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The Searchers [HD DVD] by John Ford
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DVD Cover InformationActor: Jeffrey Hunter, John Wayne, Natalie Wood, Vera Miles, Ward Bond Director: John Ford Brand: Warner Brothers Cinematographer: Winton C. Hoch Editor: Jack Murray Producer: Merian C. Cooper Producer: Patrick Ford Writer: Alan Le May Writer: Frank S. Nugent DVD: Region Code 0 Audio: English (Original Language); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Dubbed); Spanish (Dubbed) Format: Color, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen Picture Format: 1.78:1 Running Time: 119 minutes DVD Release Date: 2006-08-22 Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Studio: Warner Home Video
Movie Reviews of The Searchers [HD DVD]Movie Review: Warrior Ethic Summary: 5 StarsI have viewed this movie many times and each time I come away from it a little richer. I recently watched an 'American Masters' biography of John Ford and the narrator gave the most exact description of the Ethan Edwards character that I think can be given: 'he was the kind of man that civilization must have but also the kind that can never live in civilization'.
Society has always been faced with the need to decide whether or not it will acknowledge the honor that men like Ethan Edwards have earned. Sadly, for the past 40 years, we have been drifting away from them, preferring to think that our own politically correct 'moral rectitude' contains a self-defending mechanism. People who support this view are frequently heard warning us 'not to become like our enemies'. First and foremost, this is shameful because it necessarily devalues the sacrifice of the warrior. But it is also foolish. At some point our decadent society will need an Ethan Edwards for its very survival. The question remains as to whether we will then find him from within our midst.
Summary of The Searchers [HD DVD]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. 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 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
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