'Buffalo Boys' Trailer: This Indonesian Western Is Action Heavy And Grim

Last month we saw the first teaser for the Indonesian revenge western Buffalo Boys, and it was rad. But it was just a taste. Well, it’s back with a full trailer that delves into the storyline and shows off more of the fantastic action hinted at last time. Enjoy.

From what we see in this trailer, which I came across at Screen Anarchy, Buffalo Boys fits nicely in the same family as films like The Raid, Headshot, and the larger action niche Indonesia has been kicking ass in lately. Part of that is due to the involvement of people, in front of and behind the camera, who played various roles in many of those films.

But Buffalo Boys also looks to blaze its own trail. Sure, there’s no shortage of top-notch action and face-kicking, thanks in large part to choreographer Kazu Patrick Tang (District B-13), but it’s also based on history and framed as a western. It’s definitely going to get super dark. In just over two minutes, we see branding, torture, public executions, slavery, and revenge. There promises to be no shortage of striking imagery, and we get at brief glimpse with the masked executioner, corpses dangling from trees and cages, and the like.

Buffalo Boys looks to dive deep into the colonialism and violent history of the region, which is a fascinating, if brutal story. The plot takes place during the Dutch colonial period of Indonesia’s past. Set in Java, it follows brothers, exiled to America, who return to seek revenge for their father, a murdered sultan. That’s definitely rich soil to till for a western narrative.

All of this sounds great, but the cast and crew only sweetens he deal. Mike Wiluan has produced the likes of Headshot, Macabre, and Beyond Skyline, and makes his directorial debut. It stars Sunny Pang (Headshot), Zack Lee (The Raid 2), Conan Stevens (the original Gregor Clegane on Game of Thrones), Ario Bayu (Headshot and Macabre), Yoshi Sudarso (various Power Rangers titles), Pevita Pearce, and Tio Pakusadewo (The Raid 2, Java Heat). You sense a theme here.

At the moment, there’s no concrete date for Buffalo Boys, but at least one resource has it listed as July 2018 in Indonesia. Hopefully that’s accurate, and fingers crossed it makes the rounds elsewhere, because as much as I want to, I’m not likely to make it to Indonesia to see a movie.