23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Bufford Pusser walks tall on DVD, February 15, 2003
This review is from: Walking Tall Trilogy Boxed Set (DVD)
I have waited for a long time for the Walking Tall Trilogy to be released on DVD but was not over joyed with the DVD set. First I have to say is that the movies are all outstanding and can be watched over and over aging without loosing their excitement. But, it looks like Rhino did not use a master print but a copy of the video tape. The print they used I think is a very poor print. Walking Tall part 1 has alot of what I call "video tape lines' runnig through it, the Final Chapter is real dark in some scenes, and over all the video quality is not what you expect out of a DVD. It looks like you are watching a video tape. Rhino, you did Bufford Pusser an injustice! And I have to agree with the other reviewer; Where is the TV series at??? Release them pleaseeeee.
Over all, for the movies sake I give it a 5 star plus. On Rhinos part, 5 stars for releasing the movies on DVD, and 2 stars for their transfer. Go back to the master prints, thx them, re-do a new release to DVD including a release of the TV series.
If you like Walking Tall and Buford Pusser at all, this is a DVD set you will wnat to own
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good for the Movies, Not the Frills, September 26, 2006
This review is from: Walking Tall Trilogy Boxed Set (DVD)
This set gives what it promises. It provides videos of the 3 movies from the 70s about Sheriff Buford Pusser. It does little else. There are no special features to speak of; its just the movies.
If you like the movies and don't care for the frill, you will like this set. If you want more, you will be disappointed.
Synopses of the individual films appear below:
Walking Tall
The Original is still a Classic
Joe Don Baker plays the part of Buford Pusser, a.k.a. Buford the Bull, a pro wrestler who is disenchanted with the crooked sport and who decides to settle down in his home town in rural Tennessee. Home is not the way he remembers it, though. There is a hint of corruption in the air.
This does not matter overly much to Buford until it affects him personally. When the local thugs, working for the local moonshiners and madam, work him over and leave him for dead, he decides that he has had enough. He doesn't get a gun, his wife does not like guns. Instead, when he recovers, he gets a big piece of oak, heads over to the roadhouse where all the problems are and proceeds to kick everyone's collective butt. That lands him in jail.
When the trial comes about, it's a pretty open and shut case. Even Buford admits that he did the violence. It looks like he is going to be convicted until he fires his lawyer, makes an impassioned plea on his own behalf, shows the jury his scars and promises that if he is acquitted, he will run for sheriff and clean up the town. He gets off and then proceeds to clean things up.
The problem is that the crooks don't want to be cleaned up. They fight him and even threaten his family. That makes it personal for Buford. He cleans them up anyway but has to endure a fair amount of grief in the process. Throughout it all, he relies only on speaking softly and carrying a BIG stick.
This is not highbrow. Its just a simple good versus evil story. Buford is the good guy and he is likable.
Walking Tall Part 2
Vengeance in Mine Sayeth Buford
Near the end of the Original WALKING TALL, Sheriff Pusser's wife is killed while the mob is attempting to kill him. Now it is time for payback. There are a few changes, though.
Bo Svenson replaces Joe Don Baker as the likable sheriff. He does a creditable job but, under the circumstances, he is less concerned with the niceties of exactly following the law.
He's still effective, though. He is so effective that the mob is desperate to get him and hires a variety of hit men to do the job. One of the mob leaders, in particular, is just as obsessed with getting the sheriff as the sheriff is with getting them. That leads to an intense conflict and no concern for niceties. That means violence and mayhem.
Even with his proclivity for violence, the sheriff is concerned for his people. He is still a "nice" guy unless you are one of the people who is responsible for the problems. He still manages to get most of the small fry but the big fish still elude him.
This is not a bad movie as sequels go but it is not as good as the original. Anger can only take you so far in progressing the plot. It cannot make up for a lesser script and lesser story.
Walking Tall: The Final Chapter
End of the Road
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.
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11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"Get stick.", February 21, 2005
This review is from: Walking Tall Trilogy Boxed Set (DVD)
Walking Tall is one of those rare movies that when you're flipping channels in the middle of the
night and you land on it you just cant look away. I've called in drunk more than once after pulling
an all-nighter with Joe Don and the crew from the Lucky Spot.
II & III are better than expected, maybe for fans only, but Bo Svenson does a pretty good job replicating
the intensity Baker brought to the first installment.
However, Rhino has botched yet another DVD release in which appears to be a bad habit of theirs as I've
seen these negative comments before. Video and sound are subpar, and the soundtrack is downright ugly.
Come to think of it that's some of the worst music ever inspired by Hollywood and somehow Rhino has
found a way to make it sound even cheesier.
The Ghenghis Scale rates the collection 4 Stills, and breaks down this way - #1=5*, #2=4*, #3=2*.
And to the boys at Rhino..... I have a big stick carved from a 4x4, I think you know what you can do
with it. haw haw haw
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