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John Wayne created a myriad of characters that were worthy of Academy Awards. Ethan Edwards in THE SEARCHERS. Wil Andersen in THE COWBOYS. Sgt. John M. Stryker in SANDS OF IWO JIMA. J.B. Books in his final film THE SHOOTIST. Tom Dunson in RED RIVER. Nathan Brittles in SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON. Certainly the characters mentioned here loom large in the legend of cinema - perhaps none more than Ethan Edwards. THE SEARCHERS is regarded as one of the greatest westerns ever made and as Ethan Edwards, Duke is without equal. I can think of no other actor past or present who could play Ethan Edwards. He should have won the Oscar for THE SEARCHERS. So why did TRUE GRIT win Duke the Oscar when these other amazing performances did not? Because in Rooster Cogburn, Duke brought together many elements of former characters to create a beloved icon that Americans instantly fell in love with. They laughed as he fell off his horse while drinking too much, and cheered as he put those reigns in his teeth and against all odds rode at Lucky Ned Pepper's gang with rifle in one hand and six-shooter in the other. This was why America loved John Wayne and why he will always be the symbol of what America aspires to be. God Bless John Wayne. - Steve, Movie Magic USARead full review
When John Wayne won the best actor award for this 1969 film, he said: "I should have put on this eye patch 35 years ago!". Many say the award was really for a career of performances. You be the judge! The Blu ray version is the best format I have seen this film in. Very high picture quality considering 42 year old source, but what makes this version really stand out is the DTS Master Audio that adds a new dimension if you have a decent surround sound system. The Coen brothers recently made a fine version of the Portis book as well. I recently read that the Duke's eye patch is going up for auction in October. Maybe Jeff Bridges will be lucky enough to win it. But when you say "Rooster Cogburn", you know who we mean, Pilgrim!
I first saw TRUE GRIT when it first was released and liked it. The Duke was alreaady kidding himself and his audiences about himself and his sense of humor shines through in every scene. I wanted to see it again before catching the new version starring Jeff Bridges but that didn't happen. Just as well. I bought the DVD and watched iot soon after seeing the Coen Brothers' version and stick to my guns that the original is the better of the two. Remakes when there is nothing to add make no sense to me except for the profit motive of the producers; for the viewers, there is little. How many bad old movies will Steve Martin remake before they put him out to pasture? Did they really think that Steve Martin could improve on Peter Sellers in THE PINK PANTHER? Not a chance. Even the part of Ned Pepper, played by the talented actor Barry Pepper in this unneccesary remake of TRUE GRIT, was mostly him doing an imitation of Robert Duval who played the part in the original. Except for a man riding around in a bear skin, I found nothing new and interesting about this remake; except that my wallet is about $30 lighter. Bridges, for his part, fashioned a somewhat new character out of what he had to work with, but for much of the film, I didn't uinderstand what he was saying, he was mumbling so much. So, now that they've gotten Bridges to try his hand at besting John Wayne and failing, why not remake "THE LONGEST DAY" and let him play all the parts, even that of Red Buttons, whose character overshot the drop zone and wound up hanging from a church steeple by his parachute. Enough already with sub-par remakes. Jay BursteinRead full review
the movie has been a fav of mine for years john won an Oscar foe his role as rooster cogburn just a well written movie
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
One of the best movies ever and a great transfer to Blu-ray.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
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