Simply Perfect

just watch it!

best movie i've ever seen.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Seeing WALKING TALL today for the first time, it's clear how just influential this film has been in the intervening decades. The story of one man clearing up the criminal element in his town has been done to death but here it feels fresh and electrifying; some might say that a fellow like Steven Seagal owes his whole career to this movie, with films like FIRE DOWN BELOW looking and feeling almost identical. The unique hook that WALKING TALL has is that it's based on a true story.Joe Don Baker stars in his best role as the larger-than-life Buford Pusser, a normal fight who stands up for justice and ends up becoming the sheriff of a small town in the process. It's an action picture with some incredibly violent set-pieces and showdowns, but it never forgets to focus equally on character and plotting, making it one of those rarities: an all-round action flick as every bit as good as a big budget mainstream Hollywood film. Sequels and a remake followed, but none could successfully re-capture the original's raw power.

The movie was pretty good FOR THE TIME (more below). The IMDb reviews however are in some cases more entertaining than the movie. Some people see this as dated or some sort of "time capsule." This pretty much ignores the recent remake but, more importantly, also ignores the fact that the theme -- that of a gradual and steady corruption of a once-healthy town (village/city/country) does indeed happen, and happens more often than people acknowledge. Some people look at the star and go WHAA? -- who is this guy? OK, Joe Don Baker did not have the most spectacular career in Hollywood but he was a reliable asset for these kinds of films. And some people look at this and see merely a Charles Bronson knockoff, ie going to the theatre to vicariously taste the violence that was otherwise lacking in the 70s. Some truth to this, in its day this was very much a "guys" film, definitely not a "date" film, and it was indeed in the category of the Bronson flicks or the Billy Jack flicks. Remember that martial arts movies were barely known in N.A., and MMA did not exist. So if you wanted to see someone get thumped upside the head, this film would be on your short list. But all the above ignores the fact that this was a biography and THESE WERE NOT that common then, so, in that context, the context of a true story, the film becomes that much more interesting ... and that much more entertaining.

I recently purchased the box set of the "Walking Tall" trilogy as I had forgotten about this movie until the remake starring "The Rock" came out in 2004. I sat down and watched them all back to back. I was rather disappointed that Joe Don Baker didn't play the part of Buford Pusser in all three. I'm not taking anything from Bo Svenson but to me he just didn't look the part. If they were not going to use JDB in all of them, then they should have gotten BS to play the lead in the first. I felt that for the time line, the movie, albeit low budgeted, was pretty decent. I am from the south and my father was in law enforcement for 30 years and I can relate to the stories of "running shine" and the like. There are so many clips that were shown that I, on a personal level, could relate to. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole trilogy and yes, I did shed a few tears when Pauline died and a whole lot when Buford died. I give the whole thing a "thumbs-up" and hope that one day there can be a true remake of the whole trilogy with a wonderful supporting cast that can be in all three movies!

This movie isn't just about history, it is based on the true life events of Sheriff Buford Pusser in McNairy County, Tennessee. You must see part 2 and 3 also to get the whole story. It shows how the Sheriff cleaned out the moonshine, drugs, and prostitution that was going on back in the 1970's. Also you can search the web and you will see other Sheriffs across the USA have paid tribute to the former Sheriff Pusser.Sheriff Pussers daughter has setup a museum for anyone who would like to see the actual home, cars, and property of the former sheriff.All 3 movies are really great. Especially part 3, it shows what happened to make Buford want to have the 1st movie made.I hope this was helpful for everyone who didn't understand.