Het Gevecht van Fort Apache

Although this film stands outside the legendary trilogy and has never achieved the fame of The Treasure of the Silver Lake, it is a very entertaining contribution to the May western family. Although... It is obviously connected to the work of Karl May only by the names of the heroes, and unlike the film trilogy, it exhibits slightly incomprehensible deviations in the atmosphere (it tries to be more epic and kind of more credible in terms of realities, but the result hardly impresses) and the personalities of the characters (Winnetou gives off an animal and reckless impression)... The plot owes very much to Winnetou: Last of the Renegades, and its better variation can be found in The Last Shot, but... It's exciting, the Yugoslav natural gems are a delicacy for the eye, cardboard cacti are a dessert for the diaphragm, and Lex Barker is just as heroic as when I adored him as a child. The soundtrack is a pretty decent robbing of spaghetti westerns, and because of it, the overall impression corresponds to more like three stars... It just lacks the warmth and homeliness of the more famous May films. (02.01.2005)

This was not one of the stories Karel May ever told, so I am surprised that it still works. In many ways, it goes against established peaceful rules, but Winnetou's hatred that leads him all the way to the warpath is well developed and understandable. However, it can be seen that the new production company (which only by sheer luck managed to land Pierre Brice and Lex Barker) wanted to bring this closer to classic American westerns. The cold villain Bradley, the emancipated White Dove, and the zealous Tuyunga are simply characters that wouldn't fit into May's books, especially not the plot, which does not add much optimism. Thanks to the charisma of the main duo, Old Shatterhand comes in at a solid 70%, and if I turn just the slightest blind eye to its faults, it can be included in the golden collection. (11.11.2011)

"Truth is like a storm. It blows only in one direction. Anyone who stands in its way will be easily swept away." This wisdom from Winnetou is of course read as truth being embodied by him and his white brother. At the beginning, he sadly looks on as his brother leaves him, but he also knows that it’s necessary to establish equality against the fiery water and corrupt bluecoats, and this is a job for Old Shatterhand’s fists and Henry rifle. Never mind that this Martin Luther King of the Wild Balkans spends the final battle resting by a pillar... An intensely action-packed, longest-in-duration, and epically shot Karl May film in 70 mm Superpanorama format, which only engages hardcore fans with the end of the little Dutchman (for a moment, I believed that the brash Hawkins had a foggy mirror) and dangerously familiar musical accompaniment (a bit of The Magnificent Seven, and a bit of spaghetti western). (17.02.2023)

A beautiful and naive example of how the white man is portrayed as evil and how the natives are bound by their laws. Winnetou is relatively absent here, a lot of focus is on Old Shatterhand, as the title suggests, but in the end, neither of them emerges victorious; it's human folly that, fortunately, doesn't go too far. It’s a bit drawn-out, but there are some good characters here. (29.01.2015)