The Outlaw Josey Wales

1976 "...an army of one."
7.8| 2h15m| PG| en
Details

After avenging his family's brutal murder, Wales is pursued by a pack of soldiers. He prefers to travel alone, but ragtag outcasts are drawn to him - and Wales can't bring himself to leave them unprotected.

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Reviews

Beystiman It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.
Numerootno A story that's too fascinating to pass by...
KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.
Jonah Abbott There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.
Devran ikiz I have never seen a film where everything begins so fast. When 4th minute was over, Josey's wife and son had already been killed and buried. In these moments, "The Outlaw Josey Wales," fails to focus on the feelings of a father who just lost his family to the Union Soldiers. In almost all the Eastwood films, feelings are very well hidden. They are always there, but buried deep inside of him. I understand that is the image Clint Eastwood tries to develop in his films, especially after Dollars Trilogy, but neglecting to show the real feelings of a father and a husband, who just lost his family, is not something acceptable, especially when you make a film about revenge. After this scene, he joins the Confederate Guerillas and intro of the film starts. Even from the very beginning, Clint Eastwood, as a director, makes clear that his film is not about mourning but revenge, and Josey Wales is there to make this happen."The Outlaw Josey Wales" is a Western road trip film. After Josey's comrades surrender to Northern troops and are murdered violently, he becomes a fugitive and continues his journey by himself, as an outlaw. He heads out to the west, refusing to be a part of a (non-existing) civilization, and on the road, he meets Native Americans and other people from different backgrounds and becomes their leader. "The Outlaw Josey Wales" takes place in a period where the civil war has recently finished but the echoes can still be heard. Country is in complete mess, no one knows what they are doing. On the roads people kill each other without problem. As I said Josey Wales, is an outlaw who refuses to surrender. During the film, he is constantly followed by troops and bounty hunters because of the price for his head. It seems like he is one of the most dangerous people in the United States of America at that time. He has no problem killing dozens of people in the same time. He is a talented gunman and a natural born leader.Josey Wales has the same level of masculinity and coolness like most of Eastwood characters. He hides his face in the shadows, he spits tobacco on his victims and animals, he talks very little and creates a continuous mystery. These signs are the trademarks of the Clint Eastwood characters. These days I am focusing mostly on Clint Eastwood-made films, and I have the feeling that films change, but main character remains the same. "The Outlaw Josey Wales" is also directed by him and we can see his development in the means of story and directing style in this film. There is a constant progress in his stories which I like. Different people with different backgrounds cross their paths with him during his journey west. Each character has a story to tell, and from these stories we understand that, no matter from which side you are, you suffer from the disastrous results of war. "The Outlaw Josey Wales" is a Western film with a great deal of drama in it. How lives were destroyed overnight, how civilization turns its back to Native Americans and how they were kicked out of their homelands are some side subjects of the story."The Outlaw Josey Wales" is one of the most realistic films that shows the consequences of the American Civil War. That's why in 1996, the film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry of the Library Congress, for being deemed culturally and historically significant. I have particularly like the photography of Bruce Surtees. It manages to show real life struggles of post war environment and beauty of the western life and I think this is very important for a film like this, which focuses on certain points of the life in the United States during and after civil war. The film was adapted from the book called The Rebel Outlaw: Josey Wales written by Forrest Carter in 1972. The film is considered a financial success with its box office of $31 Million against its budget of $3.7 Million. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Original in Music Score. This is one of the films, where a certain background knowledge is required to fully enjoy it. As a non-American, I am fascinated to be able to understand their struggles on their way to becoming a great nation. From this point of view, I am thankful for the cinema and its educating power over people.
Uriah43 After his wife and son are murdered by a group of Redlegs from Kansas a farmer name "Josie Wales" (Clint Eastwood) teams up with others from Missouri intent on having their revenge. And since the Redlegs are allied with the powerful Union army, they join the Confederacy in an attempt to somehow lessen the odds against them. Unfortunately, the Union eventually wears the Confederacy which eventually forces the leader of the Missouri guerrillas named "Fletcher" (John Vernon) to discuss the terms of surrender. Although Fletcher accepts money for his efforts, what he doesn't know is that the treacherous Redlegs have no intention of honoring any deal and subsequently slaughter almost all of his men when he brings them in to surrender. What the Redlegs don't count upon is the fact that the most dangerous and deadly guerrilla of them all—Josie Wales—has opted not to surrender and having now witnessed the massacre of his colleagues is now even more determined to kill all of them. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that I believe that this is one of the finest Western movies ever produced. The plot moved along at a very entertaining pace and I especially enjoyed the humor provided by the old Cherokee warrior named "Lone Watie" (Chief Dan George). Be that as it may, those looking for a good Western from days gone by should certainly check this one out. It is extremely entertaining.
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.
ivo-cobra8 Disclaimer: If you are a viewer that mainly prefers art-house-type movies, then you might as well ignore this review. In addition, if you're not able to take a Clint Eastwood's best classic western masterpiece film with a ton of great one liners , ignore this review, as well. We'll both be better off.The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) is another Clint Eastwood's direct debut after the success of High Plains Drifter (1974), The Outlaw Josey Wales is another western classics and Clint Eastwood's second best masterpiece that he directed! I love this film and it is my fifth favorite Clint Eastwood western movie. This is one in my top 5 Eastwood western films. I just love this movie to death and I love the story and the actors that it is in this film. Without any doubt, it is clearly one of the best westerns ever done, with a ton of great one liners! "you gonna draw those pistols, or whistle Dixie?". Clint is THE man! This is simply a superb western flick. The writing, acting, direction, production, It's just plain old solid in all aspects. And of course there's the classic one-liners that Clint's characters have been known for: "Aren't we gonna bury them guys, Josie"? asks the kid. "Buzzards gotta eat, same as worms" replies Josie. Classic Clint.Plot: An ex-Confederate soldier who returns home after the war to find his family murdered by a rogue group of Unionists. Refusing to surrender, he sets off on a path of lethal revenge, pitting him against his former commander.This is a classic western film set on the old wild west , the plot stars off after the end of the Civil war in USA, a soldiers that his family was murdered by the Union soldiers, doesn't surrender and flees all his friends dies by the end of war and they are double crossed. Josey Wales becomes an outlaw, who has to run away, he is pursed by Union soldiers and bounty hunters who want's him dead. This was the first time we see Sondra Locke working together with Clint Eastwood, she was his girlfriend during that time. They made 7 movies together and this was their first film together. Sondra started even in Sudden Impact (1983) in the fourth Dirty Harry franchise, she played Harry's love interest. Sudden Impact (1983) was their last film they worked together before they broke up in 1989. Still the movie has everything that I love about westerns, bounty killers, outlaws, union soldiers, Indians and a tons of shootouts.Everyone does amazing job, the pacing and acting is superb. No CGI or shaky cam, It is a film of portraying of how the old west really was. Clint Eastwood's "The Outlaw Josey Wales" is a strange and daring Western that brings together two of the genre's usually incompatible story lines. On the one hand, it's about a loner, a man of action and few words, who turns his back on civilization and lights out for the Indian nations. On the other hand, it's about a group of people heading West who meet along the trail and cast their destinies together. We meet his character, Josey Wales, just after the Civil War. He's an unreconstructed Southerner, bitter about the atrocities he's witnessed, refusing to surrender. When Northern troops cold-bloodily murder some of his comrades, he mows down the Yankees with a Gatling gun and becomes a fugitive. So far, we're on familiar ground; Eastwood plays essentially the same character he's been developing since the Dollar Westerns. He says little, keeps his face in the shadows, has an almost godlike personal invulnerability, and lives by a code we have to intuit because he'd die rather than explain it aloud.Eastwood's skill before and behind the camera connected with audience for it's humor and tenderness as well as its hair-trigger action. The editing is outstanding, the score is awesome. This is a Great film, However while this film may be one of my favorite westerns, my favorite is always and forever For a Few Dollars More. The dialogue as well as the camera angles, where superb. This movie is a great expression of western life. It speaks on so many levels yet retains its purity in telling a story of a man who lost his whole identity because the actions of cruel men in a war he did not start. Josey Wales is a man set on a path of reckoning and vengeance for the family and life he lost.Overall: I love this movie and it get's a perfect 10 by me. It is my fourth favorite Eastwood Western film that I will always watch it. The Outlaw Josey Wales is a 1976 American revisionist Western DeLuxe Color and Panavision film set during and after the American Civil War. It was directed by and starred Clint Eastwood (as the eponymous Josey Wales), with Chief Dan George, Sondra Locke, Sam Bottoms, and Geraldine Keams.10/10 Grade: Bad Ass Seal Of Approval Studio: The Malpaso Company, Warner Bros. Starring: Clint Eastwood, Chief Dan George, Sondra Locke, Bill McKinney, John Vernon, Paula Trueman, Sam Bottoms, Charles Tyner, Kyle Eastwood Director: Clint Eastwood Producer: Robert Daley Screenplay: Philip Kaufman, Sonia Chernus Based on Gone to Texas by Forrest Carter Rated: PG Running Time: 2 Hr. 16 Mins. Budget: $3.700.000 Box Office: $31,800,000