The Searchers [Blu-ray] [1956]

The Searchers is in my opinion the greatest 'Western' ever made, although I have to admit that 'True Grit' True Grit (1969) [Blu-ray][Region Free ] is the one I watch most often! The film was directed by the peerless John Ford in 1956 and was based on a novel written by Alan Le May in 1954. The film starts in 1868 in the wilderness of west Texas and stars John Wayne as a middle-aged Civil War veteran who returns from the American Civil War to the home of his brother; for me he gives the finest performance of his career in this film, yes True Grit's 'Rooster Cogburn' is probably a more memorable character, but if anyone ever suggests that 'The Duke' could not act then they should look no further than his incredibly powerful portrayal of the violent and racist Ethan Edwards in 'The Searchers'. From the moment Ethan comes through the door it is clear he is not your typical John Wayne character; in this film Ethan is a man who does some heroic acts, but at the same time he is deeply troubled and bigoted, he is also racist and violent but the fact that through Wayne's performance we the viewer still perhaps admire his determination is testament to both the acting and the writing. He tells his brothers family he is finished fighting and has returned to set up a home for himself. Almost the next day news reaches the homestead that their neighbour has had cattle stolen, and when the Rev. Capt. Samuel Johnson Clayton (the brilliant Ward Bond) and a party of fellow Rangers arrive at the door they take Ethan and the families adopted son Martin Pawley (played to perfection by Jeffrey Hunter, an actor who many will recognise from Star Trek's orignial pilot episode 'The Cage') out to follow the trail of the thiefs. It is not until they are quite some distance from home when they discover that the theft was in fact a clever ploy by Comanche Indians to draw the men away from their families. The party then turn and head for home as quickly as possible, but on arriving there they are met with the most horrendous of scenes, the home burned down, the parents and son murdered (and in the wifes case raped) and the two daughters (Debbie and Lucy) abducted. What follows is a quest by Ethan Edwards (John Wayne) and Martin Pawley (Jeffrey Hunter) to find the girls. Soon on in the journey they discover the body of the older of the two girls, Lucy; she has been brutally raped and murdered. They then continue searching for the next few years to find the other daughter Debbie; the two men travel through terrible weather and hostile terrain, all along putting any thoughts of personal comforts to one side, in a relentless mission to discover just what has happened to her. They eventually find Debbie, now an adolescent (and played by the beautiful Natalie Wood), and seemingly living amongst the Indians as one of their own. What follows is a long and difficult rescue mission, and the doubts remain that even if they can rescue Debbie will she remember them or even want to go with them. The film is most famous for its photography of the location, Monument Valley; it is utterly stunning and no film has captured it so perfectly before or since. The soundtrack is very typical of 'Westerns' of the era, this is not necessarily a bad thing, its atmospheric, it just isn't anything special. Watching the film now it is very difficult to understand how it didn't even receive any Academy Award nominations; but it is fair to say that the films real strength is its ability to appeal to audiences over half a century after its release. It has received far more recognition in modern times; the AFI (American Film Institute)named it the 12th 'Greatest American Movie of all time' in 2007 and 'The Greatest American Western of all time' in 2008. As recently as 2012 the film magazine 'Sight & Sound' ranked it as the 7th best film of all time. This REGION FREE Blu Ray edition is absolutely superb and although I have seen this film many time throughout my life, televison through to DVD (via VHS), it has never looked so gorgeous nor have I enjoyed it just quite so much. The level of detail is stunning, the textures of the land and the fabrics worn are truly bought to life like never before; the colours are amazing, particulary so with the desert and the skyline during a setting sun. The shots that particularly stood out for me were the two iconic 'door frame' images that bookend the film, they are just amazing and the contrast between the blackness and the colour is simply astonishing. I think the very reason why I enjoyed my initial Blu Ray viewing so much was due to the level of detail that high definition offers; despite countless screenings throughout the years I was still able to discover a huge number of previously unnoticed nuanced visuals. The main feature is presented in 1080p High Definition 16x9 (1.85:1), has Dolby Digital sound 1.0 in English, French and German, and it also has subtitles in those languages. There are some excellent Special Features including a commentary by Peter Bogdanovich (the Director, and also a Biographer of John Ford), a new featurette 'The Searchers: An Appreciation' and the original theatrical trailer. However, the best extras as far as I am concerned are the fascinating 30 minute documentary 'A Turning of the Earth: John Ford, John Wayne and The Searchers' narrated by John Milius, and the original black and white 'Behind the Cameras' segments; these are quite hilarious and offer a truly fascinating insight into the American movie business in the 1950's! Overall I consider this Blu Ray as an essential purchase for anyone who considers themselves a fan of films; regardless of whether you already own it on DVD (as I do) this is totally worth purchasing, for me it is the most worthwhile use of high definition I have seen to date!

This review is just for the 2006 release of the BluRay. Suffice to say the print transfer is excellent. One of the best BluRays I have seen. The sound is excellent too and the subtitles read easuily. So many interesting estras too. This is a fantastic package...The film isn't bad either

I was brought up watching Westerns on the TV, in those days there seemed to be hundreds of them. But when a big screen movie came onto the telly, well that was an event and The Searchers was one of those events all those years ago. Anyway, most people know what a great western it is, what a travesty it was that Wayne didn't get a best actor Oscar for his role of Ethan Edwards, and what a wonderful piece of film-making it is. But this review is about the transfer to blu ray. Which is top notch. I've got a few blu rays of older films and haven't been overly impressed by them, but this is stunning. It must be like, or damned near as close as you can get to seeing it at the cinema when it was first released. The picture is sharp, and the film's awe-inspiring locations have never looked better. The colours, the use of light and shadow, and the photography is simply something to be seen. Many have said that The Searchers is one of the best films of all-time because of its production alone, and with this blu ray you can certainly see John Ford's unique talents like never before. Someone has asked if its a true widescreen. I'm not that technical but I don't think it is because the letter box scenes are used in the documentary on the extras - which are really interesting as well - but not the feature. Nonetheless, this doesn't at all detract from the quality and The Searchers has never looked so good on your telly. So get rid of that disappointing DVD, and buy this, you won't regret it and certainly worth the current price on Amazon. In fact, if you only ever buy one western on blu ray, make sure it's this one.

Studios are at last turning some of their classic catalogue titles into Blu-ray releases - the closest thing yet to the full cinema experience at home. The Searchers seems made for a high-definition format with its magnificent vistas across Director John Ford's favourite location, Monument Valley. Packed with extras (including a commentary by another director, John Milius) the disc is wwell orth Amazon's bargain price. Even so, the richly-coloured images suffer a little from what seemed to me rather excessive grain when projected onto a large screen. I know that allowing some grain is desirable to convey the correct filmic image but, just now and again, I found it distracting compared to, say, the Blu-ray of Zulu which I bought at the same time. Still, this John Wayne starrer retains an epic feel, despite a car being seen in the background just to the right of centre in the scene where a calvary patrol is splashing its way across an icy river. Overall however this is a very good disc of one of the great westerns.

I can't deny i was drawn to this film by Quentin Tarantino's analysis of this film. I watched it and couldn't disagree..

Westerns don't come any better than this! I first saw this at our local Odeon with my mum and dad back in 1959 when I was 13. That I can still remember that night shows what an impression it had on me. Over the years I saw it on the TV (in black and white at first but later in colour) By the late 80s I had it on tape and could watch it whenever I wanted to. Watching it many times I began to aprciate the underlying themes and unspoken dialogue, looks passed between the protagonists which spoke volumes - without a word being said! Ward Bond as captain Clayton watches Ethan Edwards sister in law as she holds Ethan's coat and strokes her hand over it in a loving gesture. You wonder what was between those two before Ethan went off to war. Whatever it was Clayton does not seem surprised by what he sees. The whole scene lasts for a few seconds but is a master class in movie acting and directing. This is the film that John Wayne SHOULD have got a Oscar for!! His portrail of Ethan Edwards, a man bitter about a lost war (and a lost love?), an outsider in his own community who comes home three years after the end of the Civil war ( where has he been, what has he been up to in that time ?) is Wayne's finest film performance. You can feel the tension in him, the hate, the need to strike out for all the crap life has thrown his way. When his brothers family are slaughtered by Comanche Indians all that hate and bitterness finds an outlet. His reason for living becomes a relentles crusade to kill the men who did it and to rescue his niece taken in the raid. The scene at the graveyard as his brothers family are laid to rest when the handful of locals are singing a hymn and Edwards shouts to... Put an Amen to it! He has no time for hymns - he wants to be off to kill. Some have said that The Shearchers is racist in it's portrail of the red Indians as murderous savages. In today's way of thinking that may be so. But, this is basically a period drama. In 1868 this was the reality of life in Texas. After the Civil war the White settlers were pushing the Indians out of their lands. The Indians were pushing back the only way they knew, by killing the intruders! Ethan Edwards view of the Indians was the view of most white frontiersmen in those times. We cannot graft modern thinking on the past.As Shakespeare said "the past is another country - they do things differently there". This film is a view into what was, a very turbulent and violent period of Americas history. A period most present day Americans view with an uneasy eye if they were to be honest with themselves. The white men's treatment of the native American's is a stain on America's history. But that is what it is- history. All nations have such things in their past, to try and show historical events with today's moral hindsight can't be done. So just sit back and enjoy the wonderful scenery, great music and some of this brilliant cast's best ever performances. Will I ever tire of watching this film...."that'll be the day"

I have loved this film since I first watched it when I was a child. I wanted it as part of JW DvD collection. A brilliant story which showed John Wayne's versatility as an actor. I would recommend this film to all lovers of great western films.

Amazing Western, not usually a John Wayne fan, prefer Eastwood, but nonetheless a Classic without a doubt. Picture, Sound and Cinematography is superb.