 | | |
| The Searchers (Two-Disc Anniversary Edition) | 
 enlarge | Directors: John Ford, Nick Redman
Actors: John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles, Ward Bond, Natalie Wood
Studio: Warner Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $26.98
Buy New: $15.69
You Save: $11.29 (42%)
Buy New/Used from $7.11
Avg. Customer Rating:  (266 reviews)
Sales Rank: 13635
Format: Closed-captioned, Collector's Edition, Color, Dubbed, Dvd-video, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Dubbed)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD
Running Time: 119 minutes
Number Of Items: 2
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: WARD28918D
UPC: 085392891825
EAN: 0085392891825
ASIN: B000F0UUIM
Release Date: June 6, 2006
Theatrical Release Date: March 13, 1956
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Description
Working together for the 12th time, John Wayne and director John Ford forged The Searchers into a landmark Western offering an indelible image of the frontier and the men and women who challenged it. Wayne plays an ex-Confederate soldier seeking his niece, captured by Comanches who massacred his family. He won't surrender to hunger, thirst, the elements or loneliness. And in his five-year search, he encounters something unexpected: his own humanity. Beautifully shot by Winton C. Hoch, thrillingly scored by Max Steiner and memorably acted by a wonderful ensemble including Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles, Natalie Wood and Ward Bond, The Searchers endures as "a great film of enormous scope and breathtaking physical beauty" (Danny Peary, Guide for the Film Fanatic). DVD Features:
Audio Commentary:Commentary by Peter Bogdanovich
Documentaries:Behind the Cameras (4-parts): Meet Jeffrey Hunter, Monument Valley, Meet Natalie Wood, Setting Up Production
Documentary:The Searchers: An Appreciation
Featurette:A Turning of the Earth: John Ford, John Wayne, and the Searchers
Introduction:Intro by Patrick Wayne
Theatrical Trailer:Theatrical Trailer The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Amazon.com essential video
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
Amazon.com
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: Read 261 more reviews...
 The Searchers December 22, 2008
"The Searchers" is an epic and great western story. I saw the movie many years ago and it was wonderful to see it again.
 A Search for a Lost Girl December 22, 2008
This film is set in 1868 Texas. Uncle Ethan visits his relatives in a dry dusty land. Ethan wears a grey coat and blue trousers. Ethan remarks about Martin's ancestry as if it was unusual. He gives a locket to Debra. Ethan's double eagles are freshly minted. [This could signify he rode with the James Gang.] Visitors drop by with news of a cattle theft. Could it be the feared Comanches? The house appears quite large inside, and well furnished. The posse follows the trail of the stolen cattle only to find them butchered. Was it a ruse to draw the armed men away? Whose home would be attacked? The returning men find fire, ashes, and bodies. Ethan, Brad, and Martin set out to search for those who attacked the family and rescue the kidnapped girls. The small group of white men are able to fight off a much larger group of Indians. Then they separate.
The film follows Ethan and Martin on their search for Debbie. Brad attacked the Indians in revenge for Lucy's death. They return to the Jorgenson's home. Martin wants to join Ethan in the search for Debbie. [A $1,000 reward seems much too high.] A letter brings news to the Jorgenson family. [This is played for laughs.] We see a herd of buffalo, then a troop of cavalry. An Indian camp was massacred. Martin is now a widower. Ethan doesn't find Debbie at the Army post among the survivors. They continue to search. An old Mexican sells them news of Chief Scar. Has Debbie grown up? There is drama in the meeting, and the attack on Ethan and Martin. Ethan has made a holographic will making Martin his sole heir. Debbie is dead to him.
Ethan and Martin return to the Jorgenson's home. They are wanted men for the deaths of Futterman and his men. Their daughter is set to be married to a man who is not her first choice. Martin and Charlie fight. The Cavalry arrives with news about Chief Scar being nearby. What are Ethan's plans for Debbie? Martin wants to rescue Debbie. They attack the Comanche camp successfully. "Let's go home." Will there be a happy ending for all?
John Wayne does not appear to be happy in this film. Was it changed much from the book? What about the charges against Ethan and Martin? What will happen to Debbie? Will Martin marry Miss Jorgenson? These loose ends are not tied up, as if they ran out of time or money to finish this film. What was the significance of Mose, a man with alopecia? This film is an example of myth-making, or revisionist history from Hollywood. I don't believe Indians would steal cattle only to kill them; its not cost-effective and goes against human nature. This novel was serialized in `The Saturday Evening Post', a popular literary magazine of that time. Its stories were often filmed.
Blu- Ray review ..Magnificent transfer+++++++++++++ December 5, 2008
First of all ,the Movie is a Masterpiece ..but better than that is the transfer to Blu-ray ...the Scenery in Monument Valley is Simply Breathtaking ,the Definition ,the Clarity is STUNNING ,WATCH THIS MOVIE AND YOU WILL BE AMAZED...The Acting by ALL especially WAYNE is Wonderful ,this is in my TOP FIVE Movies of all Time.
Best of the westerns November 5, 2008
Controversy has swirled around this western ever since its release in 1956. Chief among the criticisms leveled at it is John Wayne's Ethan Edwards' "racist" hatred of the Comanches, manifested from the first minute he sees his brother's stepson, who is one-eighth Indian. In this day and age, when anything that smacks of "racism" is deemed to lower a work of art's rating, Edwards' freely voiced antipathy to the Indians is considered by many to be more than sufficient to demote this film from "Best Western of all time," which some have called it.
I don't feel that way about "The Searchers." Ethan Edwards was a product of his time and society, and thus would not have stuck out as particularly "different" among Southern and Western men of that day. After all, it is made clear that he fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War.
The only flaw I find in the depiction of Edwards' racial views is that the movie never makes quite clear why he holds them to such an extreme degree. None of the other settlers appear to share his smoldering hatred of the Comanche. I have read a review which says that one can catch a fleeting glimpse of a tombstone in the scene in the cemetery; the epitaph states that a woman with the last name "Edwards" was killed by the Comanche years earlier. Could this have been Ethan's mother? His wife? No clue is ever given.
All that having been said, the film is, I think, probably the greatest western ever made, partly because of the intense character study it does of Ethan Edwards. It does not condemn him as a "racist," or as anything else. It merely shows him to us; the decision is ours to make. And I disagree with some reviewers who believe that Edwards seems to see the "error of his ways" in the final scenes. He sees no such thing. Look at his face in the more intense scenes leading up to the attack on Scar's camp, and you can see both rage and hatred etched in that face. Then look at his face again, in the brief shot just after he has exited Scar's tent, the dead Indian's scalp in his hand, and you'll see the hatred and anger gone; it has been purged by Scar's execution. When he approaches his niece, kidnapped five years before by the Indians and presumably having been "sleeping with a buck" -- Edwards' reason for wanting earlier to kill her -- one can tell by his manner that he now comes only to carry her home safely.
Perhaps it's the mark of a great movie when people can disagree, often strongly, about its characters and meanings. "The Searchers" is one of those great movies.
The Duke On The Warpath October 27, 2008
It doesn't take much to get John Wayne rawled in this classic John Ford epic,The Searchers,1956,as the duke is Ethan Edwards,a Civil War veteran who finally rides home after a long and drawn out war between the states,only to find another war with the Comanches. After his entire family is wiped out,the duke sets out to seek revenge and find his only surviving niese (Natalie Wood) who was captured by the hostile Indians. This classic film is listed in the top one hundred films of all time,and is also one of the duke's better acting roles-Oscar worthy,with a solid supporting cast,Ward Bond,Jeff Hunter,and featuring superb cinematography and bold scenery,and the usual John Wayne western action,the 100th anniversary version dvd is 16x9 widescreen,no extras.
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| | |