Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

A different way of telling a story

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

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

In 1898 the US gets involved in the Cuba- Spanish war and an American forms a cavalry regiment called the "Rough Riders". That man was future United States president Theodore Roosevelt and he and his men come under siege in a tense battle. Sprawling three hour epic made for T V featuring a lesser known war in American history. The first half of the film is slow and bitty, and Tom Berenger is rather irritating as Roosevelt, coming over as a little too eccentric. However the second half of the film is good, rousing stuff with a long battle and Berenger actually improves. Sam Elliott as always is dependable and Brian Keith looks ill in his last role. Overall a good film. 8/10.

This movie combines the best elements of western and war movies. Fantastic cast. Berenger is outstanding as Roosevelt. Who would have thought he would be so good in this role? From his other movies I've seen, this is a totally different type of role for him. And Sam Elliot, Gary Busey, Chris Noth, George Hamilton, and all the rest of the cast are outstanding. Wonderful casting job.What a sleeper this movie is. I can't believe it's out of print, and never even been issued on DVD. Get a used copy if you possible can. You won't be sorry! WW Tampa

This is one of my all time favorite movies, I actually bought the commercially produced tape of it. I am a Living Historian/Reenactor, I do a Spanish American War impression, I read everything I can about the SA War, and these people got it right. Some over-dramatization of course, playing with the facts. The Spanish did not have machine guns at Santiago, if they had, the battle would have turned out of little different-look at the havoc machine guns cause in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05 then in WWI. But it looks great to see "our boys" valiantly charging up hill against them (nice of the Spanish to be such lousy shots). The U.S. officer in charge of the Gatling guns was Lt. John J. Parker, about 35 (promotions were slow back then) and he was know as "Blackie" for his luxurious black beard. William Shafter had a full head of hair, a mustache but no beard, the actor portraying him is bald with a beard, plus he really didn't do justice to Shafter's corpulence (he weighed over 300lbs). And the scenes where the Spanish soldiers all have left handed rifles and the Maxims are feeding from the left, later when the Rough Riders capture one Roosevelt says "I can see it feeds from the right"-poor film editing. And the Spanish had no need of German advisers, they had a long and proud military tradition. Also the scene where Roosevelt tells his men to "kill the German"-TR ordering a prisoner to be murdered? I think not.Against these perhaps minor criticisms (hey, I am have taught history at a community college) I will state that the uniforms and equipment of the troops on both side are correct, the depiction of black soldiers in the battle is correct-all four of the Army's black regiments were in Cuba, the 9th & 10th Cavalry, the and 25th Infantry, the Rough Riders were brigaded with the 10th Cavalry. Mostly importantly, the film captures the mood, the mannerisms, the atmosphere of the time, the idea of the sons of New York's wealthiest families so eager to get into the fight that they will serve as enlisted men, and the fact that the War of 1898 ended many of the divisions left over from the war of 1861-1865 and in a sense we went from being the "United States" to the "United States of America".

Tom Berenger was a great Teddy Roosevelt. It just shows his talents as an actor. The background research on the history was done and the locations were chosen wisely. Unfortunately this movie has not been put on DVD and was not receive wide publicity, so it was overlooked. In addition most of our youth today don't even remember the history beyond last week. I would have liked to see more of the relationship that Teddy had with his men. It's also a fact that many of his Rough Riders did not get to go to Cuba for lack of space on the ships. They wept at the thought of being left behind. At the mustering out - Teddy was presented gifts by his men and he said I'll never forget you. I think these items were overlooked in the movie.