MovieChat Forums > The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) Discussion > On a scale of 1 to 10, how well do you t...

On a scale of 1 to 10, how well do you think this film has aged?

posted 13 years ago by AbdulBenHassan
43 replies | jump to latest

Looking back at this film, one can certainly feel hard-pressed to think this was made all in 1976. The characterization of Wales was perhaps Clint's most ambiguous and complex role at the time, when he seemed to be getting type-cast as an unstoppable badass thanks to his earlier roles. In fact, I see this as perhaps a deconstruction of his "Man with No Name" persona that made him famous in the first place.

Granted, there are some scenes, such as the final shootout, where it does come off as a very conventionally made Western, but other than that, I couldn't see how this film is in anyway, dated.

Overall, I give it a 9.

[–] sesarp101 9 years ago

True classics don't age and, if they do, they do so in a good way. A lot of westerns up till then look dated and you can tell pretty quickly when they were made, but this film doesn't look or feel much different to Dances With Wolves (another of my favourites) which was made a decade and a half later, a long time later in movie terms when you consider all the stylistic changes between the mid-70s and early 90s.

9.5 for longevity - it'll still be admired long into the future.

[–] tsamiec 9 years ago

This film is a 9.99 on aging. You can't do much better. It has it all. Great pacing, script writing, direction, cinematography, and a 5 star cast. (Out of 5)

Superb soundtrack by Jerry Fielding, this is one of those movies where you just can't find a flaw in it no matter how hard you look. Lines out the gazoo you can quote with you co-workers and buddies.

The cast is just LOADED with premier character actors. Bill McKinney. Woodrow Parfrey. Bill O'Connell. Joyce Jameson. Charles Tyner. Len Lesser. John Mitchum. John Davis Chandler. John Quade. Matt Clark. Royal Dano. John Vernon. Sheb Wooley. Etc etc etc.

If you have a problem with this movie on ANY level, well it's YOU who has a problem.

[–] cambridgejohnny 8 years ago

That's one of the great things about a really well made period piece: it never goes out of season/fashion. It's just a very well made picture, and since the setting is mid-nineteenth century, since it was so true to the times, it can't really age like some pictures can. It can be appreciated a hundred years after it was filmed, because it WAS so accurate in it's portrayal about the life and times of the characters and their problems. This, like so many Eastwood pix, will
last more or less indefinitely.

[–] rwgilmore24 8 years ago

10 One of Clint's best work, and arguably one of the greatest westerns.

[–] akg96-1 8 years ago

There's a humanity about this film as it's written, & that holds up well. (Better than Mr. Eastwood to talks to empty chairs for all to see/hear) Like the last thing said.... Recon so.... Everybody lost a little in that war. Well, yeah when you realize they're all the same like that.

[–] p25735-261-505738 7 years ago