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Epicurus.com - Outlaw Josey Wales
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List Price: $6.98
Our Price: $3.94
Your Save: $ 3.04 ( 44% )
Availability: N/A
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
Starring: Sam Bottoms, Matt Clark, Royal Dano, Chief Dan George, Joyce Jameson
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9780790701851
Format: Closed-captioned
ISBN: 6306529136
Label: Warner Home Video
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Warner Home Video
Release Date: 1992-05-27
Running Time: 136
Studio: Warner Home Video
Theatrical Release Date: 1976-06-30
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Editorial Reviews:
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Clint Eastwood fired the original director, Philip Kaufman (The Right Stuff), and took over the reins of this project himself. He may have had a point: this brutal, thoughtful western, a near-tragedy about a Civil War veteran whose past comes looking for him, is probably Eastwood's most mature frontier drama prior to the Oscar winning Unforgiven. Hoping to build a quiet life in a cooperative community of settlers, Eastwood's Wales blames himself when his enemies attack the homestead, and he has to revert to his warrior instincts to help fend off the threat. The jittery intensity of Sondra Locke (who would be Mrs. Eastwood, at least for a while), and the screen-filling charisma of the late Chief Dan George harmonize beautifully with Eastwood, who had finally figured out how to add depth and texture to his stock-in-trade Man of Steel persona. This one may be too short on action to satisfy fans of Eastwood's Dirty Harry films, or of the Italian westerns he made with Sergio Leone, but it's an honorable effort. --David Chute
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: One of the Greatest Westerns Every Filmed!!!!!
Comment: What can I say. I've owned this on every medium that it's ever been recorded on, and it gets better every time the technology improves. This is not only one of the best westerns ever filmed, it's also the best movie Clint Eastwood ever starred in.
You can't go wrong with this movie, even if you're not a fan of westerns.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: A good kind of ridiculous
Comment: I haven't actually finished the movie yet, class too much of the time, but I seen most of it. The beginning is a little awkward for me, too quick and rushed: plowing the fields with his son, sudden disruption of life as the civil war destroys his home and kills his family, and then all of a sudden he's a hard-nosed killer. However, can't wait to see how it ends!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Eastwood is the One and Only Josey Wales
Comment: The Outlaw Josey Wales,1976,directed by Clint Eastwood is by far Eastwood's best western,nobody could've played the outlaw better,reminiscent of the dollars trilogy,yet a more mature,polished and relaxed Clint Eastwood and a good solid cast surrounding the set,Chief Dan George gives a natural stand up performance as Lone Watie,but mostly it is Clint Eastwood's show as Josey Wales,packing two pistols that bring to life or death some true actual events occuring during the Civil War pertaining to guerilla warfare,Union jayhawkers and Confederate bushwackers as Josey Wales rides with the infamous bloody Bill Anderson eliminating every Kansas redleg that stands in the way of interfering justice and revenge Wales is searching for on his long and dangerous journey,packed with non-stop action,The Outlaw Josey Wales fits the bill in the hardcore western tradition portrayed in the traditional Eastwood fashion. This DVD is excellent quality remastered with a new digital tranfer and new audio sound,16x9 widescreen.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Eastwood's near classic Western
Comment: This film marked a change of pace for Clint Eastwood, the director. Rather than just another minor Western, Eastwood turned the genre around by focusing more on character than just action and earned an accolade from one of the greatest filmmakers ever, Orson Welles. In an interview with Dick Cavett, Welles stated that this film ranks with some of the best Westerns that John Ford ever made and is one of the best American films ever made. To further state this point, Welles even sent a letter to Clint expressing his delight in viewing this film. Like Ford, this film has some interesting characters from Chief Dan George's wayward Indian to Granny to the characters in the saloon(Royal Dano, Sheb Wooley, etc). Phil Kaufman, the original director, differed in view from Clint about the conception of this film since Clint wanted it to be more of an epic rather than a small western--so Kaufman was fired and Clint took the reins. I almost would give this 5 stars but "The Unforgiven" is so high on my list of classic films that this film would gain at 4 stars in my estimation---and that's still pretty high. Recommended for Eastwood fans and Western buffs alike.
Customer Rating:
Summary: One of Clint Eastwood's finest achievements....
Comment: I initially saw this film when I was in high school. It was OK, but I've recently revisited it (seeing it in a widescreen, digital transfer on DVD over the pan and scan crap on VHS does wonders for it), and it's one of Clint Eastwood's greatest achievements as director and as actor. It was only his fifth film as director, and it shows a deep maturity and intelligence that usually wasn't seen in Westerns (or Hollywood, for that matter). It's a great film, a work of art, a true epic, and a poetic, complex, and profound depiction of the West, the Civil War (and war itself), history, and America.
There are so many thing to admire and love about this film. One is its depiction of southern rebels in the Civil War. Too often the press and Hollywood always make the Civil War to be about slavery, when the reasons for war were far more complex and convoluted than an easy, misleading Holllywood history lesson would show. The Confederate soldiers are portrayed with much more complexity and empathy than usual, and the Union soldiers are depicted as cruel and as unforgiving as soldiers (especially in times of war) can be. There are many great scenes in the film. There's an early shootout in the film where many Confederate soldiers, who have finally surrendered, are mowed down viciously and thoughtlessly. It's a searing indictment of the "kind" victors in war. The scene where Josey Wales and Little Bear (the leader of the local Commanche tribe) make peace is one of the most powerful and moving scenes in the film, and one of the greatest scenes in Western history. The film is beautifully shot by Bruce Surtees, an early Clint favorite and one of Hollywood's greatest cinematographers. Clint wasn't the original director on this film. The co-screenwriter, Philip Kaufman (who went on to direct great films like Henry and June and The Right Stuff), actually directed the film for about a week, but then Clint fired him and took over the direction himself, as Clint felt Philip was going too slow. Clint ended up coming in with the film 8 days ahead of schedule, despite the change in directors. Even though Kaufman's career and ego were deeply hurt, he eventually recovered and went onto his own distinguished career. Eastwood was really the only choice to direct this film.
The performances here are some of the best in any of Eastwood's work. John Vernon as Josey Wales's mentor Fletcher gives a real towering performance. Sam Bottoms is fine as the young sidekick of Josey. Chief Dan George is wonderful as an old Native American that tags along, and Will Sampson is wonderful and moving as Chief Little Bear. Even Sondra Locke, who is often criticised by just about everybody, is very good here.
The film has some great dialogue, with two of the most memorable lines in Western history. "Dyin' ain't much of a livin', boy" and "don't piss on my back and tell me it's raining" are forever in Western folklore.
The DVD is excellent too, with 2 documentaries, one made during filming, and a recent one made a few years back. Both are excellent, and shed some fascinating light on this film, which grows in depth and meaning during repeated viewings. It's one of Eastwood's finest films, and one of the greatest Westerns ever made.
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