User Reviews

Kim Katrall tames Kris kristoferson With her campfire story of the birth of the baby Jesus. Very well acted but the story was contrived and predictable. The Wild West looks awesome.

Jericho is a tough man who has led a rough frontier life, assisting the calvary in fighting native Americans, but he has recently become a married man and has left his past behind him (more or less); when he finds himself hosting his former colleagues, some of the revelry gets a bit out of hand, and Jericho ends up in the doghouse with the refined new wife. Jericho (Kris Kristofferson) and Dora, his wife (Kim Cantrell) welcome their first child, a son. Then their world caves in as Jericho's past catches up with them in the form of some members of the Blackfoot tribe; their chief's son was killed some 4 years earlier by Jericho. Why such a lengthy period before the Blackfeet come seeking revenge? The chief has bided his time awaiting the perfect revenge. The chief and his wife will take Jericho's son to raise.. Dora will be taken into the tribe as a wife for a worthy young warrior. And Jericho will die. "Blackfeet have waited long for this day," is the chilling pronouncement from the chief. Jericho is considered a worthy adversary, but he will be "executed". But Dora, a deeply religious woman, begins to tell the tribal members the story of the birth of Christ, but in terms the natives can relate to. Jericho understands that these people are spiritual in their own way; he respects their traditions, but he also thinks that Dora's tale may keep them alive until the calvary unit can track and rescue them. Not everyone in the tribe is happy with the chief's willingness to have the white woman tell her story; an angry young buck leaves the tribe in disgust, but soon the dissenter returns with the news that the delay has been a "trick" and the army is on its way. The chief angrily rejects the story as a tale for children, and plans to take the prisoners with them for what will probably be a painful death, at least for Jericho. But Jericho has observed that the chief is carrying two knives, and he grabs the knives. Some of the warriors draw their guns, but Jericho challenges the chief before his people to a one-on-one fight to the death. ("Stay out of it Dora. It's me he wants to kill because I killed his son. Better a quick death than a slow one.") The chief waves his braves away and accepts the challenge. He and Jericho will fight to the death. Jericho tosses him one of the knives, and the battle is on. These men are old adversaries. The chief taunts Jericho that he is weakened by loss of blood. Jericho respnds "I've fought in worse shape," And he adds, "so have you." At first it looks like the chief will win. He has Jericho pinned down with a knife to his throat, but Jericho manages to roll away from the thrust. Finally, Jericho has the chief pinned down. If he wins and kills the chief, will the tribe really let him walk away? We never know, because Jericho, the Indian fighter, finds himself unable to kill the chief after all. He plunges the knife into the ground and staggers, exhausted, over to his waiting wife. Although these two men, these old enemies, have lived on different sides, now that the chief has the advantage, he finds that he cannot kill Jericho. He leaves the outcome up to fate or the Great Spirit or the white man's God. The weakened Jericho, who had earlier been injured in an escape attempt, and his wife and baby are left behind when the Indians depart, heading for sanctuary from the Army in Canada. Despite the cold, they manage to build a fire, and they survive to be rescued. For his part, Jericho covers for the Indians' escape by giving the battle-ready young hotshot Army officer misleading information. Jericho, who began the movie as a man who had no concern for the lives of his adversaries and who was a non-believer, ends the film as a much different man. White waiting to be assisted onto a horse for the ride back to their burned property where they will begin anew, he gazes up at the heavens and then pours away the last of his liquor. His life has been changed in ways he might not have ever expected. In a sense, he and the chief became brothers. That is the miracle in the wilderness.