Action & Adventure

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)

Paul Newman and Robert Redford set the standard for the "buddy film" with this box office smash set in the Old West. The Sundance Kid (Redford) is the frontier's fastest gun. His sidekick Butch Cassidy (Newman) is always dreaming up new ways to get rich fast. If only they could blow open a baggage car without also blowing up the money-filled safe inside... Or remember that Sundance can't swim before they escape a posse by leaping off a cliff into rushing rapids... Times are changing in the west and life is getting tougher. So Butch and Sundance pack their guns don new duds and with Sundance's girlfriend (Katharine Ross) head down to Bolivia. Never mind that they don't speak Spanish - they'll manage somehow. A winner of four Academy Awards (including best screenplay and best song) here is a thoroughly enjoyable blend of fact and fancy done with true affection for a bygone era and featuring the two flashiest friendliest funniest outlaws who ever called out "hands up!"System Requirements:Features: Disc 1: Widescreen Feature Commentary #1 by George Roy Hill Lyricist Hal David Associate Producer Robert Crawford and Cinematographer Conrad Hall. Commentary #2 by Screenwriter William Goldman. Disc 2: 2005 documentary ALL OF WHAT FOLLOWS IS TRUE: The Making of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The Wild Bunch: The True Tale of Butch & Sundance. History through the lens: "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid: Outlaws Out of Time" 1994 documentary: THE MAKING OF BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUDANCE KID" 1994 Interviews Production Notes Alternate Credit Roll Theatrical Trailer #1 Theatrical Trailer #2 Theatrical Trailer #3 The Films of Paul Newman From the Terrace Hombre The Hustler The Long Hot Summer Quintet The Towering Inferno The Verdict What a Way to Go! Running Time: 330 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: WESTERN/MISC. Rating: PG UPC: 024543244578 Manufacturer No: 2234458

This 1969 film has never lost its popularity or its unusual appeal as a star-driven Western that tinkers with the genre's conventions and comes up with something both terrifically entertaining and--typical of its period--a tad paranoid. Paul Newman plays the legendary outlaw Butch Cassidy as an eternal optimist and self-styled visionary, conjuring dreams of banks just ripe for the picking all over the world. Robert Redford is his more levelheaded partner, the sharpshooting Sundance Kid. The film, written by William Goldman (The Princess Bride) and directed by George Roy Hill (The Sting), basically begins as a freewheeling story about robbing trains but soon becomes a chase as a relentless posse--always seen at a great distance like some remote authority--forces Butch and Sundance into the hills and, finally, Bolivia. Weakened a little by feel-good inclinations (a scene involving bicycle tricks and the song "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" is sort of Hollywood flower power), the movie maintains an interesting tautness, and the chemistry between Redford and Newman is rare. (A factoid: Newman first offered the Sundance part to Jack Lemmon.) --Tom Keogh

Lonesome Dove

Epic western about two former Texas rangers who leave the south Texas town of Lonesome Dove on a cattle drive to the lush ranch country of Montana.
Genre: Westerns
Rating: NR
Release Date: 21-OCT-2003
Media Type: DVD

Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones star as Gus McCrae and Woodrow Call, aging cowboys and former Texas rangers and who organize a 2,500 mile cattle drive for one last great adventure in this excellent 1989 miniseries adaptation of Larry McMurtry's novel. The best friends, who steal the herd from a gang of Mexican cattle rustlers, drive their herd from Texas to Montana, battling horse thieves, angry Indian tribes, and a renegade half-breed killer named Blue Duck (Frederic Forrest) on a mission of revenge. The excellent cast also includes Robert Urich as cardsharp and former Ranger Jake Spoon, Anjelica Huston as McCrae's old flame Clara Allen, Danny Glover, Ricky Schroder, Diane Lane, Chris Cooper, D.B. Sweeney, Steve Buscemi, and even a small role for author Larry McMurtry. Australian director Simon Wincer shows a tremendous capacity for balancing sweeping drama and intimacy against the gorgeous landscape of the American Southwest, giving a grandly epic feel to the film despite its small-screen target and limited budget, and for forging memorable characters of even the smallest supporting parts. The heart of the drama belongs to McCrae and Call, memorably etched by Duvall and Jones as the last of the range romantics. In the age of revisionist Westerns, this excellent cattle-drive drama nicely maintains an old-fashioned feeling while still showing the dark side of the American West. Winner of seven Emmy Awards and responsible for two miniseries sequels (Return to Lonesome Dove and Dead Man's Walk) and a TV series. --Sean Axmaker

Tombstone

This Western has become a modest cult favorite since its release in 1993, when the film was met with mixed reviews but the performances of Kurt Russell (as Wyatt Earp) and especially Val Kilmer, for his memorably eccentric performance as the dying gunslinger Doc Holliday, garnered high praise. The movie opens with Wyatt Earp trying to put his violent past behind him, living happily in Tombstone with his brothers and the woman (Dana Delany) who puts his soul at ease. But a murderous gang called the Cowboys has burst on the scene, and Earp can't keep his gun belt off any longer. The plot sounds routine, and in many ways it is, but Western buffs won't mind a bit thanks to a fine cast and some well-handled action on the part of Rambo director George P. Cosmatos, who has yet to make a better film than this. --Jeff Shannon

A sizzling, star-studded cast brings to life the legendary battle to deliver justice to TOMBSTONE! Kurt Russell (MIRACLE, VANILLA SKY) turns in a gripping performance as U.S. Marshall Wyatt Earp and Val Kilmer (THE MISSING, BATMAN FOREVER) ignites the screen as the outrageous Doc Holliday. Together, they team up to bring law to the lawless in a notorious showdown with the ruthless outlaws at the O.K. Corral! The all-star ensemble also includes Sam Elliott, Bill Paxton, Dana Delany, Jason Priestley, Michael Biehn, and long-time Hollywood favorite Charlton Heston. Get ready for an explosive, action-packed adventure the Wild West would never forget!

Unforgiven

Winner of four Academy Awards, including best picture, director, supporting actor, and best editing, Clint Eastwood's 1992 masterpiece stands as one of the greatest and most thematically compelling Westerns ever made. "The movie summarized everything I feel about the Western," said Eastwood at the time of the film's release. "The moral is the concern with gunplay." To illustrate that theme, Eastwood stars as a retired, once-ruthless killer-turned-gentle-widower and hog farmer. He accepts one last bounty-hunter mission--to find the men who brutalized a prostitute--to help support his two motherless children. Joined by his former partner (Morgan Freeman) and a cocky greenhorn (Jaimz Woolvett), he takes on a corrupt sheriff (Oscar winner Gene Hackman) in a showdown that makes the viewer feel the full impact of violence and its corruption of the soul. Dedicated to Eastwood's mentors Sergio Leone and Don Siegel and featuring a colorful role for Richard Harris, it's arguably Eastwood's crowning directorial achievement. The digital video disc offers standard and widescreen formats and a remastered soundtrack. --Jeff Shannon

Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman play retired, down-on-their-luck outlaws who pick up their guns one last time to collect a bounty offered by the vengeful prostitutes of the remote Wyoming town of Big Whiskey. Richard Harris is an ill-fated interloper, a colorful killer-for-hire called English Bob. And Best Supporting Actor Oscar winner Gene Hackman is the sly and brutal local sheriff whose brand of law enforcement ranges from unconventional to ruthless.

DVD Features:
Production Notes
Theatrical Trailer

Once Upon a Time in the West

The so-called spaghetti Western achieved its apotheosis in Sergio Leone's magnificently mythic (and utterly outlandish) Once upon a Time in the West. After a series of international hits starring Clint Eastwood (from A Fistful of Dollars to The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly), Leone outdid himself with this spectacular, larger-than-life, horse-operatic epic about how the West was won. (And make no mistake: this is the wide, wide West, folks--so the widescreen/letterboxed version is strongly recommended.) The unholy trinity of Italian cinema--Leone, Bernardo Bertolucci, and Dario Argento--concocted the story about a woman (Claudia Cardinale) hanging onto her land in hopes that the transcontinental railroad would reach her before a steely-eyed, black-hearted killer (Fonda) does. (The film's advertising slogan was: "There were three men in her life. One to take her ... one to love her ... and one to kill her.") Meanwhile, Leone shoots his stars' faces as if they were expansive Western landscapes, and their towering bodies as if they were looming rock formations in John Ford's Monument Valley. --Jim Emerson

When the husband of Jill McBain is killed by ruthless outlaws in the old West, she hires two guns of her own to get revenge.
Genre: Westerns
Rating: PG13
Release Date: 30-JAN-2007
Media Type: DVD

Conagher

Conagher is both a hard-riding actioner and a character-driven look at Western life. Katharine Ross plays Evie Teale widowed after coming West and forced to prove her mettle in many ways. Sam Elliott plays Conagher a cowhand who when not tracking rustlers drifts in and out of Evie's life. Something about that frontier woman keeps drawing him back. But can Evie ever keep him from drifting out again?Running Time: 117 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: WESTERN/MISC. UPC: 053939676525

Jeremiah Johnson

After they first worked together on the 1966 film This Property Is Condemned, director Sydney Pollack and Robert Redford continued their long-lasting collaboration with this 1972 drama set during the mid-1800s, about one man's rugged effort to shed the burden of civilization and learn to survive in the wilderness of the Rocky Mountains. Will Geer is perfectly cast as the seasoned trapper who teaches Jeremiah Johnson (Redford) how to survive against harsh winters, close encounters with grizzly bears, and hostile Crow Indians. In the course of his adventure, Johnson marries the daughter of a Flathead Indian chief, forms a makeshift family, and ultimately assumes a mythic place in Rocky Mountain folklore. Shot entirely on location in Utah, the film boasts an abundance of breathtaking widescreen scenery, and the story (despite a PG rating) doesn't flinch from the brutality of the wilderness. In addition to the original theatrical trailer, remastered Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, and informative production notes, the DVD also includes The Saga of Jeremiah Johnson, a promotional documentary on the making of the film. --Jeff Shannon

Robert Redford has one of his best-ever roles as a 19th century mountain man in a wilderness of harsh elements and hostile Indians. Directed by The Firm's Sydney Pollack. Year: 1972 Director: Sydney Pollack Starring: Robert Redford, Will Geer, Stefan Gierasch

DVD Features:
Featurette
Production Notes

Dances with Wolves - Extended Cut (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)

Rewarded for his heroism in the Civil War Lt. John Dunbar (Costner) wants to see the American Frontier before it is gone. He is assigned to an abandoned fort where a Sioux tribe is his only neighbor. Overcoming the language barrier and their mutual fear and distrust Dunbar and the proud Indians gradually become friends. Eventually he falls in love with the beautiful Stands With A Fist (McDonnell) a white woman raised by the tribe. He learns the culture of the Sioux lives with them and even experiences the breathtaking excitement of a buffalo hunt but his knowledge of the fate that will ultimately befall the tribe torments him. Finally he is faced with a crucial decision that will cause him to examine his heart and soul before making a heroic choice that determines his destiny.System Requirements:Starring: Kevin Costner Mary McDonnell Graham Greene Rodney A. Grant Floyd Red Crow Westerman Tantoo Cardinal Robert Pastorelli Charles Rocket Maury Chaykin Larry Joshua Wes Studi Jimmy Herman. Directed By: Kevin Costner. Running Time: 236 Min. Color. This film is presented in "Widescreen" format. Copyright 2003 MGM Studios.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: PG-13 UPC: 027616880598 Manufacturer No: 1003949

Kevin Costner's 1990 epic won a bundle of Oscars for a moving, engrossing story of a white soldier (Costner) who singlehandedly mans a post in the 1870 Dakotas, and becomes a part of the Lakota Sioux community who live nearby. The film may not be a masterpiece, but it is far more than the sum of good intentions. The characters are strong, the development of relationships is both ambitious and careful, the love story between Costner and Mary McDonnell's character is captivating. Only the third-act portrait of white intruders as morons feels overbearing, but even that leads to a terribly moving conclusion. Costner's direction is assured, the balance of action and intimacy is perfect--what more could anyone want outside of an unqualified masterpiece? --Tom Keogh

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

Stewart is a big-city lawyer who is determined to help a town get rid of its local bad guy. Wayne is the man who actually does it.
Genre: Westerns
Rating: NR
Release Date: 28-MAR-2006
Media Type: DVD

"When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." That's more than the code of a newspaperman in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance; it's practically the operating credo of director John Ford, the most honored of American filmmakers. In this late film from a long career, Ford looks at the civilizing of an Old West town, Shinbone, through the sad memories of settlers looking back. In the town's wide-open youth, two-fisted Westerner John Wayne and tenderfoot newcomer James Stewart clash over a woman (Vera Miles) but ultimately unite against the notorious outlaw Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin). Ford's nostalgia for the past is tempered by his stark approach, unusual for the visual poet of Stagecoach and The Searchers. The two heavyweights, Wayne and Stewart, are good together, with Wayne the embodiment of rugged individualism and Stewart the idealistic prophet of the civilization that will eventually tame the Wild West. This may be the saddest Western ever made, closer to an elegy than an action movie, and as cleanly beautiful as its central symbol, the cactus rose. --Robert Horton

Little Big Man

Jack Crabb is the only white survivor of the Battle of Little Big Horn and the centenarian shares his story in this picaresque fable of the Old West. In Arthur Penn's adaptation of Thomas Berger's novel, Dustin Hoffman plays Jack from teen years into old age in a bravura performance. And Jack's story is a fantastic one: captured by Indians as a boy, reared as an Indian, shuttling back and forth between the white and Indian worlds. In the process, he befriends everyone from Wild Bill Hickock to George Armstrong Custer and is a gunslinger, a snake-oil salesman, and an Army scout. This is a solid blend of comedy and tragedy, with a strong statement to make about America's treatment of Native Americans without sermonizing. A terrific cast includes Faye Dunaway, Martin Balsam, and Richard Mulligan. But this show is all Hoffman's. --Marshall Fine