Great visuals, story delivers no surprises

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Was a wet afternoon and thought I would watch one of those free movies on the internet. Since I like westerns, this was the first movie that displayed that I had not seen. So sat down and prepared myself for a movie that I was sure would be a low budget affair.The movie started well as Fort Courageous came under attack from a large group of Indians. The Indians over-ran the Fort and then the scene changed to a patrol of Cavalry officers that was leading a court-martial Sergeant Lucas to the fort on their way to prison. It seems that Lucas was accused of a crime that he claims that he did not commit.On the way they come across a group of Indians attacking a wagon that was occupied by a woman and her teen-aged daughter. Ms Tate and her daughter, Elizabeth, was on their way to settle down in a place that was free of trouble but instead found themselves surrounded and the young daughter raped by the Indians. The Cavalry came to the aid of the women but at the cost of the Captain that was on his way to become leader of the fort. They all began the long journey to the fort.When arriving at the fort they find all the people, except for one Major, dead. Now they will become the hunted for the Indians that are stationed outside the fort and will have to deal with many situations.This was not the best performed acting for a movie but the western genre did provided for some things to be overlooked. And as other have already said, the ending to this story was terrible. There is no closure to the main plot plus the lot of characters well-being in never finally determined. It was if the money for the production ran-out and they just needed an ending for the cheapest price possible. And I can say that they succeeded making a cheap ending.Even with the poor acting, the story was not really that bad. If the movie had closure then this would have been a surprising view. Instead, it comes across as a class B movie.

Some scathing comments were appended to one version provided on Youtube and I feared the worst. But the wasn't too bad, apart from the last few anticlimactic minutes which others have commented on. The scenery was good and the fort looked authentic enough.Quite why two attractive women were travelling on their own across such hazardous country I don't know, and the scout fired his revolver at fleeing Indians at the most optimistic range I've ever seen, even by Western standards; his eventual death was quite gruesome for the time when the film was made.For once, none of the actors was known to me but they all did well enough.Tempted almost to give it a six, but five will do.

"Fort Courageous" was a largely forgotten "B" plus western until ti's recent release on DVD. It was ably directed by veteran "B" movie director Lesley Selander and has no major stars. Most of the players are recognizable character actors.The film opens with the fort of the title under the command of Donald Barry, being besieged by Indians. We are left to believe that the occupants of the fort will not survive. Cut to the desert. Prisoner Fred Beir is being escorted to the fort for transportation to a federal prison for a rape which he did not commit. Along the way the group rescues a woman (Hanna Landy) and her daughter (Cheryl MacDonald) from the Indians. The boozy doctor (Walter Reed) does what he can between gulps of whiskey.The Indians attack the group and run off most of their horses. The commanding officer is wounded forcing Sgt. Lucas (Beir) to take command. Led by scout Joe (Harry Lauter) the group starts out across the desert largely on foot. They are attacked by the Indians but manage to capture the son of the Indian Chief.Finall. they reach the forth and find it littered with bodies. The commander (Barry) and a couple of soldiers has survived the earlier attack. Barry has gone slightly mad and is resentful of being forced to retire after 25 years. A romance develops between Lucas and the woman rescued on the trail.Several Indian raid follow as they try to rescue the son of their chief. Gradually, the soldiers are being killed off. When all seems lost, the Indians group for a final attack.....or do they?I must apologize for not naming more of the actors involved. IMDb didn't list most of the characters with the roles that they played. Many of the supporting players were unknown to me so I was unable to match them up with their roles. The Captain and the sea-faring sergeant are examples.Donald Barry was better known as Don "Red" Barry from his years at Republic Pictures where he played Red Ryder in a 1940 serial. The name "Red" stuck. His performance as the mad major is excellent and his death scene is one of the highlights of the film. Fred Beir in probably his only starring role, was good as the hero. Harry Lauter appeared in many westerns both of the "A" and "B" variety, on both sides of the law. Walter Reed was a member of Director John Ford's stock company and you'll see him in many of Ford's films. Hanna Landy complete with thick accent is totally out of place as the romantic lead.Shot back to back with "The Convict Stage" (1965) with largely the same cast.

The male leads were basically fine but the women and the Indians, such poor acting! I own 250 Westerns and this is likely the worst one. Enjoy Cavalry vs Indians and not filmed this way anymore. A weakness to buy this one. If viewed, make it a midnighter.The ending comes up sudden and most unsatisfactory and silly.Anyways, always good to see more Westerns released. Guess never a Western not worthy for a watch, even if need be a midnighter.Rated it a 4. Struggled to say a 5 but that ending and poor acting! Worse if not a Western.A recent release "White Feather" was much better and very acceptable.