Customer Reviews

John Wayne

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

For diehard John Wayne fans, this is a true treat. 20 movies for about .55 apiece. Granted 18 of them are 'B' westerns from Lone Star that are at times cheesy. But 2 are a couple of gems. Angel and the Badman is the first John Wayne movie I ever saw and what made me want to watch more. The other is McLintock, which is so politically incorrect regarding the roles of men and women for this day and age, but still is a hoot to watch. The only caution I have is regarding the quality of the pictures. I've watched a few of the earlier films in the package and in places the picture is bad, blurry, and jumpy. But you have to realize that the films are over 70 years old now. The fact that they are still available at all is fantastic. If you're a casual fan, I would say this is not for you. You'll get tired if you watch these films one after another of the same sets or the oddity of only one woman ever in town, who of course John always gets. If you're a avid fan, you'll treasure them, blurry pictures and all.

I found this and jumped on it. As already stated the Lone Star movies are old and they have not been restored. [Package says Digitally remastered] The worst thing is that they have been edited. Most [not all] of the run times are from 2 to 7 minutes short. On a movie that last only 55 to 59 minutes that can change the movie. I bought this for RAINBOW VALLEY. This movie's original runtime was 52 minutes. On this DVD it runs 47 minutes.
If you are trying to collect the full movie pass this by. If you don't care and want to watch some classic Duke it's a good price.
Too bad they spent more on packaging it than they did on production.

The JOHN WAYNE 20 MOVIE PACK includes a bonus:
"The American West Of John Ford" was a made for TV documentary about the legendary filmmaker, with alternating host duties carried out by Wayne, Henry Fonda and Jimmy Stewart. Filmed on-site at Monument Valley, it's easy to see the long-established camaraderie among these actors as they reminisced with their former director about his production company and days gone by. Ford was clearly looking frail and on the decline, which undoubtedly prompted this retrospective tribute.

The balance of the box set are films made prior to the Duke's breakthrough picture, 1939's "Stagecoach," his first collaboration with John Ford. These quickly-made three-reelers, once standard Saturday matinee fare, were often shown in pairs along with a serial chapter, a Three Stooges short and a few cartoons. Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear...

The ROY ROGERS 20 MOVIE PACK would go great with this John Wayne collection!

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Parenthetical numbers preceding titles are 1 to 10 viewer poll ratings found at a film resource website.

(6.8) The American West Of John Ford (TV-1971-doc.) - John Ford/John Wayne/Henry Fonda/James Stewart/Andy Devine (cameo)
(6.8) Angel And The Badman (1947) - John Wayne/Gail Russell/Harry Carey
(5.5) Blue Steel (1934) - John Wayne/George 'Gabby' Hayes/Yakima Canutt
(5.0) The Dawn Rider (1935) - John Wayne/Marion Burns/Yakima Canutt (in support)
(5.1) The Desert Trail (1935) - John Wayne/Mary Kornman/Paul Fix
(6.0) Hell Town ("Born To The West") (1937) - John Wayne/Marsha Hunt
(4.7) The Lawless Frontier (1934) - John Wayne/George "Gabby" Hayes
(5.6) The Lucky Texan (1934) - John Wayne/George "Gabby" Hayes
(5.0) The Man From Utah (1934) - John Wayne/George "Gabby" Hayes
(7.2) McLintock! (1963) - John Wayne/Maureen O'Hara/Stefanie Powers
(5.3) 'Neath The Arizona Skies (1934) - John Wayne/Sheila Terry/Yakima Canutt (in support)
(5.0) Paradise Canyon (1935) - John Wayne/Marion Burns/Yakima Canutt (in support)
(5.5) Rainbow Valley (1935) - John Wayne/Lucile Browne/George 'Gabby' Hayes
(5.7) Randy Rides Alone (1934) - John Wayne/George "Gabby" Hayes
(5.8) Riders Of Destiny (1933) - John Wayne/George "Gabby" Hayes
(5.1) Sagebrush Trail (1933) - John Wayne/Nancy Shubert/Yakima Canutt
(5.6) The Star Packer (1934) - John Wayne, George "Gabby" Hayes
(5.0) Texas Terror (1935) - John Wayne/George "Gabby" Hayes
(5.5) The Trail Beyond (1934) - John Wayne/Verna Hillie/Noah Beery/Noah Beery Jr.
(5.8) West Of The Divide (1934) - John Wayne/George "Gabby" Hayes
(6.0) Winds Of The Wasteland (1936) - John Wayne/Phyllis Cerf

these collection of the duke's early movies are not the best transfers out there. they are blury and the pops and lines in the picture and sound are really bad. check out other collections and you'll find better copies.

I think that for the age of these movies this is what I would expect. I had seen some bad reviews about this and almost didn't get it. However my Dad is all about John Wayne so I got it for him. I think it's as good as it should be. Wonderful price and well as far as the movies looking old... They should! I wouldn't want some one to go in and touch them up. These are old and sould have the look and feel of a well worn movie. It's not like you can't see it or hear it because you can. It just has that feel of comfort that you would get from curling up on the sofa to watch a good-ol' western. And that's what I wanted when I got it was a good-ol' western full of John Wayne.

With the exception of ANGEL AND THE BADMAN (1947) and MCLINTOCK (1963), all of the John Wayne westerns in this collection date from the 1930's.

Judging by the fact that most of these movies, when listed individually on Amazon, have zero or one Amazon review, it is fair to say that they are not well known. For this reason, this 20-movie collection is a treasure of sorts.

Several reviewers have already pointed out that the movies here are abridged. Indeed, this can be annoying. For instance, those familiar with the original version of MCLINTOCK will recognize that a funny part had been edited out.

There is also included an interesting documentary by John Ford. In it, John Wayne speaks as himself, and comments on his roles in westerns.

I am 50 plus years of age and I remember the saturday afternoons at the movies. There was always a coming attraction (for the next week for the kids),a cartoon, a chapter serial,& two features. Usually one of the features was a western. These films of Mr. Wayne bring back memories when the good guys always wore white hats and bad guys always wore black hats, drank too much, and always lost the fight with the good guys. The good guys had a romantic interest in the heroine, but no mushy stuff
ever happened in these films, not for young eyes who always like action and no kissing face stuff! Only comment I have wrong about this collection of horse opera is that the first two films (the Dawn Rider and the Desert Trail)have some glinches in them as though they are old copies of them but the others are good copies in this 20 pack. Worth the price of 5.00 dollars in all.

If you want some of John Wayne's less known movies this is the perfect pack at the perfect price for you. Many viewing hours of the Duke!

The first thing that strikes you is how much John Wyane's stage presence stands out above the others. He is believable where everyone around him is wooden in performance. The second thing is that all these films were shot in two years. The backdrops and props all start to look familure after the first two videos. Worth watching if you like westerns.

The quality of this DVD is wildly bad NOT because as one reviewer put, the film prints are some 70 years old.

Those film prints are still fine. It's just terrible compression. The image is dark and blurry, you see the pixels. It's a bit like someone made DVD copies of VHS tapes. In other words, super cheap.

But, hey, I suppose if you get 20 films for $5, you can't complain. And it's not like you can't make out the story. Still, it would be nice if Amazon could at least acknowledge the low quality here.