Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

It's as if the character Leone made him play was Josey Wales: A peaceful man turned vengeance who goes on a killing spree for those that massacred his family, but redeems himself in the company of others. All that was missing between the two characters is that one had a name and the other did not. Now, take the films in his later career like the fourth Dirty Harry movie Sudden Impact. First, Outlaw was when Eastwood and then girlfriend Sondra Locke appeared onscreen together. Sudden Impact was the last time they appeared together. Both directed by Eastwood and both revenge films. Josey took revenge on those that killed his wife and son. Locke's character takes revenge on those that raped her and her sister. Both movies have flashbacks of the violence. Then he made Unforgiven. The opening when we first see William Munny get back into being a gunslinger is like an echo of Josey Wales. The opening of both movies has Eastwood using a variety of guns for target practicing. Could William Munny be an aged version of Josey Wales, even though Josey lost his wife and son and William only lost his wife? The action scenes and main storyline are exciting, but the story wanders sometimes.

"Are you gonna pull those pistols or whistle Dixie?" To some of us, we quietly get together in closed-door sessions and hushed tones and truly believe that this is the greatest western of all time. It certainly is Clint Eastwood's favorite movie. However, for the sake of our classic western fans, I put it in third place. It has stood the test of time and true Western fanatics quote lines from this movie. "Not a hard man to track. Leaves dead men wherever he goes." Eastwood runs the full gamut of his emotions and turns in a great job of acting including spittin' chaw on everything that moves. Rottentomatoes.com has a perfect 100% score on the critics "Tomatometer" with Roger Ebert stating, " Eastwood is such a taciturn and action-oriented performer that it's easy to overlook the fact that he directs many of his movies -- and many of the best, most intelligent ones. Here, with the moody, gloomily beautiful photography of Bruce Surtees, he creates a magnificent Western feeling." It was also one of the few Western movies to receive critical and commercial success in the 70's at a time when the Western was thought to be dying as a major genre in Hollywood. Orson Welles while on Merv Griffin and Johnny Carson proclaimed Josey Wales the best Western ever made and admitted to seeing it over 4 times!!! Jerry Fielding was nominated for an Oscar in the best motion picture score category. In 1996, this film was placed in the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in their National Film Registry. "Dyin' ain't much of a livin', boy."

Warner Brothers executive David Geffen was correct, the film needed to be trimmed a bit.The Outlaw Josey Wales has long been regarded as the last great western set during and in the aftermath of the American Civil War.Josey Wales, a Missouri farmer watched his family being murdered by Union militants. Hell bent on revenge, Wales joins a band of Confederate guerrilla fighters. After the war, all the fighters apart from Wales surrender to Union officers who massacre them.Wales becomes an outlaw and an ace marksman. He is pursued both by bounty hunters and Unionist soldiers. As Wales attempts to head for Mexico he is befriended by an old Indian, a mangy dog and a young Indian woman. Wales slowly regains his humanity.Philip Kaufman co-wrote the screenplay and was slated to direct the film. He was fired by Eastwood part way through. I think it would had been a better film with Kaufman.When you see a movie over forty years after its initial release, you see it differently. This is an elegiac film with a lot of humour between Eastwood and Chief Dan George. Despite the action set up, it moves at times at a leisurely pace.Kaufman was unhappy with the source novel's political stance. Once again we have a film set in the civil war where the Unionist soldiers are seen as despicable. The pro slavery Confederates being painted as honourable and wronged.I did have problems as to how Wales goes on from being an ordinary farmer to such a sharpshooter. There is also a libertarian message that seems to be more anti government which reflects Eastwood's views somewhat. The Indian nations might have little issues with such a message given how they kept losing their land. Does this also mean I have a right to keep this black man as a slave and the big bad government has denied me this right?

Set during the aftermath of the American Civil War, this iconic western focuses on a peaceful farmer who turns violent outlaw after his family is slaughtered. The film is full of memorable dialogue and one-liners that sparkle with wit; there are also several memorable moments as the protagonist, played by Clint Eastwood, meets companions along the way, ranging from a young soldier to an elderly Amerindian and kindred spirit. Taking the directing reigns (after arguing with screenwriter and intended director Philip Kaufman), Eastwood shows an undeniable talent for capturing serene natural landscapes spoiled by the horrors of war, however, the film never quite reaches the heights of 'High Plains Drifter', Eastwood's previous behind-the-camera western foray. The key issue is the sprawling and highly episodic nature of the plot. Characters come and go and our protagonist moves from one place to another, but all this does little to build up the title character, who (after turning outlaw), remains fairly unchanged. Josey Wales is, however, one of Eastwood's most likable and sympathetic characters. Not only does his pain over his family being killed resonate, he also has a dark sense of humour with all those witty quips and he clearly values the friendships he makes. The film is additionally capped off with a powerhouse final few minutes with so much nicely implied (rather than explicitly stated) between two characters. In short, it is easy to appreciate why this film has become so popular over the years in spite of its shortcomings.