The Movie
There's never been another big-screen cowboy quite like Clint Eastwood, and that's a fact. But while some might criticize his Spaghetti Western persona The Man with No Name for also being The Man with No Heart, his title character in The Outlaw Josey Wales serves up a lot more soul. He's a peaceful, innocent Southern farmer whose wife is raped, then murdered along with their son, his home burned to the ground by Union irregulars late in The Civil War.
Josey joins up with some confederate soldiers out for blood, but when the North wins, that doesn't mean that the victors are behaving honorably. Dark deeds unfold and Josey soon seals his fate as a wanted killer. His journey takes him to The Indian Nations, where the Native Americans are remarkably sympathetic to his plight. His guts, his brains and his honor quickly make Josey Wales a folk hero, even a legend, but with a price on his head and the army on his trail, can he ever settle down?
Eastwood's tobacco-spitting, gun-slinging, authority-bucking anti-hero embodies the cool cowboy we've come to expect, but at a critical period well past the prime of the American Western when the historical treatment as well as the Hollywood depiction of Native Americans was coming under scrutiny. And not for nothing, but the no-special-effects animal action on display would never fly today. For these reasons, and others, Josey Wales is a pivotal, must-see movie.
The Picture
2011 marks the 35th anniversary of The Outlaw Josey Wales, and Warner is celebrating the occasion not only with its Blu-ray debut but a gorgeous new HD master. The entire film appears to be shot on location, and we are continually treated to delineated leaves on the trees, blades of grass, fine textures in the clothing. Colors, particularly in the desert sequence, are undeniably strong. Blacks have a natural appearance (shacks and other frontier buildings are realistically dark inside) if not always highly detailed. I noted modest grain and slight video noise in really challenging areas of the 2.4:1 frame, but overall this is a big step up from standard definition.
The Sound
Although previously remixed for 5.1 channels, Josey Wales never sounded this good. The DTS-HD Master Audio track is spacious and aggressive with its use of the surrounds--be it the calm chirping of cicadas and tweeting of birds or the crush of rain and thunder--as well as the bass for the rumble of marauders approaching on horseback. There are also lots of powerful gunshots and more than a few booming cannon, a new directionality to galloping horses, and a deft manipulation of all the channels for a distinctly modern presentation.
The Extras
New to this elegant 32-page digi-book edition are a commentary by film critic/historian Richard Schickel and the 29-minute documentary "Clint Eastwood's West" about the director/star and his penchant for the subject, containing interviews with many experts including the man himself. Ported from DVD are the 1999 "Hell Hath No Fury: The Making of The Outlaw Josey Wales" (30-and-half minutes) with several cast members returning to discuss the film, plus "Eastwood in Action" (eight minutes), one of those great vintage (1976!) Professional Films behind-the-scenes shorts.
These two are in standard definition, the new video content is in HD. Not included is a previously released introduction by Eastwood.
Final Thoughts
This was Clint's fifth feature film as a director, fourth as both director and star, and he has crafted another enduring Western, beautiful to look at (especially on this remastered Blu-ray, with solid high-res 5.1 audio too) and dramatically stirring in the best tradition of the genre.
Product Details
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