Major Dundee

In the final winter of the American Civil War, Union officer Amos Dundee commands Fort Benlin in New Mexico, a post also holding Confederate prisoners. After the Apache leader Sierra Charriba raids the fort and carries off three children into Mexico, Dundee defies his superiors and assembles a pursuit force from an unlikely mix of Army regulars, Confederate captives and civilian scouts. Among the Confederates is Captain Benjamin Tyreen, a man with a long-standing grudge against Dundee, who agrees to serve under him while swearing to settle their feud once the mission is done. The column crosses the border, and its internal rivalries and the pressures of the campaign test Dundee's authority as the Apaches and then Mexican territory occupied by French troops complicate the chase.

Sam Peckinpah directed and co-wrote the film with Oscar Saul and Harry Julian Fink, following his debut feature Ride the High Country three years earlier. Charlton Heston heads the cast as Dundee, with Richard Harris as Tyreen, Jim Hutton, James Coburn, Michael Anderson Jr. and Senta Berger in supporting roles. Produced by Jerry Bresler for Columbia Pictures on a budget of four million dollars, it is a large-scale Western whose running time reflects the scope of the expedition.

Ratings place the film as moderately well regarded rather than among Peckinpah's most celebrated works. It holds 6.7 out of 10 on IMDb from roughly 9,500 votes and the same average on TMDB from far fewer votes. A critics' score of 7.3 out of 10 from 37 reviews sits above those audience figures, suggesting reviewers have rated it somewhat more generously than general viewers.