While surveying a telegraph line in 1861, Western Union engineer Edward Creighton (Dean Jagger) is severely injured in an accident. He is discovered by Vance Shaw (Randolph Scott), an outlaw on the run from a posse. Forced to travel on foot after his horse was hurt, Shaw at first considers stealing Creighton's horse, but changes his mind and takes the man with him, saving his life.
Sometime later, following his recovery, Creighton returns to Omaha, Nebraska and plans the construction of a telegraph line from Omaha to Salt Lake City, Utah. Facing considerable opposition to the line from Confederate soldiers, Indians, and outlaws, Creighton elicits the help of his sister Sue (Virginia Gilmore), foreman Pat Grogan (Minor Watson), and assistant Homer Kettle (Chill Wills).
Looking to put his outlaw past behind him, Shaw arrives at Creighton's Western Union office looking for honest work and is hired as a scout by Grogan who is unaware of his past. Creighton recognizes him among the men and allows him to stay despite his suspicions. Creighton also hires tenderfoot Richard Blake (Robert Young), a Harvard-educated engineer as a favor to Blake's father. Shaw and Blake are both attracted to Sue and vie for her attention, but their romantic rivalry is cut short when construction of the telegraph line starts on July 4, 1861.
After work commences on the line, one of the men is killed apparently by a mysterious band of cattle-rustling Indians. Unconvinced that Indians are to blame, Shaw rides out to investigate and follows the rustlers' trail to the camp of Jack Slade, a former friend and cohort, whose gang committed the killing disguised as Indians—the gang Shaw left following his last bank robbery. Slade reveals that they are working for the Confederacy to disrupt Western Union because they believe the telegraph service will help the Union. Shaw rides away and returns to the line. Not wanting to turn in his former friends, Shaw tells Creighton that a large band of Dakota Indians stole the cattle, and recommends that they simply replace the herd and not risk a fight with the Indians.
Sometime later, a confrontation takes place between men working on the forward line and a band of drunken Indians. When one of the Indians tries to steal some equipment, a nervous Blake shoots him, ignoring Shaw's order to remain calm. After word arrives that the main camp is under attack by other Indians, the Western Union men rush back to help with the defense. At the main camp, Slade's men, who are again disguised as Indians, steal the Western Union horses. The company discover the ruse when one of the wounded Indians turns out to be a white man. Forced to buy back their stolen horses from Slade, Creighton becomes suspicious of Shaw's involvement, especially when he admits to knowing the gang.
Soon the U.S. Army arrives and announces the Indians have now refused to allow the telegraph lines to go through their territory in response to Blake's shooting of the drunken Indian. Creighton, Shaw, and Blake ride out to convince Chief Spotted Horse to allow them to build the line through Indian territory, even though the man Blake wounded was Spotted Horse's son. Creighton is finally able to persuade the Indians to allow them passage, and work continues until the company approaches Salt Lake City.
Sometime later, Shaw receives word that Jack Slade wants to meet with him. On the way to see Slade, Shaw is captured and bound by Slade's men. Slade says his group is going to burn down the Western Union camp and they don't want Shaw to interfere. After Slade and his men ride off, Shaw escapes from his ropes but arrives back too late to prevent the fire. He helps rescue some of the Western Union men from the flames and burns his hands in the process.
After the fire, Creighton confronts Shaw for an explanation, but Shaw does not reveal what he knows and is fired by Creighton. As Shaw leaves the camp, he tells Blake that Slade is actually Shaw's brother and that he, Shaw, will find Slade's gang and stop them from interfering with the telegraph project. Shaw rides off and finds Slade and his men in a nearby town. At the barber shop, Shaw confronts his brother, whose gun is concealed under the barber's sheet. Slade shoots Shaw through the sheet. Shaw fights back in spite of his wound, killing some of the gang members, and then dies. Blake arrives and continues the fight with Slade who dies from his wounds. Soon after, the Western Union line is completed and the workers celebrate. When Sue laments the absence of Shaw, Creighton tells her that Shaw can hear them.
虽然也不算是很好的片子 但却是一部很能区分爱好者思维和学者思维的影片 院线电影难得值一次票价
看睡着了两次…节奏有点慢，然后前面卖惨后面又开挂…就…不行啊
吐一个小槽：战争片里，女性似乎难以存在，但往往都存在一个。《一个和八个》里有美女卫生员，《1917》里有单亲妈妈。这部电影里，长得像汤唯的美女渔民头一次露正脸，是黑夜潜入庙里送饭：所有男人的脸都在阴影里，这个美女的脸，居然给了一个经典好莱坞式的面光。
放在国内 算是比较特立独行的战争片 前半段不可避免地想起 伊万的童年 黑白水墨风 运动长镜 固定中远景相结合 再辅以林间和水中战斗 将战争的压抑与晦暗的氛围树立起来 虽能看到人性矛盾的点 但还没有完全抒发 另外 音效虽丰富 但收音和混音做得不够好 这样的电影 剧作当然是让位于形式 但足够独特 值得鼓励7
再前门这里看￣ ￣)σ的镜头很美，叙事完整，讲述的是一个战士执行任务炸弹药库的故事，故事由此开始由此结束。
是公司组织来看的哈。如果是我自己买票来看的，我他妈绝对给导演寄刀片，你可以不好看你可以叙事剧情人物刻画一团糟，但是你不能用持续的昏暗黑白色调来伤害观众的眼睛！
洪队埋小哨子时的那段自己跟自己的的幻觉真的超级震撼。
一开始以为是表现和大部队失联的边缘人物，后来以为是反战或者个体与战争的冲突，结果发现是主流电影，也不算反战片，就是讲胜利，观众要看到字幕最后，交代的很清楚。观影过程中经常因为镜头和表演跳戏。有时候以为是不是要插叙人物命运，没有，他就是顺着讲的，虽然不像。有时候台词逻辑也很硬，比如个人选择和理想那段。关于中国水墨画风格，可能台词和镜头没把我带入进去吧，有时候被带入了，然后就有跳戏。4星给支持院线吧，疫情期间不容易。
其实有些镜头单看表现挺好的，但结合前后又有些突兀
映后导演连线，一个月做出来的电影，实也可贵，有万玛才旦导演一起合作，风格化明显，此类战争片少见，在尝试一些不同的东西。有几场戏的摄影调度还是很棒，但影片范围感很强以至于有点像舞台剧。三星半
2021年北影节的天坛奖，其他入围电影都在讲故事，只有这片是在展示学院派美学。人物、剧情、台词都不仅仅是白描了，直接简笔画勾勒，寥寥几笔画出全片架构，然后就是各种美学意义浓厚的镜头画面：潜水渡河，以及最后的血色染红黑白画面都很绝。
6月浙传场放映
特别是映后跟导演交流之后。导演很有想法，也落实得很好。不愧是美院出品，质感和画面美感没得说。浙江话和浙江的山水都让我感觉很亲切。
单位组织观看的。感受就是故弄玄虚，这啥呀这是，啊？
艺联发行，美院作品，BJIFF天坛奖&最佳男主&最佳摄影，才知道幕后有这么强大的班底保驾护航，本片摄影极佳，有点对标1917和索尔之子的意思，我也承认有些段落确实独具匠心很厉害，但成也摄影败也摄影，于我而言电影艺术不仅仅是美术艺术，有些暗景的灯光似乎要亮瞎我的眼睛，让人视觉疲劳，更多的时候还是如坐针毡。
2
这么多好评？抱歉，真的欣赏不来。整部片子色调都是很灰暗，灰暗的连人脸都看不清，所以出现的一些角色根本就分辨不清楚，看完了之后也就是最后一个镜头有记忆点，其余部分讲的断断续续，非常潦草，枪战动作戏也跟过家家似的，没有任何看点，反而看的昏昏欲睡，就这还能得天坛奖？！在我眼里也就值个两星！
这部片太沉闷了。为赞扬牺牲而鼓励牺牲是一种病态。在个人情感上，自我保存和长远才是人的本性。义务、责任都是在最危及的情况下失去分析和理性做出的情感判断。
剧作层面上，缺乏优质内核，在我看来，这样的美学层次，不应该配这么缺乏层次的内容，非要说，只能总结为一种由小我走向大我，但远不够，流俗。
去年北影节，看了两部主竞赛，一共打了三颗星。相比那两部主竞赛，这部bp可能是代表了北影节主竞赛的最高水准了，但要说是自嗨的话，我感觉也没什么毛病。能看出来导演在画风上有在像塔可夫斯基伊万的童年靠拢，甚至安排了儿童角色，但呈现出来的效果并不尽如人意。虽然在主旋律题材上选择了弱化情节用以与长津湖等主流影片相区分，可看成是一次不一样的尝试，但影片的反思程度较苏联时期的战争电影则有着云泥之别，内核只剩下了接到命令去执行任务来获取胜利，跟八佰比起来都单薄了许多。结尾的血雨倒是蛮有想法的，是唯一的颜色，也是为数不多的亮点。
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