I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Awesome Movie

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

"Winnetou und sein Freund Old Firehand" or "Thunder at the Border" is a West German & Yugoslavian co-production from 1966 that resulted in a German-language western film. It has its 50th anniversary this year and it is in color. Here we have another of the uncountable Karl May western films from Germany from the 1960s. The title including Winnetou is of course a giveaway. However, do not believe what you are told. These 90 minutes are one of the later installments from the Winnetou series, but actually this is not really a Winnetou film anymore. Pierre Brice's character is almost non-existent for the entire movie, only appears very briefly on several occasions. What still links this film to the Winnetou series is that many actors are in here that appeared in other Winnetou films such as Marie Versini or Rik Battaglia, who is fun to watch as always, but kind of wasted as one of the good guys this time. The antagonists were really boring and the heroes, such as Old Firehand weren't really more interesting either. You cannot blame them though. Obviously the people who made this film, such as director Alfred Vohrer, wanted to make as much cash as possible because the previous Winnetou films were huge commercial successes and this also explains the use of Brice's character in the name. Now I personally think Brice is not a good actor at all, so it may have been a chance to make a good film with him absent most of the time, but the plot and story are just way too weak. Luckily, the film is not as long as some of the other Karl May movies, but even at 1.5 hours, it dragged on several occasions. This film should have been when the Winnetou franchise really should have ended, but sadly there was still one (others may say two) more films to come. I do not recommend the watch. Go for something else.

There is no question that this film is a wreck. But, like a wreck, it is not without interest. For one thing, the pace is good, the dialogue sometimes odd and not any more clichéd than any other Western of the era, and, happily, unlike too many international Westerns, has an easy plot to follow.And it has some interesting characters. Most unusual and self-contradictory is the English army man (played by Victor de Kowa), who acts like a highly affectatious Monty-Pythonesque old poof (and he walks really weird), but he wants to marry the boy Jace's mother; bragging like Baron Munchausen, he turns out to actually be a good shot. A difficult character to figure out.Rod Cameron is not unappealing as the easily-smiling hero; the main attribute of the kid playing his son is that he looks like David Spade. Cameron's main side-kick is the amiably over-weight Vladimir Medov, anticipating Lee Van Cleef's amiable chubby side-kick in "Sabata" by three years.But Pierre Brice's Winnetao, to me, seems completely out of place; I get that this actor and character starred in a series of films, but his role was a relatively unimportant one here, and it was hard for me to get over Winnatao and his sister romping through the west in leather jump suits and tennis shoes. Ridiculous, actually.And there are too many flaws of logic to overlook as well. In the first 10 minutes, for example, we are treated to one of the worst cases of "how many bad guys do we have to kill before their number starts to decrease" that I have ever seen. Specifically, in the opening battle, I counted 13 of Silers' men attacking Cameron and the Indians. The good guys kill 9 of them off their horses. 8 of the bad guys ride up to the ledge for closer combat. Two more are shot to death, and 7 ride back after withdrawing. Yikes! I also scratched my head in confusion in the later sequence in which Silers and Sanchez together first attack the town defended by Cameron. The defenders "trap" them in a ring of fire that looks to be no more than 8 inches high. Terrified, the bad guys retreat. Was the 8 inches of fire that great an obstacle? On the other hand, the movie treats us to more religious imagery, treated with genuine reverence, than we are wont to see in typical spaghetti Westerns (or any Westerns, for that matter). The scene in which the priest holds up a gold crucifix in the face of the invading outlaws, momentarily stopping them in their tracks, is affecting and oddly pleasing. One image of him, shot from below and in front of him, is very well done, as his arms, holding the cross above his head, frame a perfect Byzantine-style halo around his head. A good moment for the camera-man.A lost opportunity for a truly horrifying moment was the interesting scene in which a parade of dead peasants in their wagons slowly ride back into town. The director opted here for the suggestion of horror, when I think a more graphic display of the many murdered men sitting upright in the wagons would have been more effective.This isn't the worst Western by any means, and is odd enough to just perhaps merit your attention for its long 98 minute run-time.

¨Winnetou und sein Freund Old Firehand ¨(original title) is a thrilling and moving story about Old Firehand and Winnetou , respectively performed by Rod Cameron and Pierre Brice. This is an entertaining but mediocre film based on Karl May trilogy novels , it starts with Old Firehand in an exciting opening sequence when he rides onto the screen and soon rescues a group led by Winnetou attacked by bandits commanded by Silers (Harald Leipnitz) . On the way Old Surehand and Old Wabble are involved in the running conflict between outlaws and Mexican villagers who have taken prisoner the Siler's brother . Old Surehand can count on the support of his new friend Winnetou, the amiable chief of the Apaches . Later on , the bandits raid the village and a Mexican old man goes out as peacemaker but he's treacherously murdered . Old Firehand, Winnetou , Tom (Todd Armstrong)and others protect the Mexican village from a gang of bandits who use dynamite , bombs and treason to defeat them . There is also an Officer (Rick Battaglia) from the Army helping the besieged village . There's an emotional love story between Tom and Winnetou's sister named Nscho-Tschi (Marie Versini) . Firehand set on pursuit of the bandits and prepares them a trap . Old Firehand and his faithful new friend Old Wabble are on the trail of the cold-blooded killer and another band of nasty Mexicans .This is a passable episode about one of the series of popular German made Western , featuring the duo formed by valiant ¨Old Firehand¨ and immortal ¨Winnetou¨ , they repeat their same noted roles as dignified as always . This enjoyable saga benefits from sensational adventures , shootouts , explosions , larger-than-life characters and spectacular scenarios shot in Atelier, Spandau, Berlin, Germany ,Solin, Split, Croatia ,Strobec, Split, Croatia ,Vrlika, Yugoslavia . Here Winnetou-Pierre Brice plays a secondary role , chemistry between stuffy Cameron and Brice is inexistent . However , in the films starred by Stewart Granger the enjoyable relationship is quite match , Granger scores especially high marks ,as he plays with mirth and liking manner . Stewart Granger took the role in two occasions , ¨Among vultures¨ and ¨Winnetou and Surehand¨ and Pierre Brice starred all the series and he went on filming television episodes .His predecessor was the serious Lex Barker who starred a diverse character but the roles are pretty similar , he played the most part of series : ¨Apache gold(1963)¨ by Harald Reinl, ¨Apaches last Battle(1964)¨ by Hugo Fregonese, ¨Last of renegades(1964)¨, ¨The desperate trail¨, ¨Old Surehand¨ (1965) also directed by Alfred Vohrer ¨Old Shatterland(1966)¨ by Harald Philipp, ¨In the valley of death(1968)¨ by Harald Reinl , besides Rod Cameron starred only one : this ¨Old Firehand¨ . The film displays a colorful cinematography and a catching musical score ,though excessive synthesizer , by Peter Thomas replacing the usual series , Martin Bottcher . The motion picture produced by Rialto Productions is regularly directed by Alfred Vohrer who directed various Karl May titles , besides he was a German thriller expert called Krimi ( Edward Wallace adaptation ) . Rating : 5 , average though in some moment here and there is entertaining .

Winnetou (Pierre Brice) on an errand of justice, gets trapped in a town being besieged and destroyed for revenge by a maniac outlaw's gang. Other than that, Winnetou is merely an afterthought among a sprawling plot of the doings of myriad characters, none of whom make much of an impression except for a surprising Todd Armstrong who is more credible here as "Tom" than he was as "Jason" with the Argonauts. Rod Cameron tries hard but has little presence but not much can really be expected when Winnetou, supposedly an Apache, is always got up more like a Cheyenne or Sioux and lives in a "pueblo" like a Navajo. Hollywood Indians are sometimes just as bogus, but European Indians are always bad. One of the "teepees" in the previous film looked like a circus tent.