Friday, December 26, 2008

Best Christmas Present


Blu-ray DVD of the Movie "The Searchers"(1956) staring John Wayne and Directed by JOHN FORD.

Unless you saw the movie on the big screen in 1956 in VISTAVISION you have not seen it unless you watch it in high definition Blu-ray. It was filmed in Monument Valley and it looks great. I originally saw the movie with may parents in the 1950's from the back seat at a drive in movie theater.. Since then I have watched it on broadcast and cable TV. I own the VHS Tape of the movie as well as the DVD. I also own the special restored version of the movie on DVD but nothing matches the picture and sound of the Blu-ray high definition DVD.It was as John Ford wanted us to view it.

From IMDB:
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


For more information click on the title for a link to the IMDB