucified by Fillmore's men having it made to look like the Indians did it; In revenge for the raped and murdered Indian woman.With both the bikers and Indians now at war with each other Fillmore & Co. just sits back, in being "innocent bystanders" in all the carnage, and wait for the inevitable results: The two sides wiping each other out with Fillmore and his boys, being non-combatants, picking up all the pieces. :The valuable Indian land! Since both the Bikers and Indians, in killing off each other, won't have any use for it anyway! That's until a battered and beaten Taggert, who had the truth beat out of him by Kisum, confessed to what he and his boss Fillmore did! It's now up to Kisum to get the truth out to both his bikers and Johnnie Blue Eyes' Indians to unite against their real enemy-Fillmore-before they both end up slaughtering each other!
... View MoreThe most misogynistic movie of all time? Not to mention by '68 shouldn't they have moved beyond white people in brown face playing the "Indians"? My favorite parts though have to be when the girls giggle and blush as the bikers drag them off to gang rape them. Rape is fun! Who knew? Let's see, then there's the blatant rip-offs of "The Hustler" (fat boss character actually plays pool while scheming to destroy the Indians with the lead rebel dude), the horrific acting, the so-on-the-nose-they-might-as-well-have-just-told-you-what-to-think music cues, the lack of ANYONE WHO'S ACTUALLY Indian in this movie. And who are we supposed to be rooting for? I have to say it figures that Quentin Tarantino loves this movie. Even though his movies tend to champion strong women, I've heard from at least one source that in real life he's a misogynistic idiot. Why did I watch it, you ask? Don't ask.
... View MoreIn fact I would have gave it higher a rating but for the genre '8' will do. If you've'e seen some truly awful murdersickle gang movies and you want to be entertained and amused this is the one for you. Not that it has a morally life changing ending. In fact the ending is a little sad, with the bikers hired to do away with the Reservation only to find out the rednecks who hired them are working both ends against the middle.To me the best tagline is when the redneck drops into a karate stance and yells, "hai, KARATE", and the biker scoops up a barstool and yells, "Hai, CHAIR!!" and clobbers the redneck...Put the kiddies to bed, whip out some popcorn, and set back to be entertained...
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