Customer Reviews

Walking Tall - The Final Chapter [VHS]

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The entire Walking Tall series is a tragic saga of a man almost larger than life, too honest for his own good which eventually lead to his demise.

Bo Svenson gives an authoritive and commanding performance of the doomed lawman. Forrest Tucker adds credibility as Buford's father.

The movies take you through his triumphs, tragedies, letdowns and then his renewed pursuit of re-election of a county so corrupt, the crooks ruled the county and eventually the department.

It is a triumphantly tragic story, and as a former Deputy Sheriff, I recommend the Final Chapter and The entire Walking Tall Series to anyone that can handle reality and the corruption that plagues small county USA.

The second Walking Tall ends with a notice that Sheriff Buford was killed in an auto accident. This third one picks up earlier in the story though. He is still adamant about getting the people who killed his wife and the Mob is still bent on getting the sheriff but Buford has a problem. He has lost his job as sheriff.

The job loss comes about for several reasons. In some cases, Buford is scene as having gone too far outside the legal boundaries. This happens even when his solutions make life easier for everyone, including the perpetrators. The people of his county also seem a bit jaded by continued success. Where they once cheered him, now they are not ready to support him.

The loss of his job means that Buford has to go after justice as a private citizen and he is well on his way to the poorhouse in pursuing his aims. The new sheriff is suspicious of him and is fearful that Buford might become a problem for him. It begins to look like he might have to move away with his business unfinished when he gets a lucky break.

A Hollywood producer learns of his story and wants to make a movie about him. That brings in money and a chance for achieving his goals. The mob leader with a taste for vengeance finally gets his chance and we learn the story of the end of the former Sheriff of McNairy County.

This one is better than the second but not as good as the first.

Buford Pusser went through a lot being sheriff overcomming tragaties like his wife's and friend's murders. He saves a verry young boy being beaten by his own father Pusser give the father a lesson in justice. Sadly tragicly killed in a car acident, Bufor Pusser was a true server of justice and a real legend to his county. The whole cast was real great.This is a must see for those who love action films or those who seen "WALKING TALL" parts 1&2, then this is for you to add to complete the saga. Really great action!

I liked Walking Tall: The Final Chapter nearly as much as the first one. My dad was a deputy sheriff and took me to see all three movies as they were released at the drive-in. This one was very, very good. After adjusting to Svenson in Part 2, we actually started liking him as Pusser in this one. Like the other two movies, this one includes a lot of violence that is pretty much accurate to Pusser's life. It is fast paced and an interesting story.

Following Pusser's story from beginning to end is a truly amazing experience. I won't give a spoiler, but there was something completely shocking to me in this movie that happens at almost the end. It made my breath catch in my throat the first time. I recommend all three of these movies to anyone that wants to see the true story of an American hero. They are good movies.

At the begining it is dark and you can hardly see it! THen it lighents up and is ok. THE main thing is my husband is ok with it! He is a happy camper, so I am too!

This DVD was a bad reburn, it starts off very dark then it lightens up. My husband rented this so much I figured I would be better of buying it. He is VERY plesed with it and that is all that matters! So, I guess i I give it a good review because it made him happy!

THIS IS AN EXCELLENT MOVIE! THE WALKING TALL MOVIE WITH DUANE THE ROCK JOHNSON AND ALOT OF ACTION MOVIES TODAY CAN'T HOLD A CANDLE TO THE WALKING TALLS MADE IN THE 1970'S STARRING JOE DON BAKER AND BO SVENSON.

i likrd the movie ok,BUT,i didn't like the wide screen.it cuts off the bottomand top part of the movie.

So stated the billboard ads for this 1977 finale to the feature film trilogy of the legendary Buford Pusser. Like all such films the movie makers played sort of fast and loose with the facts. Among the things a bit off; In the movie, Buford is voted out of office by a community that feels it no longer needs his style of law enforcement. In real life, Pusser served two terms as sheriff and was not permited by state law to run again. The movie shows him broke, down on his luck and unsure how he's going to make a living and support his family until a movie producer comes to see him and proposes making a movie on his life. Buford had sold his story to several magazines and was having a book written on him while he was still sheriff. As he was preparing to step down, he was already talking with hollywood people about the movie and was even discussing a television series. The final scene in the movie Final chapter Walking Tall is heartbreakingly authentic. He did die in his young daughters arms.

This last chapter is better built than the second and hence has a better rhythm. He is defeated in the election because he shows a high level of distance from the people. He seems to consider it below him to come and discuss things with the public, the electors of the county in a public meeting. Then of course he is a double or triple victim One, of the low life people he had chased and hunted down in his crusade against crime and they think they can finally get their revenge and they can trash his car or even attack him in the street or attack his family or the people he has relations with. Two, of the new sheriff who has the tendency to consider him as a dangerous person and a trouble maker. Three, of the real bad ones who know he does not have the protection his uniform could provide him with (cars, deputies, etc) and they come to the idea they can finally organize his end and go through untouched. That will be his doom. But the best part is his economic situation once he is no longer the sheriff. He lives with his parents who are old and retired and live on a small pension. He refuses to accept the job his brother in the north is proposing because he does not want to move. He also refuses to accept the job the local lawyer is proposing: investigator for his special cases, because he feels it is charity. He finally accepts the proposal of some Hollywood producer to make the film of his life and that brings him the end of his financial problems but also the multiplied desire to get even from the local traffickers, even against the advice of their own higher-ups. This reveals how difficult it may be after you have been in the limelight of law enforcing in a small city. The people reject you and even refuse to testify for you when you are attacked and your property is attacked by some local bullies or rough individuals. The film also shows very well there is a change in the US at that time. People after the worst criminal activity is gone, want to have a more peaceful and less visible law-enforcing police force. But at the same time it represents the end of a generation of traffickers who also want to run things in a smoother way. In other words US society in these early mid 70s, at the end of the Vietnam war, moved from the cult of sheer force to solve any problem to the understanding that a solution can only come if it is founded on some kind of peaceful consensus, even if that means accepting some kind of traffic provided it becomes non-violent, peaceful, and it respects some basic rules like paying taxes. That's exactly what Buford Pusser did not understand. Maybe he was right but at that time crime moved from the back woods of Tennessee to the dilapidated ethnic and poor suburban areas or ghettos of the big cities because the main traffic did not concern moon-shine whisky any more, an inheritance of Prohibition, but the new hard drugs like heroin and cocaine coming from Latin America.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines