ScoobyMint Disappointment for a huge fan!

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Dirtylogy It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Wuchak "Journey to Shiloh" (1968) details the story of seven youths from Concho County in near-West Texas who travel across the Mississippi to join the Confederate Army and kick some Yankee arse. While they intend to ride to Richmond, Virginia, they end up hooking up with Braxton Bragg's Gulf Coast outfit and fighting in Shiloh, Tennessee. The male ingénues learn a lot on their long journey and their introduction to soldiering and war. Who lives and who dies? James Caan plays the main protagonist, "Captain" Buck Burnett, while the other six "teens" (all well into their 20s) are Michael Sarrazin, Don Stroud, Jan-Michael Vincent, Michael Burns, Paul Petersen and, believe it or not Harrison Ford, a full nine years before his breakthrough with Star Wars, but don't get too excited as he gets the least screen time of the bunch.On the downside, Universal was huge on TV movies at the time and so "Journey to Shiloh" looks like a TV movie; in fact, it was directed by one of their TV movie directors. So don't expect the cinematic scope of contemporaneous Westerns, like "Duel at Diablo," "Bandolero!," "Hang 'Em High" and "Shalako." It looks serviceable, but also phony and stale. A big part of the phoniness is due to the fake Southern countryside, as the movie was shot in Agoura and Thousand Oaks, California, but takes place in East Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and adjoining regions. No matter how you slice it, California doesn't look like the deep South, not to mention the studio sets. Another issue is the movie's cartoony vibe. Things that would ordinarily take much longer occur with the quickness of a comic book.Despite these glaring flaws, I found myself ignoring them in favor of the story, particularly as it moved along. You feel like you get to know most of the gang by the end of the movie, Harrison's character being the biggest exception. The "boys" grow from wide eyed youngsters to hardened men over the course of the movie, the biggest rude awakening of course being their baptism into soldiering and war.Speaking of which, I really enjoyed the last third of the film that involves the youths joining up with Bragg's brigade, the ensuing warfare, deaths, injuries, possible desertion and aftermath. Although decidedly comic booky the movie offers a unique glimpse of being a Confederate soldier.The film features no less than four beauties, albeit all relatively short roles: Tisha Sterling as Airybelle Sumner; the un-credited Susanne Benton as the blond saloon girl, Lucy; Brenda Scott as the brunette saloon girl who falls for Buck; and a nurse (Eileen Wesson).FINAL WORD: Someone criticized "Journey to Shiloh" for its obvious low-budgeted faults by pointing out that it's no "Magnificent Seven" or "The Wild Bunch." While this may be technically true I found myself enjoying "Journey to Shiloh" more than these heralded Westerns. Yes, the movie has the unmistakable gloss of one of Universal's factory-made television movies, but it's strong in characters and story, cartoony or not. This is likely because the movie's based on Henry Wilson Allen's excellent novel (aka Will Henry). Some call it an "anti-war movie," but this isn't really true; it's simply a "showing-soldiering-and-war-the-way-it-really-was" movie.The film runs 101 minutes.GRADE: B

qormi Okay, we have a pre-perm James Caan. He got that first perm when he played Sonny in The Godfather 40 years ago and he will apparently be buried with it. We have Sarrazin, Vincent, and Ford; all who had very successful acting careers. We have Stroud and Popworth, who were featured in several Clint Eastwood flicks. The cast was good. The rest was poor. Cheap production - lots of stock footage and indoor sets with fake scenery. Anachronisms abound, as Brenda Scott sports a "That Girl" hairdo made famous by Marlo Thomas. The trouble is, it's supposed to be 1862 - the era of sausage curls - not 1968. I don't believe they had hairspray back then. Then, all of the men are clean shaven in an era where practically all men had beards. James Caan got shot in the arm, had the arm amputated, and is out and about the next day as if nothing had happened. Jan Michael Vincent has the phoniest death scene ever. Brenda Scott's fake eyelashes look like flyswatters. I could go on and on.....skip it.

biomnc It is a shame more people will not see this movie. From what I can find out, it has never been released for home viewing. Regardless that the weapons they used were not made until after the Civil War, I would not have known this if I had not read others comments. Its kinda like learning the secrets of magic, it just doesn't matter, you still enjoy watching. Nothing in this movie could be less real than any movie about Custer being a hero! Anyone interested in movies about how bad we did the Indians needs to see "I Buried My Heart at Wounded Knee". What a shame.If anyone has any luck finding "Journey to Shiloh" on video or DVD, I would appreciate them contacting me.da23mj@hotmail.com Thank-you

joekmarine I haven't seen this movie for years. However, I remember it was a good flick. I think the first time i ever saw it was in a Drive in (yeah, todays Multiplex theaters are nice, but drive ins were great. One night I stayed up till 2 am to watch it when it was on TV. Entertaining, James Caan and Harrison Ford. Nice little plot and a wonderful story about brotherhood and friendship. I wish it were on DVD or video. It is more of a western than a Civil War movie, but still good. It may have been one of Noah Berry's last movies. If you haven;t seen it, figure out when it will be on TV again and watch it. You will be surprised. It has some good, but quick gunfights and some nice action.