Search - John Wayne-John Ford Film Collection (The Searchers Ultimate Edition / Stagecoach Two-Disc Special Edition / Fort Apache / She Wore a Yellow Ribbon / The Long Voyage Home / They Were Expendable / 3 Godfathers / The Wings of Eagles) on DVD

K. K. (GAMER)
Reviewed on 5/17/2024...

Stagecoach - Classic black and white western but don't expect anything real exciting compared to today's standards.

They Were Expendable - A Black and White John Wayne Classic based on true events!

Now THIS is a no brainer....BUY NOW!!!

Richardson | Sunny California USA | 06/06/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"First...the films

Stagecoach and The Searchers...two of the all time greatest movies ever made....Fort Apache and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon...perhaps only a notch below and the other films while not on that level...wonderfully enjoyable. The transfers are typically excellent as WB tends to do...the cover art is the original 1sheet...very fun stuff. The Searchers edition included is the ULTIMATE edition with tons of extra paper goodies!



Second..the extras!

Stagecoach...the American Masters documentary airing this month on the tube on Ford/Wayne is a nice bonus...the NEW 30 minute documentary on the actual making of Stagecoach is REALLY GREAT....and i noticed its done by SPARKHILL , who did Wizard of Oz and some of the other great WB re-issues... THeir bonus featurettes on Fort Apache (Monument Valley) and the Searchers are also wonderful....truly there are hours of extras included in this package that will let the viewer learn much about both John Wayne...who people think they know but perhaps don't and John Ford...who just might be the greatest director of all time.



CHEERS to WB for releasing these films in lovingly done transfers and packing them with new and vintage featurettes to make them truly worth owning instead of waiting to catch on TCM some day.....and the overall package and price...well..terrific!



A collection of movies from arguably the greatest film director and starring arguably the greatest film star in history....stop reading and BUY!"

As Close to Perfect a Collection as You Can Get!

Benjamin J Burgraff | Las Vegas | 07/02/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If there was ever a collection that deserves the term, ESSENTIAL, the "John Wayne-John Ford Film Collection" is it. While I wish "Rio Grande" had been included (which would have finally offered buyers the entire "Cavalry Trilogy", together), the set has so many remarkable titles that it really sells itself!



The centerpiece is, of course, a new, definitive edition of "The Searchers", Ford and Wayne's finest collaboration. A masterpiece that defined the 'epic' western, it was unbelievably ignored by the Oscars when released (I suspect, as a backlash against Wayne's right-wing support of the Communist 'witch hunts' of the film industry in the fifties). Time has only increased it's luster, and the astonishing, subtle performance by the Duke as a bitter, bigoted ex-Rebel on a five-year quest to kill his 'soiled', Comanche-kidnapped niece.



Besides the best 'remastered' print, ever, the Special Features include commentary by Peter Bogdanovich, two terrific documentaries, Warner's 1956 promotional TV spots (hosted by an 'out-of-place' Gig Young), and some fabulous production materials.



"Stagecoach" is as important, historically, as "The Searchers", as Ford 'lifted' the entire genre, through this film, into an era of adult storytelling. A gamble for the director (as no major studio wanted B-movie actor John Wayne as the lead, and tried to force Ford to use Gary Cooper), the film is a testament to the director's loyalty to Wayne (who would finally achieve stardom as the Ringo Kid), and a showcase for some of Hollywood's best character actors (with Thomas Mitchell winning a Supporting Actor Oscar).



A package of great Special Features includes two documentaries, and a radio version of the film, with Claire Trevor, and Randolph Scott(!!??) as the Ringo Kid.



"The Long Voyage Home", Ford's second teaming with Wayne, is an unfairly ignored, beautifully realized filming of Eugene O'Neill's works. Ford loved the sea, and stories that emphasized 'Family', and this tale of Merchant Marine seamen facing the growing threat of Nazi U-Boat attacks offers his 'stock company' of actors (Mitchell, Ward Bond, Barry Fitzgerald, etc.) in beautifully etched portrayals. Young Wayne, for the only time in his career, attempts an accent, playing a likable young Swede, and he is quite effective in the role.



"Fort Apache" is considered by many the best of Ford's 'Cavalry' trilogy, and was WAY ahead of it's time, in it's sympathetic portrayal of Cochise, and the abuse and exploitation of Native Americans. Henry Fonda (as a variation of Custer) is a martinet commander hoping to 'make a name' by subduing the Apaches, ignoring the conditions that created the crisis. Snubbing the wisdom of second-in-command Wayne, he provokes a confrontation that leads to disaster!



Framed with the humor, romance, and camaraderie audiences expected from Ford, the underlying drama lifts the film into a richly-deserved status as a Classic.



"She Wore a Yellow Ribbon", the second 'Cavalry' film, is far friendlier, and more sentimental, offering Wayne one of his best 'character' roles, as an aging Captain facing retirement just as the Indians unite to make war, after the Custer massacre. The only of the trilogy filmed in color (which would win an Oscar), Ford's 'stock company' was never better, particularly Victor McLaglen, and young Ben Johnson.



"3 Godfathers", Ford's second filming of this western variation of "The Gift of the Magi", is a small, but loving parable of three likable outlaws (Wayne, Pedro Armendariz, and Harry Carey, Jr.), redeemed when a dying mother entrusts her infant's care to them, in the desert. Pursued by Ward Bond and a posse, the trio, under a burning sun, learn self-sacrifice, protecting the baby. With frequent religious references, this may not be a film for everyone, but it's message is universal, and inspiring.



"They Were Expendable", Ford's only Hollywood WWII movie, was truly daring, focusing not on victory, but on the Navy's constant defeats, following Pearl Harbor. PT boat skippers Robert Montgomery (a real-life Navy veteran) and Wayne, and their crews, show courage as they fight a holding action, knowing that America would eventually rebuild their fleet, and achieve victory.



Shunned by a war-weary public in 1945, the film is now viewed as one of the finest war films ever made!



Finally, there is "Wings of Eagles", the real-life story of Navy aviator/Hollywood screenwriter Frank 'Spig' Wead (portrayed by Wayne). Ford was friends with Wead (his character even appears in the film, under another name, played by Ward Bond, having a ball in the role), but after some early 'pure Ford' humor, the film turns dramatic, and offers an unsettling portrait that leaves the biggest question unanswered...Why would Wead ignore his devoted wife (played by the luminous Maureen O'Hara), when his life is threatened in an accident, and turn to his Navy buddies, instead? There is a story here that Ford chooses to ignore, making the film less effective, despite a strong Wayne performance (ending the film without his hairpiece!), and a remarkable sequence in which Wead, by sheer willpower, teaches himself to walk again, after the accident.



What a collection of films! Need I say more?







"

Two for Texas, or Monument Valley

Flipper Campbell | Miami Florida | 06/06/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

""The Searchers: Ultimate" is the star of this highly anticipated boxed set, along with seven other films. A double-disc upgrade of "Stagecoach" and the DVD debut of "Fort Apache" join "The Searchers" as the best reasons to pony up.



Much is made of John Ford's "cavalry trilogy" -- "Fort Apache," "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" (included) and "Rio Grande" -- but a good argument can be made for "Stagecoach," "Apache" and "Searchers" as a Monument Valley triptych that emerged from Ford's evolving attitudes toward Native Americans.



Peter Bogdanovich, the dependable (and prolific) DVD commentator, says "The Searchers" is "as good a Western as Ford made, maybe the best." "It's amazing how it was overlooked in its day," Bogdanovich says.



New-to-DVD extra features on "The Searchers" are the Bogdanovich commentary, a so-what introduction by Patrick Wayne and the excellent half-hour "An Appreciation" with directors Martin Scorsese, Curtis Hanson and John Milius. Warner had no alternate takes or deleted scenes to display, typical of the efficient Ford, Bogdanovich says.



"Stagecoach" includes commentary from Ford biographer Scott Eyman, who says: "The modern Western begins here."



Ford and John Wayne's tense yet affectionate and enduring relationship is chronicled in the recent "American Masters" profile "The Filmmaker and the Legend," a "Stagecoach" extra. The informative but padded docu runs 90 minutes. (It contains numerous spoilers.) The 2006 half-hour docu "Stagecoach: A Story of Redemption" includes testimony from Bogdanovich, who dubs it "the first psychosexual Western."



Images from the trailer and docu clips give a pretty good idea of what the restorers were up against with "best available film elements." Video quality is OK despite the wear.



DVD newcomer "Fort Apache" (1948) looks great, with minimal wear on its crisp black-and-white images (from original nitrate elements) and bugle-brisk audio.



The (single) DVD has no documentary on the intriguing film, a shame. It does include a 15-minute piece on Monument Valley, covering Ford's significant and seemingly beneficial role in the Indian reservation's history. "It always seemed like plagiarism to shoot in Monument Valley after Ford," Bogdanovich says.



There is a good deal of repetitive material in this set's extras, but it's all good stuff. Unfortunately, there's nothing on the music in Ford's films, such as Max Steiner's score for "The Searchers.""