Product Details

• Actors: Randolph Scott, Richard Boone, John Carroll, Karen Steele, Valerie French
• Directors: Budd Boetticher
• Writers: Burt Kennedy, Charles Lang, Elmore Leonard, Jonas Ward, Vernon L. Fluharty
• Producers: Budd Boetticher, Harry Joe Brown
• Format: Box set, Color, DVD, Original recording remastered, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, French
• Region: Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
  PLEASE NOTE: Some Region 1 DVDs may contain Regional Coding Enhancement (RCE). Some, but not all, of our international customers have had problems playing these enhanced discs on what are called "region-free" DVD players. For more information on RCE, click here.
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 5
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: November 4, 2008
• Run Time: 380 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001ER4CNO
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #63,680 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Films of Budd Boetticher (Tall T / Decision at Sundown / Buchanan Rides Alone / Ride Lonesome / Comanche Station)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

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BUDD BOETTICHER BOX SET - DVD Movie

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117 of 121 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent representation of the "Ranown" westerns..., August 29, 2008

By 

kar120c (Ridgefield, CT USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Films of Budd Boetticher (Tall T / Decision at Sundown / Buchanan Rides Alone / Ride Lonesome / Comanche Station) (DVD)

In the late 1950s, the "Adult" western was at its zenith. There were several men responsible for this (James Stewart and Anthony Mann, notable among them), but three men stand out - Budd Boetticher (director), Burt Kennedy (writer) and Randolph Scott (actor). Scott, along with his partner, Harry Joe Brown, produced them through his production company - Ranown Productions. With Scott, Boetticher, and often Kennedy, they made seven westerns - the Ranown Westerns - that stand as the model for the genre, and set the stage for the more realistic (and often more violent) westerns that would come in the 1960s (films like Sam Peckinpah's "The Wild Bunch")

Two of these seven Ranown westerns are not actually from Ranown, though they were made with Scott, Beotticher, and Kennedy. Those two - Seven Men From Now (1956) and Westbound (1959) are not in this set. The other five are. I have seen each, and here is my take on them.

"The Tall T" (1957) Ranown starts off with a bang. Perhaps the best of them. Scott was never better. Richard Boone played the heavy - I'd say the best of them in all the Ranown westerns. Henry Silva is also very good as another heavy. Maureen O'Sullivan was perfect in the female lead. A great early story from Elmore Leonard. Boetticher did a great job directing a taut, lean story, scripted by Kennedy. Many say it was the best of the Ranowns. This film includes a horrible way to "dispose of" two people (father and his young son) that is not shown, just described. The horror created by the description is more frightening than anything you could feel if you actually saw it. While there may be one Ranown western that was as good - "Commanche Station" (1960) - none were better.

"Decision at Sundown" (1957) A misfire. Scott again plays the lead, a man who was wronged long ago by the villain. But in this film, he has no one to play off of. John Carroll is ordinary as the man who wronged Scott. Karen Steele, an extraordinary beauty, plays the female lead, but there is little she is asked to do, other than look extraordinarily beautiful. There is very little action, and surprisingly little drama. Altough Boetticher did his best (he himself said it was the weakest of the Ranowns), it is telling that this film is one of the Ranowns that Burt Kennedy did not script. All in all, this film is the most forgettable of the 5 in this set.

"Buchanan Rides Alone" (1958) Getting better. Not great, but good. Also, possibly the funniest of the set. The eulogy that Pecos Hill (LQ Jones) gives for one of his "friends", whom he has just killed to save the life of Scott is simply not to be missed. At the end of it, Scott says the only thing he can say that could top it. While the plot is not too strong - Scott is fine, but there are too may heavies to focus on the classic good vs. evil conflict that is necessary to all good drama. Actually, outside of Craig Stevens, none of the villains were very notable. And there is no female lead to speak of. All in all, this poorly constructed story, albeit with some very amusing quirks, is good, but no more.

"Ride Lonesome" (1958) Very good. Not the best, but very good. Scott plays a wronged man who is now a bounty hunter. He captures an outlaw with a price on his head (a great turn by James Best). By the way, this is a Kennedy script. How do you know? When he captures the outlaw (Best), the outlaw says "whatever they are payin' you...it's not nearly enough". To which Scott replies, "I'd hunt you free". There is another outlaw that figures into this - Best's brother, (a young Lee van Cleef, also great here). Pernell Roberts and James Coburn (his film debut, Scott, the producer, liked him and expanded his part) are also very good, although Roberts is a bit too mannered in his acting of some of his scenes. Karen Steele is the female lead here also, and is given more to do. She is quite good here as well. One more thing: The final scene is perhaps the most memorable image in all the Ranown westerns.

"Comanche Station" (1960) Perfect. The last of the Ranown westerns, perhaps the best (though some might give that distinction to "The Tall T"). An excellent story (again, a great Kennedy script). The ending is one you will not see coming (kudos to Kennedy and Boetticher). A perfect performance from Scott - a man accepting a task that defies explanation - until you learn why. Claude Akin is excellent as the heavy - not quite as good as Richard Boone in "The Tall T", but close (his smile is pure evil). Richard Rust was also quite good as the young heavy, trying to reform. And the beautiful Nancy Gates is perfect - especially in the scenes where she and Scott are alone - in the female lead. What makes this a great film is the direction by Boetticher, working with another great script by Kennedy. It is filled with great scenes, and there are no weak scenes. Most important, the story is distilled to perfection. Boetticher included only those scenes that were needed to advance the story and cover the themes he wanted to illustrate (courage, determination, and, above all, honor). And he included no scenes that were redundant or otherwise non-essential. This is the mark of a great director. Scott was so good in this that he retired afterwards, only to be talked out of it to make one more film - the classic "Ride the High Country" (1962) with Joel McCrea and directed by a young Sam Peckinpah. Then he retired for good. Even if he did not make that final film, "Commanche Station" would have been a perfect swan song for Randolph Scott.

Seeing these five films, plus two others - "Seven Men From Now' (1956) and the previously mentioned "Ride the High Country" (1962) - will give you an appreciation of why Randolph Scott and Budd Boetticher have such a high reputation among a growing number of classic film lovers.

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Budd and Randy, September 4, 2008

By 

L. Cabos (planet earth) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Films of Budd Boetticher (Tall T / Decision at Sundown / Buchanan Rides Alone / Ride Lonesome / Comanche Station) (DVD)

After the Batjac release of SEVEN MEN FROM NOW, a welcome announcement of the rest of Scott/Boetticher collaborations will be available in one collection. These were small films in their times -- a feature that would probably be less than 90 minutes and play before the main movie. As time has gone along their fame has steadily grown and it is now accepted that several are among the most important westerns following in the wake of the 1950 Stewart/Mann classic, WINCHESTER '73. Infact the Mann/Stewart westerns and the Randolph Scott/Budd Boetticher films have a similar sense about them. Scott and Stewart are usually men on a quest, generally involving revenge. I would say that Stewart's characters are for the most part, bitter and cynical. Scott still tend to be moral pillars. The most strikingly different of the lot is DECISION AT SUNDOWN. In this one Scott is tracking the man he feels is responsible for his wife committing suicide. He gives her qualities she never had and ultimately discovers the truth. But, all in all, if you love the western than this collection will make a solid addition to any library. You'll also be treated to a wealth of fine actors: Richard Boone, Henry Silva, James Coburn, Claude Akins, LQ Jones and so many more. Extras include a documentary on Boetticher, intros to the films by Clint Eastwood, Martin Scorcese,and Taylor Hackford. Terrific transfers, you really get the sense of the wide open spaces as Boetticher intended. If you enjoy these films -- impossible not to -- I'd recommend the Stewart/Mann collaborations: WINCHESTER '73, BEND OF THE RIVER, THE NAKED SPUR, THE FAR COUNTRY and THE MAN FROM LARAMIE.

38 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars At Last!, August 28, 2008

By 

John Fowler Wyman (urbana, illinois) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Films of Budd Boetticher (Tall T / Decision at Sundown / Buchanan Rides Alone / Ride Lonesome / Comanche Station) (DVD)

The DVD juggernaut has finally gotten around to releasing the Randolph Scott/Budd Boetticher westerns. Together, they made seven western films in the fifties. Five are in this box from Columbia.

Their first collaboration, "Seven Men from Now," is already available in a nice package from Paramount with lots of extras. That leaves only "Westbound," produced by Warner Bros, yet to be released. (Also worthy is "Ride the High Country," Randolph Scott's swan song from 1962, directed by Sam Peckinpah)

Together with the five James Stewart/Anthony Mann collaborations ("Winchester '73, Bend of the River, The Naked Spur, The Far Country, and The Man from Laramie" - all are available on DVD), these films defined the adult Western movement of the nineteen-fifties.

OK - I should also include "Hondo" and "The Searchers" (John Wayne/John Farrow/John Ford) in this list. Great movies all.