Outlaws

Starring:Outlaws
Studio: Brentwood Home Video
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

Your Brother's Not Always Right...
I love this movie!!!
Tombstone is tops
Tombstone review
Phenomenal

Tombstone
Starring: Kurt Russell , Val Kilmer , Sam Elliott , Bill Paxton , and Powers Boothe
Director: George P. Cosmatos
Manufacturer: Walt Disney Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: 6304711905
Release Date: 1997-12-02

Amazon.com

This Western has become a modest cult favorite since its release in 1993, when the film was met with mixed reviews but the performances of Kurt Russell (as Wyatt Earp) and especially Val Kilmer, for his memorably eccentric performance as the dying gunslinger Doc Holliday, garnered high praise. The movie opens with Wyatt Earp trying to put his violent past behind him, living happily in Tombstone with his brothers and the woman (Dana Delany) who puts his soul at ease. But a murderous gang called the Cowboys has burst on the scene, and Earp can't keep his gun belt off any longer. The plot sounds routine, and in many ways it is, but Western buffs won't mind a bit thanks to a fine cast and some well-handled action on the part of Rambo director George P. Cosmatos, who has yet to make a better film than this. --Jeff Shannon

Description

A sizzling, star-studded cast brings to life the legendary battle to deliver justice to TOMBSTONE! Kurt Russell (MIRACLE, VANILLA SKY) turns in a gripping performance as U.S. Marshall Wyatt Earp and Val Kilmer (THE MISSING, BATMAN FOREVER) ignites the screen as the outrageous Doc Holliday. Together, they team up to bring law to the lawless in a notorious showdown with the ruthless outlaws at the O.K. Corral! The all-star ensemble also includes Sam Elliott, Bill Paxton, Dana Delany, Jason Priestley, Michael Biehn, and long-time Hollywood favorite Charlton Heston. Get ready for an explosive, action-packed adventure the Wild West would never forget!

Customer Reviews:

Your Brother's Not Always Right..........2007-06-30

But he's always your brother and that's the central theme of Tombstone. I was trying to think of a way I could be a little more detached about his movie than I feel like being, but there's no point in trying to do so. The fact is that this is a wonderful film with a wonderful story line and wonderful acting. Val Kilmer's Doc Holliday sucks out all the oxygen in every scene he's in (and even a few where he's off camera). He is devoted to his best friend Wyatt Earp for many reasons but chiefly because he's one of the only friends that he has. Admittedly, this is only a semi-historically accurate portrait of Holliday but the sacrifices he makes for the Earp brothers are touching and admirable. In my mind, the gambler/dentist is the perfect embodiment of loyalty and honor. These are very politically incorrect virtues so we must be thankful that some element of pop culture decided to enshrine them somewhere. Independent of its symbolic and emotional resonance, Tombstone is just a plain old good time. Whatever you want to call it--an action pic, a western or a drama--it's superb and fantastic cinema.

I love this movie!!!.......2007-06-13

Tombstone is one of my favorite movies!!! I thought it was about time I bought the DVD.

Tombstone is tops.......2007-06-11

This movie is very close to the actual circumstances of the OK Corral. Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer, Sam Elliot (who is so perfect in westerns it makes you wonder if he was time shifted from 1880!!), and Bill Paxton are great! Then you see some of the actors from classic western movies and TV back as older men. Another one that we have memorized the lines to and still have to watch it each time it is on the satellite!! If you've never seen it....buy it, pop some popcorn, pour some butter on it and turn on the home theater!!

Tombstone review.......2007-06-08

Excellent movie. Hard to beat if you are a true western fan. Amazon service is great!

Phenomenal.......2007-06-05

This movie is absolutely awesome. Sure, that sounds like a young awe struck boy in its description of the film, but that is what it reduced me to. Some of the best one-liners of all-time, and a great chemistry between the always solid Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer. Kilmer is at his best as the Consumption addled (read TB) Doc Holliday. This is a novie that I have never heard a bad thing about, even though the discussions almost always involve guys. Really a fun and well-made film. One of the few movies that I can watch time and time again. A 5 star classic. Enjoy!!!

Average customer rating:

A Timeless Western
High Noon
Don't forsake me Oh,my darling
Trapped Like A Rat In A Cage...
A Dated Drama

High Noon (Collector's Edition)
Starring: Gary Cooper , Thomas Mitchell , Lloyd Bridges , Katy Jurado , and Grace Kelly
Director: Fred Zinnemann
Manufacturer: Republic Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00006JMRE
Release Date: 2002-10-22

Product Description

Gary Cooper won the Oscar for the Best Actor in this classic tale of a lawman who stands alone to defend a town of righteous cowards in the greatest showdown in the history of cinema. The film also stars one of Hollywood's most beloved and prolific actors, Lloyd Bridges, and marks the first starring role foria beautiful young actress and internationally adored screen legend--Grace Kelly.

System Requirements:
Starring: Lloyd Bridges, Lon Chaney, Gary Cooper, Katy Jurado, Grace Kelly, Thomas Mitchell
Directed By: Fred Zinnemann
Running Time: 84 Min., Color
Copyright Artisan Home Entertainment 2003.

Format: DVD MOVIE

Amazon.com essential video

One of the greatest Westerns ever made gets the deluxe treatment on this superior disc from Republic Home Video's Silver Screen Classics line of special-edition DVDs. Written by Carl Foreman (who was later blacklisted during the anticommunist hearings of the '50s) and superbly directed by Fred Zinnemann, this 1952 classic stars Gary Cooper as just-married lawman Will Kane, who is about to retire as a small-town sheriff and begin a new life with his bride (Grace Kelly) when he learns that gunslinger Frank Miller (Ian MacDonald) is due to arrive at high noon to settle an old score. Kane seeks assistance from deputies and townsfolk, but soon realizes he'll have to stand alone in his showdown with Miller and his henchmen. Innovative for its time, the suspenseful story unfolds in approximate real time (from 10:40 a.m. to high noon in an 84-minute film), and many interpreted Foreman's drama as an allegorical reflection of apathy and passive acceptance of Senator Joseph McCarthy's anticommunist campaign. Political underpinnings aside, this remains a milestone of its genre (often referred to as the first "adult" Western), and Cooper is flawless in his Oscar-winning role. The first-rate DVD gives this landmark film all the respect it deserves, beginning with a digitally remastered transfer from the original film negative. Additional features include the exclusive documentary The Making of High Noon, hosted by film historian Leonard Maltin and featuring interviews with the late Lloyd Bridges (who played Cooper's rival ex-deputy), director Fred Zinnemann, and producer Stanley Kramer. Also included is the original theatrical trailer and a special chapter stop highlighting the Oscar-winning song "Do Not Forsake Me." Offered in English and dubbed French and Spanish, with English closed-captioning or Spanish and French subtitles. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

A Timeless Western.......2007-07-09

This black and white western is just as engaging and suspensful today as it was in 1950. A best actor oscar went to Gary Cooper with fine performances by Grace Kelly and Katie Jurado. The DVD is of good quality with good optical quality. The images are sharp and the blacks are black.

High Noon.......2007-06-26

Fred Zinnemann's stark revenge tale, told in real time, packs enough intensity into eighty minutes to carry two movies. It's suspenseful in the extreme, but also a morality tale, powerful in its simplicity, about the courage to make difficult, principled choices, even when those around you take the easy way out. This offers obvious parallels to the prevailing McCarthyism of the time (writer Carl Foreman was indeed blacklisted), but symbolism aside, this remains a trim, altogether brilliant western, with veteran star Cooper creating the quintessential authentic Western hero.

Don't forsake me Oh,my darling.......2007-06-24

Don't forsake me Oh,my darling

High Noon (DVD)

High Noon (1952) might very well be the best Western movie ever made. It stars Gary Cooper as the town Marshall and Grace Kelly as his new bride.

The movie opens with the Marshall getting married and concomitantly the telegraph operator receiving an alarming telegraph. The telegraph operator writes out the message, the Justice of the Peace reads the wedding ceremony. Will the Marshall get married before the telegraph message can be delivered? The telegraph operator finishes and runs out the door toward town,. "He's moving pretty fast for a Sunday" comments a bystander The telegraph operator runs, the Justice of the Peace reads, will he make it? Yes, they're pronounced Man and Wife. Yeah!

The telegraph operator burst into the room. "Marshal, Marshal, you have a telegram" The Marshal reads that a murderer who he helped arrest just got pardoned. Probably by a` Democrat Governor. Remember Bill Clinton's pardons? The murderer, Frank is expected on the noon train. Close up of the clock, eighty-four minutes from now. Meanwhile three of Frank's friends ride into town and wait for the noon train. Pretty obvious what they're waiting for. Meanwhile the townspeople try to bundle the Marshall and his bride out of town on a buckboard. The Marshall makes it a ways out of town, then stops the buckboard and turns to his bride and says " I just can't do it" I can't run away . His bride, a Quaker, disagrees with him and wants him to run away. When they get back to town. His bride lays out an ultimatum. Choose, either leave town or lose me, The Marshall stays.

For the next sixty minutes or so the Marshal has all his "friends" turn against him, one after the other. Nobody is willing to help. It looks like it `s going to be four against one, with the Marshall being the the one. The suspense slowly builds until there is a mighty climax at the end.

You'll just have to watch the movie to see how it ends. It's worth it.

Highly recommended for fans of the old fashion Western movie.

Gunner June,2007

Trapped Like A Rat In A Cage..........2007-06-24

That's how Kane must have felt: if he runs, Miller will chase him down and kill him; if he stays to fight, the townspeople will not lift a finger to help him. His only choice is to stay and fight, hoping against all odds that he will still be alive when it is over.

As I watched the film, I could sense that Kane must have had serious doubts as noon approached. Too late to run, even if it could have done any good. The townspeople - his so-called "friends" - abandoning him in his hour of need. One minute they are grateful for all that he has done for them and the next minute, they are writing him off for dead and making plans on how to live with Miller and his gang after they kill the marshall. Okay, not ALL the townspeople turned their backs on him. There was a young boy who Kane would not allow to fight, being so young. Another was a drunk, who doubtless truely wished to help, but would have ben no real good to the marshall. There was an eager volunteer who backed-out once he realized that it would only have been the two of them against Miller and his gang. Lastly, there were a few men who did volunteer to assist Kane, only to back-out after being talked out of it by their fellow townspeople. So, in the end, Kane stood all alone on an empty street. He even watched as his wife and former girlfriend rode past him on their way to board the very same train that Miller arrived on!

Even though I knew how it would all end, having read about this film and never having seen it before, I had this strong feeling of tension as noon approached. I could even feel the twisting knot in my stomach as I saw the camera pan back, showing Kane standing alone on the street, with no one else around. Suspending disbelief, I wondered what Kane was thinking as the showdown approached.

In the end, of course, Kane was alive and as he boarded his coach to leave town for the final time, I could also feel the strong sense of disgust at the townspeople for their cowardice and I could easily understand why he dropped his badge in the dust before boarding the wagon. If just four men had positioned themselves with rifles in windows overlooking the street, the fight could have been over in seconds, with only the outlaws getting killed and no one else hurt or endangered. Despite their superiority of numbers and the fact that had superior firepower over the outlaws, if only they had utilized it, they still cowered behind their doors and waited until the end.

John Wayne's feeling towards this movie notwithstanding, this is a true American story: one man, standing alone against evil, despite all odds and having been abandoned by everyone he thought he could trust to help him.

If only we all could be as courageous as Marshall Will Kane when the time comes.

A Dated Drama.......2007-06-12

A classic western, and Grace Kelley is beautiful, but unfortunately, it didn't seem to capture the imagination of my eighth grade class who like their dramas fast paced and violent. Still, the drama is clean and pure and the line between the good guys and the bad guys is blurred in an interesting way. If you're over thirty, I'd recommend it.

The Wild Bunch - The Original Director's Cut (Two-Disc Special Edition)

Average customer rating:

Bloody eye candy
The Wild Bunch
It's all been done before.
Not As Advertised-
Much more than just a violent film...

The Wild Bunch - The Original Director's Cut (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Starring: Alfonso Arau , Ernest Borgnine , Elsa Cárdenas , Albert Dekker , and Emilio Fernández
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000BT96CS
Release Date: 2006-01-10

Amazon.com essential video

One of the best action movies ever made, in a cleaned-up print restoring crucial parts of the story. No cavalry ever rode in with more epochal impact than the Wild Bunch in the legendary opening scene. Their steel-eyed leader, Pike (William Holden), and his robbers in stolen army uniforms help an old lady across the street, and then spark a massacre led by Pike's old crony Thornton (Robert Ryan), sprung from jail to hunt down his old gang. In just a few minutes, Sam Peckinpah sets the scene--a dusty Texas town in 1913--sketches a dozen vividly individualized characters, and choreographs one of the most realistic, influential, brilliantly photographed shootouts under the pitiless sun. The cast is superb (even Ernest Borgnine!), the dialog crackling, the bitterly ambiguous moral of the story hard-earned. It's the deeper, dark flip side to 1969's Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Consider buying the letterbox Wild Bunch, the review collection Doing It Right, and the Peckinpah bio "If They Move... Kill 'Em!" --Tim Appelo

Description

Outlaws on the Mexican-U.S. frontier face the march of progress, the Mexican army and a gang of bounty hunters led by a former member while they plan a robbery of a U.S. army train. No one is innocent in this gritty tale of of desperation against changing times. Pump shotguns, machine guns and automobiles mix with horses and winchesters in this ultraviolent western.

Customer Reviews:

Bloody eye candy.......2007-07-03

This bloody extravaganza made Sam Peckinpah's reputation. A kind of fantasy of machismo set along the Texas-Mexico border around 1913--yes, very late for a Western--The Wild Bunch has thrilled adolescent boys and twentysomethings for almost four decades. The slowmo shots of horses falling awkwardly, of bodies squirting blood as they fall off of roof tops or cliffs, of tough hombres talking tough while they grab loose women and bottles of booze replete with numerous other bits of acrobatic mayhem amid some fantastic scenery makes this a non-cerebral feast for the eyes. The stars, William Holden (Pike Bishop), Ernest Borgnine (Dutch Engstrom), Robert Ryan (Deke Thornton), Edmund O'Brien (Freddie Sykes), etc. are first rate and on form. The plot is a variant of the old "one last job" story which begins with Pike's not-quite over-the-hill gang doing one last bank robbery.

Needless to say something goes wrong. Interspersed between the opening credits we see Pike's gang ride into town dressed as members of the US Army Calvary. On roof tops are some rascals and scallywags with rifles, missing teeth, and murderous gleams in their eyes. They are led by Deke Thornton, who it turns out is working for the railroad. What follows is a good old fashioned shoot 'em up of rather unlikely proportions as Pike's gang exists the bank with bags of loot, dodging and slinging bullets with abandon.

Turns out...well, no I won't say because I don't want to spoil the surprise. Suffice it to say, they need to do another job, this one a good old-fashioned train robbery with a few tricks and extras, like blowing up a bridge and running a locomotive at full throttle backwards. And then across the border into Mexico and some fun and games with Mexican generals, senoritas, banditos and such.

Been there, done that. But Peckinpah's colorful yarn has a few things you might not have seen before, and some of those things that you have seen, he did first and better. The Mexican color with a lot of authentic-looking extras doing authentic-looking Mexican activities was good. The fact that the Spanish spoken was not translated (and didn't need to be translated) was good. General Mapache (Emilio Fernandez) as the drunken, power-hungry warlord bandito was good. The kids feeding scorpions to the ants and then burning them was good. Edmund O'Brien as a degenerate Gabby Hayes kind of character was a hoot and a holler. But mostly this was about grim-faced men, toughened by long hours in saddle under the hot sun who, after decades of outlawing, finally ride gloriously into that last battle. Next stop: boot hill.

I watched the "original director's cut" that runs 145 minutes. At no time was my brain involved, but my eyes couldn't stop watching.

The Wild Bunch.......2007-07-02

Maverick director Sam Peckinpah released this blood-soaked western ballet in 1969, at the height of the Vietnam War, igniting protests over his graphic depiction of violence. Yet some images, like the opening sequence of children watching a nest of fire ants attack a scorpion, have a cruel poetic force. Boasting a powerhouse veteran cast and virtually non-stop action, this mesmerizing film is not for the squeamish, but fans of pure western action and gunplay should cherish this pounding, hard-edged film.

It's all been done before........2007-05-27

The Wild Bunch (Sam Peckinpah, 1969)

I will readily admit that my confusion over the prominence of The Wild Bunch in the annals of film criticism probably stems from my having bought into the hype. When I hear people wax poetic about the movie, one thing always comes to the surface sooner or later--the previously unheard-of level of violence in the movie. Here I was expecting something... different; even the tamest giallo lords it over The Wild Bunch in terms of violence. Mario Bava was doing it years before. What makes Peckinpah's opus so special? Not the violence.

The other thing that seems to come up often is that Peckinpah's version of the west is decidedly different than that which had been offered before, but again I head back to Italy, and this time flog the dead horse of Sergio Leone, whose westerns were riddled with grey areas long before this.

Okay, so Peckinpah was the first guy to do it in America. And it got John Wayne pretty mad. (But, really, he was already mad at Clint Eastwood for the Leone movies.) But from every other standpoint--plot, characters, pacing, cinematography, direction--Peckinpah has done better. (The pinnacle came three years later with Straw Dogs.) It's not bad, but don't go into it expecting one of the greatest films of all time, or you're bound to be disappointed. ***

Not As Advertised-.......2007-04-20

For the third time in 10 years, I have purchased another copy of "The Wild Bunch". And for the third time in 10 years, I have been utterly disappointed. I don't know what all of these other reviewers watched in 1969, but what I watched was a much, much wilder bunch with much more grusome footage at the old Majestic Theater in downtown Dallas. Someone, apparently do gooders, had the film cut back to the bland piece of work that you see in this DVD. Someone should sue Warner Bros. for false advertising. I am still looking for the original film and would pay good money for it, if it even still exists. In the killings in the original film the bodies struck by bullets, immediately went to slow motion as a stream of blood shot from the bullet hole in the beginning murderous scene. There is only one brief shot of this type and the rest, a least a couple of dozen were cut out and are still cut out. Save your money, if you think your getting the original.

Much more than just a violent film..........2007-04-06

This is one of the greatest Westerns ever made. Most people talk about its violence level. The violence here is incredible, and it's still strong and potent today. It shocked the living hell out of everyone back in 1969. It made some people vomit because it was so intense. However, while I do like the shootouts of this film, it's the depth that the characters have that really make this film stand out for me. Some of the speeches Pike gives are quite good, stressing that you stand by a man, and if you don't, you're like some animal, you're finished. Pike and the Bunch lived by these words, and in the end, they died by these words. They lived in a time where your word and your honor meant something, and you lived by a certain code that you tried to stay true to. Nowadays, this kind of message is seen as old fashioned and made fun of mercilessly. It shouldn't be. Despite the Bunch being criminals, they retain their sense of dignity at the end. Even Robert Ryan, Pike's former friend who is now chasing the Bunch, has a dignity as well, keeping his word to the bastard railroad men. But when he's finished with the posse, he stays in Mexico with the locals instead of returning to the US. You don't hate Ryan for what he's doing, and Pike doesn't hate him either. They each just want to live, and they got a job to do. The ending is one of the more poignant and brutal endings ever filmed. The Bunch got their bounty, and are whooping it up with the local whores. Angel had made a deal with them to keep one case of guns for his village, and they agreed. They told the general Mapache that they lost it on the trail. Mapache didn't believe them and accused Angel of stealing it, so the Bunch let him keep it. While the Bunch are drinking and partying, they stop and realise what they have to do. They go back and rescue Angel, not because they have to, but because they need to. They didn't want to abandon their friend. They probably knew they would be killed, and they didn't give a damn about it. I find this extraordinarily moving and quite powerful. After a decade of smug "irony", things like dignity and honor are punchlines. I don't think they are, and I never will. I really like the message of brotherhood and honor here, and I think this is a masterpiece....

Average customer rating:

MY FAVORITE JOHN WAYNE FILM
Perhaps the Ultimate Western.
GREAT JOHN WAYNE CLASSIC!
Early Duke Classic
Exciting, highly enjoyable, and beautiful!

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
Starring: John Wayne , Joanne Dru , John Agar , Ben Johnson , and Harry Carey Jr.
Director: John Ford
Manufacturer: Turner Home Ent
ProductGroup: DVD
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Fort Apache
Rio Grande
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ASIN: B000O599NK
Release Date: 2007-05-22

Amazon.com essential video

The second installment of John Ford's famous cavalry trilogy (which also includes Fort Apache and Rio Grande), this meditative Western continues the director's fascination with history's obliteration of the past. It features one of John Wayne's more sensitive performances as Capt. Nathan Brittles, a stern yet sentimental war horse who has difficulty preparing for his impending military retirement. All things considered, he refuses to leave before fulfilling his obligation to the local Indian tribe. It's a film about honor and duty as well as loneliness and mortality. And Oscar-winner Winton C. Hoch beautifully photographs it in Remington-like Technicolor tones (you've never seen such stunning cloud-covered skies). The combination of melancholy and farce (Victor McLaglen makes a perfect court jester) evokes comparisons to Shakespeare. Best of all, the scene in which Wayne fights back tears when receiving a gold watch from his troops is unforgettably bittersweet. If you view the whole trilogy, it actually makes sense to save this for last. --Bill Desowitz

Description

A masterpiece of mood and heroics, this second film in director John Ford's renowned cavalry trilogy (Fort Apache and Rio Grande are the others) features one of John Wayne's most moving performances as a cavalry officer in his final week of service on the frontier. Under makeup aging him some 20 years, he inhabits the role of a wily veteran who knows the sting of war and vows to make his last mission one of peace. The ritual of outpost life, the sweep of battle, the advance of the patrol beneath ominous skies: She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, an Academy Award winner* for its color cinematography, paints a memorable portrait of the honor, duty and courage in the finest tradition of the cavalry. And of Ford filmmaking.

Customer Reviews:

MY FAVORITE JOHN WAYNE FILM.......2007-07-04

Although Red River, The Searchers, and possibly True Grit and The Shootist might arguably contain better acting performances from the Duke, this film is my favorite. Everything works in this film, and works well. John Ford loved the U.S. Cavalry, as can be clearly seen in the trilogy, and also in the Civil War film, The Horse Soldiers. While I love all the aforementioned films, this one is the one where everything worked perfectly. The contrast of Wayne's seasoned Capt. Brittles with the two younger officers, the lonely life Brittles lives with no wife or family vs. the younger men competing for the hand of lovely Joanne Dru, the comedy relief provided by the incomparable Victor McLaglen, the savvy wisdom of(former confederate captain) Sgt. Tyree, nothing is missing. This was John Ford's stock company at it's best, with perhaps only The Searchers to compare. The passing years only make me love this film more. everyone was at the absolute top of their game for She Wore a Yellow Ribbon. See it soon!!!

Perhaps the Ultimate Western........2007-04-17

John Wayne lives this part. A battle hardened veteran of the war between the states, a career officer - Captain Nathan Brittles - finds himself on the Western Frontier nearing the end of his career. A man for whom the military is not just a way of life, it is life. And, in a remarkably sensitive fashion for the time, the "hostiles" are shown to be a civilized and intelligent people who have been pushed time and time again by the western expansion of this nation and are simply fighting to survive. It would have of course been easy just to shoot another movie reflecting an Indian uprising with calvary charges and heroic gestures. Thank goodness we're spared that. Instead, we have a deeply well orchestrated movie developing many different characters and plot lines. While he is Army through and through, Captain Brittles still poignantly takes time to water the desert flowers on his wife's grave and to talk to her gently until that day comes that he joins her. And, Sgt Tyree, the irrepressible scout that is almost an extension of Captain Brittles, has another life too that we learn about, in a touching and well done scene not often witnessed in today's pyrotechnic oriented films. Is this the best western I've ever seen? Maybe, maybe not, but the Searchers (who can forget that shadowy ending shot with John Wayne framing the door?) is close (not to mention the sleeper The Tin Star with Henry Fonda) and so are Fort Apache, My Darling Clementine (Henry Fonda again), and Gunfight at the OK Corral (Kirk Douglas) - some of which have been mentioned by other reviewers as well. I would give this movie more than 5 stars if I could, and you cannot go wrong viewing it.

GREAT JOHN WAYNE CLASSIC!.......2007-03-11

Without any doubt - this is my favorite John Wayne classic movie.
All actors are playing wonderful and the movie was shot on a great
place - Monument Valley/Arizona.

Just perfect for every Western fan.

Thank you John Wayne!

Early Duke Classic.......2007-01-19

See another side of John Wayne. This movie stands with The Shootist as one of Wayne's more layered roles. *****

Exciting, highly enjoyable, and beautiful!.......2006-11-08

'She Wore a Yellow Ribbon' remains for many viewers their favorite Ford film, and it is certainly the most striking visually... Winton C. Hoch won an Oscar for his Technicolor photography...

The compositions and photography around Ford's new stamping ground of Monument valley are great to look at as always... The Monument Valley goes from bright sunlight to hail and sleet...

There is a melancholy mixed together in those incredible vistas, with a certain sense of dreamlike contemplation... A backdrop so complex but so significant as the human characters...

Ford has superbly achieved a huge and composite demonstration of all the legends of the frontier cavalryman... Never have the legendary troops been through the silent 'Indian country' and across the magnificent Western plains so brilliant, vivid, exciting and romantic...

Ford has surely done better himself, unquestionably with 'My Darling Clementine,' and 'The Searchers,' yet one has to admit the undisputed merits of 'She Wore a Yellow Ribbon.' Even the usual criticism launched against it-that it is a Western influenced by feeling rather by reason--can be dismissed at the start... Certainly Ford can be sentimental but only when the springs of honest feeling run dry and lose their inspiration, and this never really happens in 'She Wore a Yellow Ribbon.'

The story is that of an older cavalry officer (John Wayne) who is six days from retirement at Fort Stark when he's sent out, in a last mission, to escort the Major's wife (Mildred Natwick) and her niece, an attractive single lady (Joanne Dru) out of the danger area... Wayne tries to fulfill his military role protecting his female charges against the uprising of the Sioux, Cheyenne, Kiowa, Comanche and Apaches...

Wayne possibly more than any other Western star has re-created and heightened the mythology of the West-one has only to watch again his absolute and ideal image in 'She Wore a Yellow Ribbon,' or his avenging Ethan in 'The Searchers,' to be reminded of how irresistible the Duke has been on the cinema screen...

'She Wore a Yellow Ribbon' is above all a sentimental movie, with irresistible scenes, full of Ford's best touches:

- The cavalry engaged in its everyday work... Wayne simply can't picture himself in a world far from the army...

- The comic interaction between Wayne and Victor McLaglen, two hardcore professional officers...

- The bravery of Sgt. Tyree (Ben Johnson), chased by hostile Indians, who must finish his mission by reporting to the captain what he saw...

- The rivalry of two young cavalry lieutenants (John Agar and Harry Carey Jr.) in love with the same woman, each competing to have her wear a yellow ribbon as a token of his love...

- The 'beloved brute,' the tough-soft cavalry sergeant sharing his saddle with a little orphan rescued from a devastated stage station...

- Ford celebrating McLaglen's lachrymose in self-indulgent fisticuffs in an epic saloon fight...

- The last inspection of the C. troops almost bringing tears to Wayne's and the audience's eyes, as he reads the inscription that means so much to him...

- Wayne riding into the war camp of the Indians to stop a war...

- The U. S. cavalry at full gallop descending upon the encampment, firing wildly and stampeding hundred of Indian ponies...

- The evocative use of music, notably the gay and spirited theme song of the yellow ribbon, played countless times...

'She Wore a Yellow Ribbon ' is an exciting story with strong characters and sentiment, highly enjoyable, and beautiful...

Average customer rating:

Eat it!
grim reality without humor.
The best western
"It's a hell of thing, Killin' a man."
No reason to review this, EVERYONE already knows its AWESOME!

Unforgiven
Starring: Beverley Elliott , Frances Fisher , Tara Dawn Frederick , Greg Goossen , and Gene Hackman
Director: Clint Eastwood
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly - Extended Cut (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)
Dances with Wolves - Extended Cut (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)
Tombstone
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Open Range

ASIN: 0790729644
Release Date: 1997-03-26

Amazon.com

Winner of four Academy Awards, including best picture, director, supporting actor, and best editing, Clint Eastwood's 1992 masterpiece stands as one of the greatest and most thematically compelling Westerns ever made. "The movie summarized everything I feel about the Western," said Eastwood at the time of the film's release. "The moral is the concern with gunplay." To illustrate that theme, Eastwood stars as a retired, once-ruthless killer-turned-gentle-widower and hog farmer. He accepts one last bounty-hunter mission--to find the men who brutalized a prostitute--to help support his two motherless children. Joined by his former partner (Morgan Freeman) and a cocky greenhorn (Jaimz Woolvett), he takes on a corrupt sheriff (Oscar winner Gene Hackman) in a showdown that makes the viewer feel the full impact of violence and its corruption of the soul. Dedicated to Eastwood's mentors Sergio Leone and Don Siegel and featuring a colorful role for Richard Harris, it's arguably Eastwood's crowning directorial achievement. The digital video disc offers standard and widescreen formats and a remastered soundtrack. --Jeff Shannon

Description

Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman play retired, down-on-their-luck outlaws who pick up their guns one last time to collect a bounty offered by the vengeful prostitutes of the remote Wyoming town of Big Whiskey. Richard Harris is an ill-fated interloper, a colorful killer-for-hire called English Bob. And Best Supporting Actor Oscar winner Gene Hackman is the sly and brutal local sheriff whose brand of law enforcement ranges from unconventional to ruthless.

DVD Features:
Production Notes
Theatrical Trailer

Customer Reviews:

Eat it!.......2007-07-03

This is a great western. With Clint and Gene at the helm on this one, nobody can deny the quality film that this movie became. I am an avid fan of Clint's and many other amazing western films and this is up there in the top ten. People who gave this film less than 5 stars do not know what a good film is...and can go on complaining about quality films because their bad taste blinds their senses and minds to the truth that is the greatness "Unforgiven". And truly you will not be forgiven for your bad taste.

The vengeance is epic...true to old spaghetti westerns...this is a very good film.

grim reality without humor........2007-06-18

Not a fun western. Much brutishness and grimness. No wisecracking colorful sidekick to provide comic relief. No promising union of hero and maiden at the end. No pat on the back for riding the community of desperados or crooked big wheels. No indian conflicts, dramatic train or bank robberies, nor exciting gold strikes. No wagon train hoedowns nor other pleasant social events. No Mr. nice guy whose tough when he has to be. The women are all mindless abused plain-looking whores, not glamorous dance hall queens, and are ultimately responsible for all the violence in the film. This is a message film. The main point seems to be to present a more realistic picture of life and violence in the wild west than the typical western and to deglamorize shootouts and gunslingers. Another message is that alcohol(and by extension, some other psychoactive drugs) makes certain men violent or abusive. Eastwood's character was such a man.

The plot surrounds conflicting ideas of the just punishment for the face slashing of a prostitute by a cowboy customer whose manhood she insulted. The saloon owner nearly decides to shoot the cowboy, but then decides to defer to the authority of the sheriff, "Little" Bill. Bill initially suggests a whipping as being appropriate for the cowboy and his friend, who helped hold down the prostitute. But this doesn't satisfy the Madam, who demands a public hanging. The saloon keeper now demands a fine, payable to him, for damage to his "property". Bill finally decides on a fine alone. The prostitutes are incredulous at this sentence. To them this says the legal system regards them as mere property, equivalent to slaves or horses. Most viewers would probably regard a death sentence as too harsh, but a fine as too light. Perhaps Little Bill's original suggestion of a whipping would have satisfied the prostitutes after they witnessed it and there would not have been any more violence connected with the incident. This "mistake" left the prostitutes as well as most of the other town's people unsatisfied, and would ultimately cost Bill his life. The prostitutes offered a bounty for the heads of the 2 cowboys so as to achieve their idea of justice, and this initiates the rest of the action of this film. In a broader application, the complications surrounding this incident serves as a warning that even domestic insults and assaults can sometimes result in a cascade of revenge and legalistic injuries, jailings and murders, sometimes involving people quite unrelated to the original incident.

This film showcases the injustices and ambiguities of vigilante justice and its perpetrators. The reformed ex-gunslinger drunk(Eastwood), who initially took up his weapons again only to make some money to help support his children and to satisfy the revenge wishes of others, eventually tranforms himself temporarily into a drunk vigilante who murdered those not involved as well as those involved in the death of his long time partner. This is but one of several incidents of unjust killings(including at least one of the cowboys involved in the slashing).

However, we have to balance this against the frequent shortcomings of legalistic justice, including the expenses involved, frequent mistakes, the influence of money, status, race and corruption, the frequent inability to identify, capture or convict perpetrators, the endless appeals and frequent dissatisfaction with sentences as too lenient or too harsh and being carried out far too long after the crime is comitted. Both have their pluses and minuses. The popularity of films where the hero eliminates the villain in a vigilante fashion suggests that vigilante justice, when done appropriately, is acceptable to many people and often preferable to legalized justice. However, the legal establishment is reluctant to legitimize it, except perhaps in self-defense cases, which are often subject to interpretation. It recognizes the gave dangers of too frequent use of vigilante justice, besides the fact that this seriously undermines its authority.

The best western.......2007-05-15

Unforgiven is definitely my favorite western of all time. Clint directs and stars in this film. This is a must watch for any western film fan.

"It's a hell of thing, Killin' a man.".......2007-03-30

When talking about westerns you couldn't begin to muster a word without first mentioning Clint Eastwood. Eastwood didn't start the most popular genre in American cinema but he helped to romanticize the idea of a gunslinger with a heart of stone to people the world over with his "man with no name" series directed by Sergio Leoni. My personal favorites of all the spaghetti westerns were his. He continued this tradition when he stared directing westerns of his own like High Plains Drifter, Pale Rider, and the Outlaw Josie Wales to name a few. He began to come into his own as not just an actor on screen but as a storyteller to.

The Unforgiven is Eastwood at his peak as a storyteller and his first real master piece as a director. He sheds his badass, no fear, bent on revenge gunslinger persona that he made famous behind for a character with more depth. A man with more demons and layers upon layers of baggage, fears and insecurities. In this film Eastwood Plays William Muddy, an ex outlaw turned family man and pig farmer from Missouri. William has a bit of a past that he has long left behind, mayhem, gambling, boozin' and of course killing folks. His long dead wife cured him of those evils and he is just a simple yet inept farmer. William has two youngins that he is struggling to provide for when a young gunslinger wanna be comes riding in, looking to team up with Muddy, to collect on a reward offered by a whore who was disfigured by two cowboys.

Muddy who is flat broke with children to tend to feels he has no choice and agrees to help find and kill these men but only if he can also team up with his old partner, Ned (Morgan Freeman). The three men soon find out this bounty has many more obstacles to over come besides just finding and killing these men. The biggest being the Sheriff of Old Whiskey, Little Bill (Gene Hackman). Little Bill keep a tight hold on what goes on in his town and outlaws all fire arms in city limits. He has little respect for assassins and hired guns and enforces his law with the most brutal of measures.

The thing that makes this film so different that the other Eastwood films is the depth of the characters, mainly Muddy played by Eastwood himself. In the beginning he is old, out of shape and soft spoken farmer who hasn't even held a pistol in a decade. He has lost all taste for killing and wants to leave the past where it belongs, in the past. Muddy is not only regretful and ashamed of his past but has become fearful of it as well. On the servace he almost looks like a coward... but no, he's no coward. Muddy is afraid of letting out the monster he was in his youth, knowing full well there is no turning back, if your gonna kill someone you have to be all in or all out. His partners learn this the hard way when you set to kill a man, a bit your own soul dies with it.

The progression and transformation this character takes is amazing done and explodes in the films climax. Eastwood took a huge chance gracing the film for an hour and a half before ever giving what the true fans want. When Eastwood finally delivers with the goods its well worth the wait and you find out that he is meaner, nastier than you could have ever dreamed. This film has superb directing, writing, acting and pacing, nothing in this movie is off in the slightest and each character is more fleshed out and deep than any other western that I've ever seen.

This movie is about more than just badass gunslingers, this movie has a message about what killing does to a man and how few people have the stomach for it. Even the badest of them all is kept awake at night from the horrors he's inflicted on others.

You will not find a better modern day western. Even if you're not a fan of this genre you will enjoy this film immensely and walk away feeling satisfied.

The title of this move sums up Eastwood character to a tee...Unforgiven. Not just by others but himself as well. You can change yourself all you want but something you do in life will follow you and haunt you for the rest of your days. One of the best lines of Eastwood's in the movie that really sums up what it's about is when the kid said that they had it comin' to `em, and Eastwoon responds, "We All have it comin' kid."

No reason to review this, EVERYONE already knows its AWESOME!.......2007-03-08

One of the best movies of all time.

It's gritty and its not afraid to show it.

It's much more realistic than the typical draw in a millisecond and shoot ten guys in the eye at 1000 yards kind of movies.

It showed that not all heros are perfect and that there is weakness in even the strongest of men. It even showed that even scumbags have a likeable side. And, it even showed that sometimes a tough guy image is just a cover to hide vunerabilities.

This certainly wasn't Hollywood's typical lets make some big explosions to hide our weak story line kind of movies.

Tombstone - The Director's Cut (Vista Series)

Average customer rating:

Your Brother's Not Always Right...
I love this movie!!!
Tombstone is tops
Tombstone review
Phenomenal

Tombstone - The Director's Cut (Vista Series)
Starring: Kurt Russell , Val Kilmer , Sam Elliott , Bill Paxton , and Powers Boothe
Director: George P. Cosmatos
Manufacturer: Walt Disney Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

Action & Adventure | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

DTS | Fully Loaded DVDs | Features | DVD | Video

Vista Series | Fully Loaded DVDs | Features | DVD | Video

( T ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Wyatt Earp (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Unforgiven
Open Range
Silverado (2 Disc Superbit Gift Set)
Young Guns (Special Edition)

ASIN: B00005RHGL
Release Date: 2002-01-15

Amazon.com

Description

George P. Cosmatos presents the Director's Cut of his incredibly popular TOMBSTONE, the action-packed, star-studded western that brings the legendary feud between the Earps and the Clantons to life. Former U.S. Marshall Wyatt Earp's (Kurt Russell) plan for peace, quiet, and prosperity misfires when he, his brothers, and the outrageous rogue Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer) encounter that ruthless band of outlaws, the Clantons. Gripping performances and explosive action fill the screen in this legendary western about Tombstone and the gunfight at the O.K. Corral.

Customer Reviews:

Your Brother's Not Always Right..........2007-06-30

I love this movie!!!.......2007-06-13

Tombstone is one of my favorite movies!!! I thought it was about time I bought the DVD.

Tombstone is tops.......2007-06-11

Tombstone review.......2007-06-08

Excellent movie. Hard to beat if you are a true western fan. Amazon service is great!

Phenomenal.......2007-06-05

Average customer rating:

What a ride ...
An old but still robust oak!
How to fix image quality
Big problem with the image qualtiy in this movie
This review is on the special edition

True Grit (Special Collector's Edition)
Starring: John Wayne , Glen Campbell , Kim Darby , Jeremy Slate , and Robert Duvall
Director: Henry Hathaway
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Rooster Cogburn (...and the Lady)
The Shootist
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The Sons of Katie Elder
El Dorado

ASIN: B000O179FY
Release Date: 2007-05-22

Amazon.com essential video

A wonderful/rueful running gag in El Dorado involves the Edgar Allan Poe line "Ride, boldly ride" being mangled by toupee-wearer Wayne into "Ride, baldy, ride." Two years later, in True Grit, Wayne put the joke in italics by donning an eyepatch and several inches of girth to play cantankerous territorial marshal Rooster Cogburn. Critics belatedly noticed that he could be a marvelously entertaining actor, and Hollywood finally gave him the Oscar they'd failed to nominate him for in Red River, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, The Quiet Man, The Searchers, et al. But make no mistake: True Grit is a splendid movie, with lovingly textured storytelling and sturdy characters, Henry Hathaway's finest high-country action set-pieces, intoxicatingly ornate frontier language, and a couple of formidable bad guys (Jeff Corey's Tom Cheney and Robert Duvall's "Lucky" Ned Pepper). It's a compliment to say that, from a technical standpoint, the movie could have been made any time in Hathaway's 40-year career, yet its feeling for the reality of violence ceded no ground to The Wild Bunch, released around the same time. Still, the film's most sublime passage falls between bursts of gunplay: Rooster sitting on a hilltop at night recounting his life story, as John Wayne metamorphoses ineluctably into W.C. Fields. --Richard T. Jameson

Customer Reviews:

What a ride ... .......2007-06-11

John Wayne's belated Oscar came for 1969's True Grit," a rousing entertainment that didn't stand quite as tall as, say, "Red River" or "The Searchers." Paramount Home Entertainment has released the double-disc set as part of the studio's 100th-year Wayne promotion with Warner Home Video.

The Duke plays one-eyed bounty hunter Rooster Cogburn. Valley girl Kim Darby plays a teen bent on avenging her father's death. Darby, who gives a sensational performance, stood toe-to-toe with Wayne onscreen and off, the bonus features note. Critics of the time thought Darby was in for a major league career, but she went on to a modest but long-running tenure in the business.

The extras aren't deep, but the docu "Working With the Duke" does a decent job of positioning "True Grit" in Wayne's sunsetting career. Perhaps mellowing with age, right-winger Wayne went to bat for the hiring of blacklisted screenwriter Marguerite Roberts, who was "weaned on stories about gunfighters."

The images of Colorado (2.35:1) are suitably sweeping and majestic. An extra feature returns to some of the "True Grit" locations, such as the graphic triple hanging. I experienced none of the softness cited by some of the other reviewers.

An old but still robust oak!.......2007-06-02

"True grit" is a humanizing Western that obviously doesn't lack of the main ingredients, but provided of a superior vision. Booster Cogburn is a one-eye crotchety U.S. Marshall who still can shoot straight.

In this sense we must acknowledge an absolute and even worthy treatment in which concerns originality and profound honesty about the genre that definitively has achieved a true mythic feature.

And so, being Wayne the most complete icon of this genre was more than obvious to suppose he had to star the most variegated gamut of characters in his successful artistic trajectory.

On the other hand, this was the film in which Dennis hopper and Henry Hathaway smoked the cask of the peace after a long chain of misfortunate events between them.

How to fix image quality.......2007-06-01

I had the same problem with image quality as previously posted by another reviewer on May 27, 2007. Mine was blurred, NOT in 2.35:1 and the "Enhanced" setting did not work on my DVD player. Here is what I had to do to fix the image quality problem: go back to startup DVD menu before you select "Play" and change your "Display" to "4:3 Letterbox".

Big problem with the image qualtiy in this movie.......2007-05-27

We have a big mystery here. All the reviews I have read about this movie say the picture quality is great, but the focus is soft. Here is a note I sent to a reviewer on a prominent DVD website. I haven't received a reply yet. If anybody on Amazon knows what the problem is please write in and let us know. Here is my note mentioned above:
"I am puzzled about the lack of sharpness in the focus in this movie. All the long shots and medium shots are definitely soft. I have a top of the line 50" plasma monitor with a lot of DVDs and I worked as a film cameraman for 15 years so I know what a sharp image is supposed to look like. The movie plays in what looks like 1.85 with narrow letterboxing at the top and bottom as normal. The Internet Movie Database says this is a 1.85 film. In that 1.85 aspect ratio the image is soft as I said. However, in the supplemental documentary there are several scenes from the movie that appear to be in about 2.35 or close that look sharp just like they should. But True Grit wasn't a 2.35 scope process movie! What is going on here? I understand if a scope movie is shown in 1.85 the image has been enlarged and it would look soft, but it is a 1.85 movie and it looks soft which usually means the studio messed up the transfer. But your review says the picture is great. I am really puzzled. Can you explain what the problem might be?"

This review is on the special edition.......2007-05-27

Let me be the first to review this Special Edition presentation of True Grit. Since so much reviews have been written about the plot and all, I will go straight to the gest of this review. The special edition is a definite improvement over the previous released editions of True Grit. The colors, image and everything appears to be more clearer, vivid and cleaner. The sound also improved as well and overall, any true fan of this movie will upgrade to this edition. The extra features also proves to be quite nice and they are well worth the time and effort to view as well.

This movie may not be one of John Wayne's finest effort (I thought his work in the Searchers was superior) but it represent everything there is about John Wayne in one package. His Oscar is well deserved and the captured of his character, Rooster Cogburn, is near perfect. As a friend of mine's once said, "Wayne can only play Wayne", but he does it so superbly that it virtually off set most actors playing other characters. True Grit is a great movie and this Special Edition does pretty good justice to the film.

Average customer rating:

Action, Humor, and John Wayne: Who could ask for more?
Ride boldly ride..
My favorite John Wayne film
A Hired Gun Amidst a Ranchers' War
A Great opening

El Dorado
Starring: John Wayne , Robert Mitchum , James Caan , Charlene Holt , and Paul Fix
Director: Howard Hawks
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Rio Bravo
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ASIN: 6305754969
Release Date: 2000-03-21

Amazon.com essential video

El Dorado doesn't quite have the scope or ambition of Howard Hawks's greatest Westerns, Red River and Rio Bravo. But this relaxed picture, made near the end of Hawks's marvelous career, still shows the steady, sure hand of a master. Hawks reunites with John Wayne, playing a hired gun mixed up in a range war; Robert Mitchum is Wayne's old pal, now a sheriff in the midst of a hopeless drunken bender. James Caan, in one of his first sizable roles, plays a kid who can't shoot straight and wears a funny hat (every character in the movie makes fun of this hat). As the plot moves along, it begins to resemble Rio Bravo rather closely ("I steal from myself all the time," Hawks was fond of admitting). But in El Dorado the heroes are a bit older, their powers a bit weaker; at the end Wayne must revert to a bit of subterfuge in order to get the drop on the steely gunslinger (ice-cold Christopher George) he needs to put down. As relaxed as the movie is, Hawks and Wayne and company are in good spirits, with plenty of broad humor and easy camaraderie on display. Hawks and Wayne would make just one more film, the disappointing Rio Lobo, before ending their fruitful partnership. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews:

Action, Humor, and John Wayne: Who could ask for more?.......2007-04-18

This movie would be easy to confuse with the movie "Rio Bravo" bacause both movies carry a plot thread involving a drunken lawman who must be sobered up in order to keep him alive, but don't be deceived. These are two different movies with entirely different story lines. I have both titles in my collection and am glad to have both.
In this one James Mitchum gives an outstanding performance as the drunken marshal with John Wayne coming to his aid. John Wayne and James Caan sober him up with a witches brew of which, thank the Lord, we don't have to watch, or smell, the effects.
Mitchum is trying to protect a family of ranchers from the schemes of a land grabbing cattle baron played to cynical perfection by Ed Asner. (this was before he bacame beloved as Lou Grant on tv.) Before the movie is over the plot twists and turns like a coyote covered with fire ants, but everything comes out all right in the end. (except for Ed Asner, He's dead.)
In all a good action adventure, with some violence. It is interesting to note that John Wayne is shot early in the film and is still suffering life threatening effects at the end. A relief from so many movies of the period where the hero suffers major wounds and a couple of days later shoots down a herd of villains and whips the bad guy in a fist fight.
It is also worth noting that while this movie takes some humor from devices to sober up the co-star, neither this movie or "Rio Bravo" treat alcoholism as a humorous condition. In both movies, it is treated as a life-threatening and humiliating condition, with lingering and painful side-effects.
Sorry, neither Dean Martin, Angie Dickinson, Rick Nelson, or Walter Brennan appear in this movie. It doesn't need them. If you want to see them, buy "Rio Bravo"

Ride boldly ride.........2007-04-02

A great movie however many times you watch it. I'm glad I found it here.

My favorite John Wayne film.......2007-03-28

Yes, El Dorado has a similar plot as Rio Bravo, and it stars the "Duke" and is directed by the same director.
But, El Dorado has a much tighter and leaner script, and doesn't contain any dreaded "filler" like Rio Bravo, nor does it have the woefully miscast Ricky Nelson. (It's still a superior western though)
El Dorado co-stars the much more effective James Caan, and the incomparable Robert Mitchum in a spectacular performance.
A great story, a wonderful and superb cast, lots of great action and masterful direction make this a "must-see" western. (that "splinters in the hand" scene has to be seen to be believed ! )
Highly recommended.

A Hired Gun Amidst a Ranchers' War.......2007-03-01

The setting for this western is Texas sometime after the Civil War. There are a number of unique, or at least uncommon, elements in this flick. It begins with a delightful song, "El Dorado", and the showing of still paintings of Old West scenes. Later, a shootout occurs not only inside and near a saloon, as one might expect in a typical western, but also in a church (belfry and then sanctuary). Women (notably rancher MacDonald's cowgirl daughter) are more prominent in this flick than in most other westerns.

There are many violent scenes in the film. Not only are shootings shown, but so also is a vendetta stabbing. Wounded men (including Cole Thornton) are shown in agony.

The politically correct won't be happy with the start of this film. Cole Thornton (John Wayne) mentions that, before the arrival of rancher MacDonald in the area, "there was nothing here except Indians and coyotes". But of course this film was made at a very different time from today (1967).

Rancher MacDonald's son, Luke, is sent to guard the ranch. This is, later according to Thornton, "A boy doing a man's job." Luke falls asleep and, at the sound of an approaching horseman, wakes up and opens fire wildly. The horseman fires back as a reflex, wounding Luke in the lower abdomen. It turns out that the horseman is none other than Cole Thornton. Luke writhes in agony, explains to Thornton what happened, and then commits suicide with his own gun.

Thornton tells father MacDonald what happened, and the latter sadly accepts the truth. But Luke's cowgirl sister does not. She set up a revenge ambush for Thornton, and fires a rifle at him. She says triumphantly: "There, you won't be killing any more boys!" But it turns out that she only managed to wound Thornton in the lower back. For the rest of the film, Thornton has episodic problems with disabling back pain and arm paralysis from the bullet lodged in his back, which he neglects to have removed promptly.

In time, one of MacDonald's remaining three sons is kidnapped, and Cole Thornton works for his release. The local sheriff at first is of no help. He is constantly drunk, and is a laughingstock for everyone around. But in time he gets sober, returns to the saloon, and has a bit of revenge against those who had been laughing at him.

At one point, Thornton seems to have an upper hand in a gunfight with MacDonald's kidnappers. But then, at the worse possible moment, Thornton is hit with a spell of back pain and arm paralysis. He is totally helpless! What will the kidnappers do to him? Will he at least get out alive? Will MacDonald's kidnapped survive and ever go free? I will not spoil the ending by revealing it.

A Great opening.......2007-01-12

I happen to be a big fan of Olaf Wieghorst and own an original oil. The vehicle of DVD is ideal for the purposes I bought this particular movie. I realize that many purchasers will care less about the item I like the most and that was the eight or more paintings by Olaf that come with the beginning credits. When a picture or painting comes on the screen the DVD can be be paused and the painting can be studied. It is a great experience. I hope that this review will encourage others to watch the movie with the eye of a western art lover.

Average customer rating:

Cool Quick, Delightful Dead!!!
a good movie. fun to watch
You'll Need A Bottle Of "MESCAL" To Get Through This One!
The gunfights are the highlight
"Our daddy's gonna kill you, preacher!"

The Quick and the Dead
Starring: Sharon Stone , Gene Hackman , Russell Crowe , Leonardo DiCaprio , and Tobin Bell
Director: Sam Raimi
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Bad Girls (Extended Cut)
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Tombstone

ASIN: 0767817710
Release Date: 1998-09-29

Amazon.com essential video

Director Sam Raimi (The Evil Dead) tries gamely to recapture the exotic mysteries of spaghetti Westerns in this stylish but empty film, which stars Sharon Stone as a stranger who comes to the town of Redemption in time for an annual shooting contest. Her real motivations for being there are the stuff that might have found their way into a film by Sergio Leone--in fact, much of this film is a pastiche of Leone's greatest hits, including A Fistful of Dollars and Once upon a Time in America--but one can't quite believe Stone in the role. Gene Hackman gives a predictably solid performance as the town tyrant, and Leonardo DiCaprio is good as a lucky young gunslinger who gets to kiss the heroine. But not even the cast can help this failed project. Raimi brings a lot of razzle-dazzle to his camera work, but it doesn't make the film any more substantial. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

Cool Quick, Delightful Dead!!!.......2007-06-30

Take one of the many martial arts contests to the death movies, transplant it to the Wild West, and you have the general idea what The Quick and the Dead is about. The head bad guy, Herod (played by Gene Hackman) sponsors a gunfight. First prize is enough money to choke a herd of horses. From all corners of the country they come, some nasty and some nice. There is Russell Crowe's character, a former outlaw who has renounced violence. There is Leonardo DiCaprio's character, only know as "the kid", who's fate is irrevocably intertwined with Herod's. Finally, there is the mysterious gun woman, played by Sharon Stone, who has her own agenda.

In theory, this movie should be a disaster. Not that many critics li