Nice effects though.

Absolutely Fantastic

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

This is one of the all time great "dark" westerns out there. Clint Eastwood is at his best as an actor (and I think he also directed this?) Anyway if you like westerns check this one out, great drama and action and he is awesome as Josey Wales in this.

This is not a bad film, but I honestly have to say it's not the best western I've seen. I am not sure why several reviewers here have written that. To each his own I guess. I am currently cycling through all of Clint Eastwood's westerns in chronological order...some I've seen many times, others I've never seen before....to date, there's only one or two I liked less than Josey Wales.Now again, it's not bad. I think it's good enough that I'm giving it 7 1/2 stars. But here's the plot in a real quick nutshell: A man on the run from bounty hunters and soldiers tries to make his way to Indian territory so he can disappear. Along the way he picks up a collection of misfits who all eventually prove useful in one capacity or another. Mix in a lot of comic relief and ....that's pretty much it. And to me, well, that just isn't all that great.Sure, the beginning was intense, and there were a few good action sequences, but there was too much time devoted to the journey and the ever-expanding motley crew joining the pack. This film was as much about the various misfits (and their backstories, and their potential futures) as it was about Josey Wales himself. Also, there's not a lot of action. For a western exceeding two hours, it was too long of a movie to have such little action, especially after the opening credits. When I think western, I think the Dollars trilogy, or 'Unforgiven,' heck 'The Magnificent Seven' beats this hands down. This was all about 'the journey,' or as some have said, of Josey 'regaining his humanity.' Whatever. But it wasn't really a western, not in the spirit of the Dollars trilogy or even of 'High Plains Drifter.' When you think 'western,' you usually don't think "I want to watch a film about a guy regaining his humanity with the help of misfit strangers he reluctantly takes into what forms as a surrogate family." Take that for what it is, but it's not what I was expecting. I suspect people who count this among their favorite westerns aren't big fans of westerns in general. I am not sure, but what I can say is...it's not one of mine.7.5/10. Good enough for a 2nd viewing. But if I really want to see a fantastic western I would pick 'For a Few Dollars More' any day. And twice on Sunday.

In "The Outlaw Josey Wales," you can start to feel the Western moving beyond its roots and into new, more dramatic territory. The genre enjoyed a decades-long run in the early- to mid-20th century between the classics and Clint Eastwood's Spaghetti Westerns, and in "Josey Wales," in the twilight years of Westerns, Eastwood contributes to the emergent trend of Revisionist Westerns, tearing these stories from their conventions, or perhaps, applying their conventions to earnest stories about salt-of-the-earth people."Josey Wales" is technically a "Mid-Western," taking place in the Missouri-Kansas area in the wake of the Civil War. When Union Jayhawks burn his home and kill his family, Wales joins a ragtag group of Confederates. At the war's end, he refuses to surrender, a decision that pays off when his compatriots are massacred by the same Union soldiers. Wales retaliates, and a large bounty is placed on his head. As he attempts to outrun them en route to Texas, he collects new companions including a Cherokee man (Chief Dan George) and an old Kansas woman (Paula Trueman) and her granddaughter (Sondra Locke).Although Eastwood is playing a character somewhere in between The Man with No Name and Dirty Harry, presumably for reasons of commercial appeal, "Josey Wales" participates in the revisionist tradition of rewriting the clichés of Westerns, especially in regards to its Native American characters. They are multi- dimensional and integral to the movie. Chief Dan George's Lone Watie is easily the film's best character. And let's not forget that this is a Western with a few actual female characters, ones who even speak up and fire guns.Despite earning those points, the film's narrative is a little disjointed. It plays like an epic with supporting characters ducking in an out, though it's Eastwood who leaves the impression every time. Philip Kaufman, adapting Forrest Carter's book alongside Sonia Chernus, has a real gift for ending a scene, usually in a sharp, humorous way with a terrific one-liner. It's easy to see the way this film translated to the success of Harrison Ford and the "Indiana Jones" series not much later.For all the clever and profound moments spread throughout the film, Eastwood never quite finds the tension or at least the weight to the events on screen. The stakes don't feel particularly high, even with the effective jump-cut flashbacks to his family dying before his eyes. His success comes mostly in experimenting with different camera angles and framing, much in the way Sergio Leone did early on. Eastwood was still in the early years of his directing career and it's apparent in the way some shots show a keen eye and others don't seem to serve much purpose. All that said, it's hard to say what credit Kaufman deserves as director, as he left mid-production due to off-set romantic tension involving him, Eastwood and Locke. Regardless, cinematographer Bruce Surtees, who worked with Eastwood a lot in the '70s, creates a very rich picture that really holds up nicely."Josey Wales" is by and large a good viewing experience, with glimpses of insight and strong production values. More than those things, however, is how it stands as an example of a movie star doing what he does best while also pushing the genre that birthed him in positive new directions. Intermingling with its classic Western tendencies are ideas of what loyalty means in terms of country, kin and even the stranger, as well as who holds authority in a divided land trying to heal. Other movies that came later on did it better, but "Josey Wales" played a part in initiating that decisive shift. ~Steven CThanks for reading! Visit Movie Muse Reviews for more

I want to think that Clint Eastwood's steely-eyed glare is all an act. I met him once at a charity event, he was very quiet and stood off by himself in a dark corner, as though people were afraid to come near him. So the stoic, terse character that he basically duplicates in every film probably comes from some well of personal experience; like Tom Cruise, he's more of a screen presence than an actor.The story here rambles, and keeps rambling, long after you wonder why all this manpower has been devoted to capturing one person, and also why everyone across all the southern and midwestern states knows his name. The acting is hit and miss; some of them blend in very well like John Vernon, others are terrible like Chief Dan George, who seems to have ignored any script he might have read. I get it, he was old, but so was Jessica Tandy and she knew her roles like a pro. In the end, Josey Wales is as invincible as any main character who is magically impervious to bullets, and on top of that he can negotiate a peace treaty with a blue-faced native American who speaks perfect English. Along the way he picks up a rag-tag band of misfits and a doe-eyed Sondra Locke, who says maybe three words during the entire film; Eastwood wanted her pretty and silent.In the end the film is just as frustrating and unsatisfying as the Missouri Breaks, another 1970s movie about unconventional anti-heroes. You know, that Sam Bottoms was a terrible actor.