Who payed the critics

Let's be realistic.

I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

A Native American born US Army officer, Captain Apache, investigating a murder, uncovers a presidential assassination plot.This film was supposed to be the beginning of a new hybrid super hero series for TV but negotiations went no where and he property became a one shot feature film.It also contains the worst title song you will ever hear.The guy who directed this monstrosity was a TV director who worked on Lou Grant and Star Trek Voyager, among others.He was devastated when this movie did not turn into a TV series. He thought it was his big break that would take him away from one short directorial forays like The Man from UNCLE and the Monkees.Perhaps if you're going to make a spaghetti western you should firm in Italy, not Spain.Just saying.The movie is horrible.

Captain Apache(who has his own theme song... sorta, at the opening and again later) tries to find out what the words on the lips of a dying man mean. This strange little, 89-minute piece of cheese has become a cult classic. It is a spaghetti Western and it has all you'd expect from the genre... a hanging, fights, shootouts, an acid trip, etc. Some of the framing is utterly terrible, but maybe this was changed for release. Cleef's face is pure awesomeness as always. This is one of those "so bad it's good" flicks... well, that's how you can enjoy it. I can't claim that I did. It's of course useless to judge this as a well-made picture, it isn't and no one is claiming that it is. You probably already know if you'd like this or not... it's exactly what you've heard it described as if you know of it, and if you don't, you're most likely not the type for it. The DVD comes with the entire shorts of The Tree in a Test Tube and Malice in the Palace(which I've already reviewed on their own pages here on the site), a trailer for The General and one for other works from the period. I recommend this to those who enjoy the legend(of the movie, not the character). 4/10

...or the pop culture that defined the late 60's and early 70's,then you will get a kick out of Van Cleef crooning and,of course,kicking butt. If you watch this film looking for a deep,meaningful,thought-provoking film then you will obviously be in for a let down. However,if you are a fan of all things 60's and 70's including Spaghetti Westerns and Italian/Spanish cinema in general,then you will find this a delightful romp. While the plot is pretty much standard fare,it is a fun ride that will make you wonder just who will turn out to be the culprit in the end. Van Cleef could take the worst of scripts and make them workable. I think you could tell that Lee had fun with this movie and,according to an earlier comment,the whole cast seemed to join in the fun. I found an interview with Van Cleef online a while back and he mentioned Captain Apache as one of the films that he actually had a blast making. I had not seen the film then and after finally viewing it online...I could see the enjoyment in Van Cleef as he soaked up this character while not taking it all too seriously. As I said before,if you are like me and a fan of anything from that time period and spaghetti westerns in particular..you will love this film,if not,you will probably want to skip this one. I give in 9 stars because I understand what the film is intended to do..entertain,and it does that quite well. You can find it now at a site called tv4u for free(legal too).

"Ah aha aha ahaaaa - they call him Captain Apache"."Well any film that provides you with an opportunity to hear Lee Van Cleef singing not just once, but twice has got to be worth a viewing" I thought to myself. "I'm sure it can't be as bad as I've been told". Well in truth it IS that bad. But it doesn't make it unwatchable! Lee Van Cleef plays an Apache Captain within the Army that is sent to investigate the murder of a Commissioner, and discover the meaning of the dying man's last words "April Morning".It plays like a murder mystery in a western setting, with numerous characters introduced throughout that appear to have heard the phrase "April Morning", but are either attempting to solve the riddle themselves, or are shot before they can speak. These include gunrunner Griffin (Stuart Whitman), the blonde temptress Maude (Caroll Baker) and the equally teasing Rosita (Elisa Montes). And from a plot perspective, that is pretty much it (well, without solving the mystery that is!). Yes, it sounds very simple, but in actual fact the story is quite convoluted.The soundtrack is hysterical - the title track in particular being so bad that you just love it - with Lee Van Cleef narrating to a tune so catchy that it would put professional purveyors of pop to shame! And you still get his rendition "April Morning" at the end of the film to look forward to. Whilst it is quite poor Spaghetti Western fare, and a perfect example of the deterioration of the genre during the seventies, it does have three main factors that make it quite watchable : 1 - Lee Van Cleef himself - although this is a real LVC by numbers effort, the man has a screen presence that can rescue even the worst of films.2 - The afore-mentioned theme tune.3 - Caroll Baker and Elisa Montes (thats just the male hormones working! And anyway ladies, you get the bonus of a near naked Lee Van Cleef, so no accusing me of gawping!).Aside from this, there are some really good moments (Captain Apache insulting the two twins, the death of the Mexican General (played by Jose Bodalo) and a handful of other scenes that I chuckled at at the time but have since left my mind). At times the editing between scenes was quite poor (at one point jumping from Captain Apache in bed with Maude, to them discovering the hanging body of the key witness). Well hung! Don't let me put you off watching it, because it is an example of a film being so bad its good. I would never have imagined however that Lee Van Cleef crooning would be the highlight of a film!