Product Details

• Actors: Clint Eastwood, Robert Duvall, John Saxon, Don Stroud, Stella Garcia
• Directors: John Sturges
• Writers: Elmore Leonard
• Producers: Clint Eastwood, Jennings Lang, Robert Daley, Sidney Beckerman
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Language: English, Spanish
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Universal Studios
• VHS Release Date: March 1, 1992
• Run Time: 88 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6300182576
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #105,063 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Clint Eastwood's stardom was supernova, thanks to Dirty Harry; John Sturges, the man behind The Magnificent Seven and a dozen other memorably leathery Westerns, was directing; and Elmore Leonard was the screenwriter. It just goes to show. Joe Kidd is a muddle and a drag, the shoddiest Eastwood vehicle since Rowdy Yates trod in his last cow flop. Kidd, first seen as a duded-up drunk sleeping one off in jail, is supposed to be a horse rancher and an expert tracker--just the fellow a rapacious land-grabber (Robert Duvall committing lazy villainy) needs to chase down the uppity Latino (John Saxon) who's trying to reclaim the grabbed land for its rightful owners. Neither the characters nor the overland pursuit makes any sense, thanks to chasms in the continuity and no direction to speak of. An absurdly arbitrary assault-by-locomotive provides the climax; as Eastwood observed, "Jesus, anything at this point--let's end it." --Richard T. Jameson

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not a Complete Film on this Universal DVD, November 14, 2005

By 

Nipper (Mountain View, CA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Joe Kidd (DVD)

Scenes are missing on this DVD by Universal. Besides Kidd's and Helen's personal scene that's not apparent, what about the missing dinner scene at Helen's cabin? Duvall and Stroud reveal their characters even more at the dinner table but it is not shown on this version. Duvall invites a reluctant Helen to the table and takes command for himself. This film gets no respect by not being complete.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Average Western, But The DVD Is Not The Complete Film., June 26, 2003

By 

Erik Morton "Erik Morton" (Carmel, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Joe Kidd (DVD)

Since I never expected a whole lot out of JOE KIDD, I wasn't really disappointed. I was expecting a standard, light western, nothing more . . . . . and that's exactly what I got. JOE KIDD is about a guy named Joe Kidd (gasp!), who gets involved with a posse led by a rich land baron named Harlan (Robert Duvall). He's after the Hispanic revolutionary wannabe Luis Chama, who's causing a lot of trouble and stirring up the Spanish populace. And that's about it. Like I said, nothin' at all to get excited about, but Clint's mere presence can make a movie worth while. Unfortunately (and obviously), he's the highlight of the film, as the rest of the cast is just passing. Not even the great Robert Duvall seems to be interested in the picture, but who can blame him? Actually, the story has (or had) potential; it covers (or tries to) a lot of ground about loyalty, right vs. wrong, and it even raises the question of "What IS right?". But none of this is ever brought up to its full potential, and if it had, this may have been a truly great western. But alas, it is not so. All this is even more disappointing from the fact that this is a John Sturges film. This is the same man who helmed such masterpieces as THE GREAT ESCAPE and THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN!?! Surprising, and utterly devastating. Not to say that JOE KIDD is a necessarily BAD film, far from it! It just isn't GREAT. And I shouldn't complain much, I guess; what the hell could you expect from a running time of 1 Hr. 28 Mins.? This is about thirty minutes short of what all westerns should be. But I must admit, the main theme present during the opening and closing credits is pretty cool!

Along with the HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER re-release, all that has changed in this DVD is the cover and disc art. All there is for special features are production notes, cast and filmmakers' bios, and a theatrical trailer. Heck, even the production notes make the film sound tired! And the transfer ain't all that great, but it gets better as the film goes along. But the whole reason I lowered my rating down to two stars instead of three, is the fact that a certain scene (one of the best in the entire film) has been completely eliminated from the film! In it, more of the morality touches are discussed and brought into light. As well, it is this scene where Joe Kidd admits his love for Helen, a crucial element to the movie's impact! It's a short scene, but it remains one of the most impactful in the entire movie. I just watched it on AMC, and that scene was right there, playing out in front of me! This really ticks me off, the fact that along with miniscule extras and an average transfer, I can't even watch the complete film!!!

Only worth buying if you're a big Eastwood fan/collector. For [$$$]... , I guess it ain't a big loss.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As good as any, April 8, 2004

By 

Daniel James Macdonald "danufo" (Sydney,Nova Scotia ,Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Joe Kidd (DVD)

I don't understand why this got mediocre to bad reviews,I've seen this movie many times & think it's as good or better than any of his early work.As a bonus you get Robert Duval & Don Stroud(who you know is going to get killed before the end of the movie).
Highly recommended to any Clint fan !