Customer Reviews

Clint Eastwood American Icon Collection (Play Misty for Me / The Eiger Sanction / Coogan's Bluff / The Beguiled)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This mini 4 film collection is deal and a half. All 4 look great in their original aspect ratios and are enhanced for 16 X 9 widescreen TV's.
Audio is still the original mono but it sounds clean and clear.
Some good extra's on the Play Misty For Me disc, incl. a Clint Eastwood interview and the others have trailers and production notes.
Can't beat the value for the price!

"Clint Eastwood: American Icon Collection" is a box set containing four Eastwood feature films. In his directorial debut, "Play Misty For Me," Eastwood stars as a radio DJ who becomes the victim of psychotic obsession when he tries to end a torrid affair with a fan (Jessica Walter) in a forerunner of "Fatal Attraction." "The Eiger Sanction" is an action thriller about a professional assassin who is forced out of retirement to avenge a friend's murder in the Swiss Alps. "Coogan's Bluff" finds Eastwood as a soft-spoken, no-nonsense Arizona lawman whose unusual methods of capturing an escaped murderer cause havoc with a tough New York City police lieutenant (Lee J. Cobb). "The Beguiled" is a psychological thriller that combines love, betrayal, and hidden passions. Eastwood is a wounded Civil War soldier who finds shelter in an all-girls academy.
In "The Beguiled," Eastwood's John McBurney is more of a sexual character than Eastwood typically portrays. Geraldine Page plays the wary headmistress and Elizabeth Hartman is the teacher who falls in love with him. Director Don Siegel shifts the tone of the film to one of horror about midway through, incorporating a good deal of violence.
The three-disc set includes many bonus extras, including a featurette on the making of "Play Misty For Me," a photo montage, production notes, and a featurette in which Eastwood and director Don Siegel discuss their five-film collaboration.

Play Misty For Me is a great thriller, up there with Alfred Hitchcock! The other movies in the collection are enjoyable.

I stumbled across this collection at Wal-Mart and snatched it up. I figured for $12.00, it was a low-risk purchase.

Turns out, it was a great deal. Each of these movies has been remastered and looks/sounds great. "Misty" was the first film Eastwood directed, but even back then the man clearly had talent. "Misty" is, in fact, a very good suspense film, with plenty of clever touches and intelligent subtext to match. (Note at the beginning of the film, Eastwood's character is outside his former girlfriend's house looking through the window. Here HE is the stalker.) The only flaw in the film is a rather amateurish soundtrack. Eastwood had a limited budget, and the composer he hired had never scored a film before. Also, there's an extended romantic scene between Eastwood and Donna Mills that frankly seems to belong in a different film.

The "Beguiled" is definitely one of director Don Siegel's most ambitious, artful films, and it's entertaining seeing Eastwood play a character who's a lot more complictated than, say, Dirty Harry.

"Coogen's Bluff," was also helmed by Siegel. The story is fairly entertaining, but the real fun is seeing an Eastwood character making his way through a New York City setting. As far as I know, this is the only film where that takes place.

As for the "Eiger Sanction," the less said the better. The script is incredibly stupid, which goes to show Eastwood is a good director only as long as he has a decent script. It's hard to believe how he gave a pass to some of the lines the characters in this film utter.

Along with the movies is a good documentary about "Misty" with interviews by the participlants thirty years later, and a second documentary about the films Siegel and Eastwood made together.

This group of 4 movies are not Clint's greatest, but they are all finally done widescreen anamorphic.This is a big improvement in picture quality. The sound is good , but still just mono. Same audio/video quality as the previous "Western Icon Collection". My favorite in this group is "The Eiger Sanction", been waiting a long time for a decent presentation, and it's finally here and bargain priced.

A good collection of his early films, including his first time as a director. Not much extra beyond the films except for a well done segment interviewing him about his role as a first-time director. an excellent segment, making the collection worth purchasing if you have seen all the films.

We found the Eiger Sanction to be a complete and total bore but the other three more than made up for it. These films have been reviewed over and over here so I'll get to the point. We hadn't seen "The Beguiled" (which is our favorite) totally intact before. We didn't see it in the theater and when it got to commercial TV it was criminally butchered for our own protection. I don't want to spoil it for those of you who haven't seen it but it was like seeing the film for the first time. There is some very disturbing information about the family that was "edited" out as I said for our own good. "Misty" and "Coogan" are great fun and as good as ever. The test of a good film is the desire to view it over and over even after you know the ending. The fun is getting there. Honestly this package is one of the best bargains I've ever encountered. I couldn't see "punishing" the other three films which I give high ratings. Eiger Sanction by itself would be a 2.

My wife and I have been enjoying watching Clint Eastwood movies and we found this "American Icon Collection" of four of his movies (Play Misty for Me, The Eiger Sanction, Coogan's Bluff and The Beguilded). I don't regard this as a collection of Eastwood's better movies, but all are quite good entertainment. Plus, as packaged, the movies cost only a little over four dollars each and to get high quality movies at this price is indeed a bargain.

I reviewed each of the movies separately, so I see little need to go back over the reviews here since you can get my thoughts by going to any of the titles. My favorite was "Play Misty for Me. "My least favorite was "The Beguiled." "Coogan's Bluff would rank second and "The Eiger Sanction" third. I gave Misty five stars and the other three four. Any of the movies are excellent, it only a matter of individual taste in the ranking. The main benefit here is a package of very good movies at a bargain basement cost.

Gary Peterson

Just got to say, Universal did a fantastic job on remastering these Eastwood classics. Never seen The Eiger Sanction look so good and anamorphic widescreen!! The colors aren't bleeding everywhere and the dirt is finally cleaned up. Play Misty For Me looks just as good! I am shocked these titles look this good at this super low price for these four classics. Could be because Play and Eiger have their own discs, where Coogan's Bluff and Beguiled share a disc. Even with two movies crammed on one disc, never seen The Beguiled look this good!
The video quality alone is worth the price and not the lack of special features. Would one day like to hear some Eastwood commentary on Play Misty for Me, but that is a small thing compared to this great package!
Now Universal needs to go back and remaster the three western pack (they look good, but could be better).
If you love the Universal films Eastwood did in the late '60s and '70s, do yourself the favor and grab this set. It's hard to believe all these together are under ten bucks!

I have to say I am very pleased with my product and the service I received. Clint Eastwood is just a crowd pleaser and to have four of his movies on one set is a bonus. I love all of his movies and Beguiled is a must see.+