Product Details

• Actors: Van Heflin, Tab Hunter, Kathryn Grant, James Darren, Mickey Shaughnessy
• Format: Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Sony Pictures
• VHS Release Date: July 9, 1996
• Run Time: 95 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6304092032
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #224,380 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely Wonderful Western from the Masterful Phil Karlson, April 13, 2000

By 

Justin Fielding (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gunmans Walk [VHS] (VHS Tape)

A rancher (Van Heflin) whose life spans the time of the wild west and the beginnings of civilization in the American West has two sons. One (Tab Hunter) embodies the wild ways of his youth, the other (James Darren) represents his more sensitive, civilized side. The father caters to his out-of-control wild son and dismisses the more level-headed one as weak. Eventually, the father is forced to confront the ruffian and re-evaluate his rejection of the kinder, gentler son.

I read a story about Phil Karlson screening the film for hard-nosed Columbia Pictures boss Harry Cohn. Cohn, who had two sons, wept at the end of the film and told Karlson he was going to make him the biggest director in Hollywood. But Cohn died shortly thereafter, and Karlson continued to languish in obscurity (despite the major hit "Walking Tall" and not helped by such cheesy assignments as Matt Helm movies), and with relatively little appreciation for such cheapo noir masterpieces as "Phenix City Story."

I'm aghast to see a review on this site calling this the worst movie ever. It's one of my all-time favorites. [Actually it seems that someone mistakenly posted a dis on "Simon Birch" as a rating of "Gunman's Walk," which is a shame since it's the only vote for GW on this site.]

Years ago I showed this one at a film society (a million years ago, people used to rent 16mm films and show them for a pittance for other film fans) and for reasons I can't figure out, we drew a packed house that somehow knew this was a special movie. The air conditioner blew out on a hot summer day, but everyone stayed and was totally rapt by this poignant little picture.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars western movie lover, June 7, 2005

By 

R. hendrix "western movie lover" (granite falls, N.C.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gunmans Walk [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I loved this movie and I am waiting for it`s release on DVD.IT IS ONE OF Heflin`s best. He gave a great performance in SANTE FE TRAIL but this is his best. PLEASE RELEASE IT SOON ON DVD.

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A model Western., September 21, 2001

By 

darragh o'donoghue - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gunmans Walk [VHS] (VHS Tape)

'Gunman's Walk' is one of those terrific films whose narrow focus actually serves to encompass huge themes, such as Family, Race, History, Nation. It is at this point that the provincial or local becomes properly mythic. Because although the story isn't really about much - a father, his kids, a murder - it is also based on the oldest story of them all, that of Oedipus the King, the story of a man who unwittingly killed his father, bringing plague upon the country he ruled.

Although the Oedipal story seems deeply tragic and anti-social, it has been used by Freud and his followers to explain the processes of socialisation through sexuality. The only way a society can ensure its continued survival is through a process that is adequately symolised in the Oedipus story - a child may resent his father's power over him, but one day he'll have to take his place in society, to 'kill' him. Here the Oedipus story becomes a positive thing for conservative societies that locate themselves in the family. Paradoxically, although it is the 'natural' order of things, it involves a great struggle, neither man willing to give up his position.

And this is the crux of 'Gunman's Walk' Lee Hackett is one of those legendary characters who tamed the West, who got there before the law did, who sees himself as a kind of privileged Founding Father. Except father is the wrong word - he is so afraid of growing old, of being surpassed, that he insists his sons call him 'Lee', while retaining the powers of a father - he has to beat them in everything, convince himself he's still young. as this is contrary to nature, a sort of plague ensues, leading to moral breakdown, where a man can murder another and get away with it, because good old dad, sorry Lee, will sort it out.

Lee's two sons have wildly divergent ways of dealing with their father's overwhelming pre-eminence. Danny is the sensible, sensitive one, who defeats his dad, plays the Oedipal game, by simply ignoring his values, his macho gun-play, his turning everyday activities into masculine rites and tests. He ignores his racism and his stifling brand of family loyalty.

Ed, on the other hand, takes Dad at his word, and tries to defeat him. Unlike Lee, though, he has not got a powerful social apparatus that he helped create to help him, and he goes speedily, violently, trigger-happy insane. The film's best sequences involve Ed's increasingly doomed and desperate attempts to prove his manhood, to surpass his dad.

The film, with its youthful, teen-market stars, seems to centre on the brothers, but it is really about Lee. He is a near-tragic figure, his two sons split versions of his self, his potential for good leading to family, and his history mired in violence taken to extremes. Van Heflin's brilliant performance, revealing the desperation behind the bluster, convinces us of this.

But, as his name suggests, Lee represents so much more - America, its history. the murdered boy is a Red Indian - Lee's stature derives from his own battles with the Indians which helped create the West. Times have changed: family, civilisation and reconciliation must replace violence, reputation and individualism. it sounds so easy, but director Karlson emphasises the fierce trauma and disruption of the process. His deftly buoyant camerawork during action sequences is among the most vivid and exciting I have ever seen.