The Searchers (John Wayne Collection)

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the searchers (john wayne collection)

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The Searchers (John Wayne Collection)

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Working together for the 12th time John Wayne and director John Ford forged The Searchers into an indelible image of the frontier and the men and women who challenged it. Wayne plays ex-Confederate soldier Ethan Edwards a believer more in bullets than in words. He's seeking his niece captured by Comanches who massacred his family. He won't surrender to hunger thirst the elements or loneliness. And in his obsessive five-year quest Ethan encounters something he didn't expect to find: his own humanity.Running Time: 119 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: WESTERN/MISC. Rating: NR UPC: 085391158653 Manufacturer No: 115865

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A favorite film of some of the world's greatest filmmakers, including Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg, John Ford's The Searchers has earned its place in the legacy of great American films for a variety of reasons. Perhaps most notably, it's the definitive role for John Wayne as an icon of the classic Western--the hero (or antihero) who must stand alone according to the unwritten code of the West. The story takes place in Texas in 1868; Wayne plays Ethan Edwards, a Confederate veteran who visits his brother and sister-in-law at their ranch and is horrified when they are killed by marauding Comanches. Ethan's search for a surviving niece (played by young Natalie Wood) becomes an all-consuming obsession. With the help of a family friend (Jeffrey Hunter) who is himself part Cherokee, Ethan hits the trail on a five-year quest for revenge. At the peak of his masterful talent, director Ford crafts this classic tale as an embittered examination of racism and blind hatred, provoking Wayne to give one of the best performances of his career. As with many of Ford's classic Westerns, The Searchers must contend with revisionism in its stereotypical treatment of "savage" Native Americans, and the film's visual beauty (the final shot is one of the great images in all of Western culture) is compromised by some uneven performances and stilted dialogue. Still, this is undeniably one of the greatest Westerns ever made. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

Rating:
Date: 2008-07-19
A Classic Western
"The Searchers" is a film that has rightfully been condiered a classic with an ability to transition between playful humor and the darkness of the human heart. John Wayne's character is an ex-confederate veteran with a shadowy past few years. His main accompanying partner is a mixed white-native american portrayed by (Jeffrey Hunter) who was adopted by members of Wayne's family after Comanches murdered the former's family. Their goal is to find a girl abdupted by the Comanches after they killed several of Wayne's realtives. The film covers several years and a number of events ranging from almost comical incidents to violent encounters with both natives and whites.
While the main Comanche chief is a nasty and ruthless villian, other natives the characters meet along the way are peaceful. In fact, the U.S. cavalry doesn't get the very ideallook Ford had given them in his trilogy. In one winter scene, Wayne and Hunter find a village of possibly peaceful natives the cavalry massacred. The main lesson is that there were generally bad and generally fairly good people on both sides in the West.
Wayne's characterization seemes ones of his best that I've seen and yes he is darker than usual. He has racist tendencies (especially towards the Comanches that attacked some of his relatives) and is truthfully rather ruthless at times. Ultimately, the film ends pretty well and Wayne's character shows some signs of changing though not after taking the aduience on a fascinating journey in the American West.

Rating:
Date: 2008-07-13
Pleasantly Surprised
I've avoided this movie for years, but I was plasantly surprised when I finally viewed it. Most people talk about the complexity of John Wayne's character, but I disagree. I feel he wasn't complex at all.... just a cut and dried racist. Near the end of the movie he did become a little complex, but I think it was just a matter of conscience. What I really liked about the movie was the storyline and the scenery. ONe of my favorite movies is The Color Purple and there were scenes in The Searchers that I'm almost certain Speilberg had to have copied for the Color Purple. Especially the shot of the family on the porch at the beginning of the movie. It was so reminiscent of one of the final scenes in the Color Purple.

Rating:
Date: 2008-06-30
Old time favorite
Glad that I was able to purchase this movie, adding it to my cowboy collection.

Rating:
Date: 2008-06-27
Essential Cinema
Monument Valley rarely looked better in this VistaVision restoration of John Ford's disturbing Western epic. Though not without its minor flaws, "The Searchers" (1956) is propelled by John Wayne's ambiguous, complex performance as the embittered Ethan Edwards -- his best work for the legendary director. The Ford stock company acquits itself admirably. Winton C. Hoch's cinematography deserved an Oscar for this powerful and remarkably influential film.

Rating:
Date: 2008-06-26
Moving listings - general
As a HOH (Hard of Hearing) Individual, I need to know if this
movie is captioned (marked "CC" or "Q."