One of my all time favorites.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

The Searchers (1956), is perhaps the darkest of western films that John Ford has ever made. His intention was to not only make a film that is dynamic in scale, but to create an example about a character who is deeply and personally conflicted with his views on culture. John Wayne named his Son after the character Ethan. The film was a bit of a challenge for the filmmakers, especially when it came to shooting the movie in the land of Utah. Ford was careful with his subject matter, but was still the master when it came down to the films art.I've seen some of John Ford's Films, one of them would have to be, "The Quiet Man". Akira Kurosawa, Orson Welles, John Milius and Steven Spielberg have considered Ford as one of the Greatest Directors of all time. Some (if most) critics were disappointed when the film did no win any awards back in 1957. The film has stood the test as being an achievement, capturing the beauty of Utah and becoming an inspiration among many filmmakers from around the globe. John Wayne was nothing without Ford's advice or direction in the film industry.I was never fond of many westerns, but this film was a huge exception. It should be considered as a study of great Cinematography and Direction. Its' subject is deep, so you've been warned.

John Wayne (JW)being one of my favourites actors so please be warned I am biased. This film shows the depth of JW's abilities under his Papi the great John Ford.If they ever give out long belated Oscars I would nominate JW willingly and honestly.Those who claim this film is racist really need to understand the history of the times. These days I always find sympathy with the American Indian and their previous way of life, admittedly the White invaders did go them and their lands as expantionalism was the name of the game then, but this review is not about that. There were many grave atrocities committed by both White settlers and Indians but the Indian was fighting for survival and we simply cannot apply modern day values against those of nearly 200 years ago.The film is brilliant, it's on the TV as I write, I must have seem it at least 25 times and it's still magic for me, the creme de la creme of all westerns as it has much of all that is required of the genre. Action, excitement, romance, pathos , wonderful scenery, good horsemanship and above all what makes good films great, unquestionably Superb acting by all involved so I will not single out any individual performance other than that already mentioned.A great movie with no modern day equivalent, I would highly recommend viewing it for pure entertainment value and for any up and coming actors, producers, directors and anyone else seeking a career in film making.

Here, folks, we got a racist, then we got a half-wit jerk-like idiot, then we got a badly scripted screenplay with bad dialog, then we got an Indian kidnapper with blue eyes. Those women/girl folks in the middle of nowhere, wearing iron-pressed custom tailored blouses, hairdos nicely done by the film hired hairdresser. Guys in this film, again, with dresses, vests and pants nicely cut and pressed, in the middle of nowhere. The scenes of the wildness looked more like in Utah instead of Texas. Catering food was served at the table with nice ceramic plates. John Wayne, played a self-centered, self-important, obnoxious racist who hated Indians and disliked half-breed, even that young man was rescued by him when that 1/2 breed was young. This pompous veteran looked down upon almost everyone, despised them.Then, it borrowed the "Preacher" as the Texas Ranger founder as part of this unbearable film. Stolen cattle could run 40 miles overnight quickly like horses to be then killed by Indians. If what we saw in this stupid film, the Indian warriors were ten-fold more than the white folks, why they bother to steal several cows overnight and pushed them 40 miles away. The war party could easily wiped out all of the settlers in that region without any problem, yet they did that, for what? Just tried to paved way for John Wayne to play a hero-worship character to be the die-hard searcher? Give me a break.His brother, a husband and father with big family, settled down in the unfriendly wildness environment, surrounded by at least three different vicious blood-thirst Indian tribes, yet he seemed to be without any knowledge to deal with such situation. He's not alert enough when the Indians came to his homestead when he heard the yawing of the wild dogs typically used by the Indians. Another stupid character was created just to serve the convenient purpose.When the search party was chased and surrounded by Indians, the dialog among and between the white riders, still got the time and heart to joke around and stabbed each other with cynical conversation. Like what we used to see in Bruce Lee's movies, there was always a jerk-like clown foolishly messed around to ruin those suppose-to-be-serious MMA fighting movies, this stupid Western film inserted a similar old fool, a clown in it and gave him a lot of dialog and jerking scenes. It ruined the film even further beyond salvage.Any good stuff in this pathetic film? Yeah, focus on the beautiful wildness, locations chosen by the movie production team. That's all.

The sun is quickly setting in the wilderness as the members of a pioneer family, who appear to be living literally in the middle of nowhere, desperately try to go about their business, pretending that they don't suspect an attack from the local, hostile Comanches. The mother, looking terror stricken, futilely attempts to hide an extreme sense of fear from her children. Then, their worst dread suddenly becomes reality. This is an intensely riveting opening.One of the problems for me is that the film does not successfully sustain this high level of tension. Not only that, but it often unravels into a series of boring conversations with no action and into attempts at very inconsistent, awkward comedy which borders on silliness. I realize that settling in a remote area that is constantly plagued by violent attacks from a hostile tribe of Indians can't be easy, but does that justify John Qualen as Lars Jorgensen to over-react in the face of every little situation as if he is about to suffer a nervous breakdown at any moment? And what about Vera Miles, playing his frustrated daughter, Laurie, as she barks monotonously at everyone around her from beginning to end. After such an intense opening scene, these two are only part of the disappointment that ensues. In roles such as the deeply disturbed wife in "The Wrong Man", Miles has done much, much better than portraying the windup doll that was unfortunately written for her here.Some will dismiss my next criticism, but I have visited Monument Valley which is located on the Navajo Reservation in the northeast corner of Arizona. When I observe it in all of its majesty at the opening of a film and then see "Texas, 1868" at the next moment, am I supposed to believe the action that follows, or does that matter in this instance? I think that establishing credibility is relevant in this case because the conflict between white Europeans and Native Americans in our nation's history is a very serious one to me, and a basis of authenticity from the very beginning of this movie is very important.My final issue is with little Debbie, played by Natalie Wood when she wasn't quite so little anymore. I realize that the search took a great effort over a long period of time on the part of the dedicated participants, but why wasn't Debbie given more of an opportunity to decide whether she should remain with the Comanches, especially when she faced the dubious prospect of living the rest of her days with white folks as wacky as the Jorgensens? After both Lars and Laurie had nearly driven me crazy for two hours, was I supposed to believe that Debbie would be better off with the likes of this nutty family? To me, she looked well nourished and well adjusted to her adopted home. Since I wrote this review, I learned that Cynthia Anne Parker, the real person upon whose true kidnapping by Comanches this story is based, regretted being "rescued" for the rest of her life. Anyway, the beautiful cinematography, the very effective musical score by Max Steiner, the enigmatic but not always sympathetic character of Ethan as played so well by John Wayne, and the exceptional, engrossing opening scene surely deserve praise, but I have seen much better westerns in my day.