AudioFileZ The Outlaw Josey Wales might not be groundbreaking but it has a western genre purity. A man who is just trying to provide for his family gets thrust into a situation of revenge and being hunted. This is as real as the west itself and interjecting The Civil War adds history as well.Even in the mid-seventies the western genre remained bankable at the box office but had little output to satisfy that. Especially anything with true quality like those of decades before. We should all thank Clint Eastwood for being an excellent torch bearer. Here it seems everything gels. You've got a fantastic character who gets support from the unlikely wonderful treasure real life Indian Chief Dan George. This pairing thrusts the movie into rarefied air indeed. Plus the story is compelling and flows as if it recounts something that actually may have occurred. The wilderness of American and the spare landscapes of the Southwest in particular are brilliantly photographed. Early on newcomer Samuel Bottoms gives an honest very un- Hollywood co-starring role as a young Southerner who idolizes Wales as everything he aspires to. A movie with utterly fantastic characters and a fine story to match. Eastwood had his own vision and it moved slowly which some of the brass, reportedly, wanted to either fix with more action or edit to move faster. Eastwood, again reportedly, told them that's your choice and I'll be working at the studio across the street. They left it alone and the rest proved Eastwood already had a mastery of the genre much like Ford and Hawks. The story works in it's unhurried and steady flow to the inevitable final outcome never losing the viewer's interest. One really isn't asked to look too deep, but there are great truths too woven in the politics which are never insulting or fake. Truly a classic western for the ages.

jacobs-greenwood This is one of my favorite Clint Eastwood films, and he directed himself in the title role. It has one of the best stories and features some of the best action sequences, IMO, of any of his Westerns. It's musical Score was Oscar nominated. It was added to the National Film Registry in 1996.After the Civil War, having served an honorable man Fletcher (John Vernon) that was tricked by higher authorities, Clint (the title character) settles down as a farmer. Then, his property is burned and his family killed by a bunch of renegades. He receives a scar across the face when he's hit by the butt of a rifle, and is knocked out. While recovering, he teaches himself to shoot while he plots his revenge. He then sets out to find each and every one of the men responsible in order to kill them. He is mostly successful, so the authorities send Fletcher out to find and stop him. About this time, Clint has met and joined with a Native Americans (Chief Dan George). They run across a "green" pioneering family headed West, which includes a pretty young Sandra Locke. So, he helps them, having to make peace with the local Indian chief Ten Bears (Will Sampson). But, he's yet to find the last of the men he'd hunted and Fletcher is on his tail.

Fella_shibby The Outlaw Josey Wales is directed by Clint Eastwood, who also stars as Wales. Joining Eastwood in the cast are Chief Dan George ( Little Big Man, Shadow of the Hawk). Sondra Locke ( The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, 6 films with partner Eastwood). Bill McKinney ( Deliverance, seven films with Eastwood, The Green Mile). John Vernon ( Point Blank, Topaz, Dirty Harry, Charley Varrick). Music is by Jerry Fielding and cinematography is by Bruce Surtees. Editing is by Ferris Webster. Josey Wales switches from a simple peasant farmer to stone-cold killer... His shooting becomes as precise as his tobacco spitting... The story is about a Missouri farmer whose family is murdered n how he turns into an outlaw to take revenge. All in all The Outlaw Josy Wales is perfect in all areas, moving, dramatic, thrilling, adventurous, humorous and full of action. Eastwood has surely out done himself and to be honest this is the best film of the seventies and a profound competitor for one of the greatest cinematic achievements in movie history. There are plenty of decently- made action sequences throughout the movie. The characters are also pretty well- developed and most of them are lovable. I like how its a kind of adventure story as well, taking place in several regions of the West. Very atmospheric n moody film. A bit long but doesn't hav dull moments. A ground breaking film for its time.

jadavix "The Outlaw Josey Wales" would be a classic western if not for one fatal flaw: it drags a little in the middle part, and goes on a bit too long.With editing, it would be a small masterpiece.It tells the story of the titular Josey Wales, a Confederate soldier whose family, and later his regiment, is massacred by Unionist rebels. He becomes an outlaw and heads into the wilderness with a price on his head, picking up a band of unlikely compatriots who have all been screwed by the army of the North in some way, namely an elderly Cherokee Indian, a young Navajo woman, an elderly Kansas dame and her young granddaughter. Behind the scenes of Wales' pursuit is Captain Fletcher, a Unionist officer played by one of my favourite actors, John Vernon, as someone who is uncomfortable with the violence with which Wales' band were treated. Wales is headed for a confrontation, but it may not be with the ambivalent Fletcher, who he may have more in common with than he realises."The Outlaw Josey Wales" features many great moments, such as when Wales shoots the rope guiding the Union soldiers across the river on the barge, and when his first charge dies. It lags in the middle though, and would have been much better with a tighter script.