Customer Reviews

The John Wayne Century Collection (Big Jake / Donovan's Reef / El Dorado / Hatari! / Hondo / In Harm's Way / Island in the Sky / McLintock! / Rio Lobo / The High and the Mighty / True Grit / The Shootist / and more)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Contrary to Amazon's editorial description above, the John Wayne Century Collection contains 14 movies, but does NOT include THE QUIET MAN. Still, it is a good bargain and contains a new Special Edition release of TRUE GRIT.

Paramount is generally clueless about handling the classic movies they have in their possession. Just because the movies star John Wayne, I wouldn't expect Paramount to treat them any differently, but this time they actually did a good job. Paramount actually included commentary on five of the films, although why there isn't anything extra on the wonderful "Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" and there's only a featurette on the epic "In Harm's Way", I don't know. The product description does a pretty good job of describing each film, so I'll just list the extra features for each movie:

Big Jake - NO EXTRAS

Donovan's Reef - NO EXTRAS

Hatari! - NO EXTRAS

In Harm's Way - Three theatrical trailers; "The Making of in Harm's Way"

Man Who Shot Liberty Valance - NO EXTRAS

McLintock!
Introduction by Leonard Maltin; commentary by Maureen O'Hara, Stefanie Powers, Michael Pate, Michael Wayne, director Andrew McLaglen, Maltin and Western historian Frank Thompson; Interview - Maureen O'Hara and Stefanie Powers Remember; Featurette "The Batjac Story, Part 2 - The Legacy of Michael Wayne"; Featurette "A Good Ole' Fashioned Fight"; Featurette "The Corset: Don't Leave Home Without It"; Original Theatrical Trailer; Batjac Teaser; Rare Archival Photo Gallery

Rio Lobo - NO EXTRAS

Shootist
Theatrical trailer; Exclusive cast & crew interviews

The Sons of Katie Elder - NO EXTRAS

True Grit
Commentary by Jeb Rosebrook, Bob Boze Bell and J. Stuart Rosebrook; True Writing; Working With the Duke; Aspen Gold: Locations of True Grit; The Law and the Lawless; Theatrical trailer

The High and the Mighty (2 Disc Edition)
Closed Caption; Introductions by Leonard Maltin; Commentary by Leonard Maltin, William Wellman Jr., Karen Sharpe, Pedro Gonzales-Gonzales, and Vincent Longo; "The Batjac Story"; "Stories From the Set"; "On Director William A. Wellman"; "The Music and World of Dimitri Tiomkin"; "Restoring a Classic"; "A Place in Film History"; "Ernest K. Gann -- Adventurer, Author & Artist"; "Flying in the Fifties"; Theatrical trailer, TV trailer, Batjac montage; The High and the Mighty premiere footage; Photo gallery

Hondo
Introduction by Leonard Maltin; commentary by Maltin, Western historian Frank Thompson and Lee Aaker; Featurette "The Making of Hondo"; Featurette "The Apache"; Featurette "The John Wayne Stock Company - Ward Bond"; "Profile: James Edward Grant"; from the Batjac Vaults; original theatrical trailer; Batjac teaser; rare archival photo gallery

Island in the Sky
Closed Caption; Introduction by Leonard Maltin; Commentary by Leonard Maltin, William Wellman Jr., Darryl Hickman, James Lydon, and Vincent Longo; "Dooley's Down: The Making of Island in the Sky"; "Ernest K. Gann -- Adventurer, Author & Artist"; "Flight School -- The Art of Aerial Cinematography"; "The John Wayne Stock Company: Harry Carey, Jr."; "Flying for Uncle Sam"; Theatrical trailer; Newsreel footage of premiere; Introduction to Gunsmoke TV promo; Batjac montage; Photo gallery

El Dorado - NO EXTRAS

Even though we're not getting "The Quiet Man" in this extensive set, "McLintock" almost makes up for it as the dynamic between John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara is just as combative with that same underlying chemistry. Think of it as The Quiet Man of the frontier west. Highly recommended.

I bought the John Wayne box set for my father, but I like the movies listed here. John Wayne was a hero in his time, and as far as I'm concerned no one else can be the actor or even come close to the work he accomplished. I greatly recommend this box set for anyone who's a big fan of the classics.

This is a must-have collection for John Wayne fans. The movies are some of his best and many come with special features and interviews with actors and actresses that co-starred and worked with "The Duke." Great quality and very entertaining!

I bought this for my husband's birthday and we've watched John Wayne every night for 3 weeks! There was only one movie we didn't like (The High and the MIghty) and the rest we really enjoyed.

I couldn't be happier with a collection such as these that represent my favorite era in westerns and Wayne films.

This collection is an outstanding deal at $70. THis contains many of Wayne's most sought-after films at a bargain price.

I got these for my dad this Christmas and he loves them. I was named Jake after the Big Jake movie so I figured he must like that movie and I realized he did not have it so I got him this set for a great deal on amazon. I seen the same set for $100 dollars at Barnes and Nobles and I got in on here for less than half of that cost. Everytime I call home he is watching one of these movies I might have to get him a Clint Eastwood set next year.

Purchased as a gift for a "dyed in the wool" John Wayne fan. He was very pleased with the titles included in this collection. Purchased because it includes a very good mix of the Duke's better more well known movies.

This is a great collection of films by one of the greatest actors to ever grace the silver screen. Too bad he didn't get the recognition that he deserved. He only won one Oscar and that for his last film, "The Shootist". He really should have received more for such films as "The High and the Mighty", "The Quiet Man", "The Cowboys", and others. The films themselves are great. I only gave this collection a 3 due to the poor quality of the DVDs themselves. The sound was remastered for each of the films but no longer is synchronized with the film. In most cases, the sound comes before the action. This is very disconcerting while viewing the film. If not for this, this collection of John Wayne films would have received a 5. Too bad more care wasn't taken in remastering the sound.