Why So Blu?

The Outlaw Josey Wales (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)

When Clint Eastwood ventured into directing, he did so with a splash with Play Misty For Me in 1971. Following that thriller, Eastwood took turns in the director’s chair making small films like Breezy before his first western High Plains Drifter. When The Outlaw Josey Wales debuted in 1976, the film became a catapult into the stratosphere, reinvigorating the western genre and naming Clint Eastwood as a directing and acting force.  Making his mark in both arenas as a filmmaker and acting auteur, Eastwood struck a chord with audiences enhancing his famous “Man with No Name” character by not only naming him, but adding some major depth to his character, even in deep shadows.

Film

Josey Wales, a farmer and family man at the end of the Civil War is living a simple life tilling soil.  His wife and son are his world and that’s enough for Josey. When Wales’ wife and son are suddenly murdered and his farm and home are destroyed, Josey Wales goes quiet and becomes determined to get justice for his family.

Northern soldiers have captured the last remaining confederate stragglers and are making them change over to Yankee defectors.  Reluctantly the confederates are taking oaths, but hidden in the hills is the shadowy Josey Wales.  Hidden under his hat, and shrouded in blinding sunlight, Josey is unstoppable in his first meeting with the Northern Aggressors. He wipes them out and escapes with Jamie, a defector who is wounded in the gunfight.

Travelling with Jamie, Josey crosses the river hoping to cross into Indian territory. Josey is then confronted by another set of bounty hunters who think they’ve got the drop of him.  Jamie helps Josey escape by shooting one of them before he dies of the wounds he’d suffered the day before.   As Josey’s journey continues, a $5,000 bounty is placed on his head.

Deciding that Texas is the place to find his targets, Wales meets Lone Watie, a Native American who has lost his ability to sneak up on people.  He is jovial, wise and very funny.  He decides to accompany Josey.  By this time, we as the audience know that Josey would rather be alone.  When Josey heads to a trading post to get a horse for Lone Watie, he finds two more bounty hunters attacking a young Native woman and he protects her.  Feeling she now belongs to Josey; she too joins the pack looking to avenge Wales’s family’s death.

The long journey and group collective adds even more members when Wales encounters a family from Kansas.  The elderly woman and her daughter come along with two employees: however, they’ve been kidnapped by a Comanche chief.  To ensure their safe return, Josey negotiates with Comanche chief Ten Bears and the two become blood brothers.  So, when, you ask, does The Outlaw Josey Wales get his justice?

The Outlaw Josey Wales unfolds in a way that most westerns could never.  Josey Wales as a character is one that begins quiet and continues quietly.  He lets his guns, and his snarling face do the talking.  You know he’s about to switch on the gunfighter arsenal when he spits his tobacco. It’s only when he happens to meet Lone Watie, the wise old Native man that he begins to soften up just a bit.  Even under the hard exterior, you can tell that Josey Wales is taking this journey because he has suffered so in his losing his family.

Despite the heavy and shocking opening, The Outlaw Josey Wales plays out in a way that is incredibly entertaining.  The direction by Clint Eastwood is full of homage to those who directed Eastwood before.  The western motifs are strong within the narrative.  The cinematography from Bruce Surtees is stunning here.  Shrouded in shadows and bathed in blinding light, Josey Wales spends a lot of time hidden in plain sight.  He is a hero to many, and despite being a confederate minded man, there isn’t a mention of racism of slavery here, which makes the film age far better too.

Lone Watie is a one-of-a-kind character too.  His off-the-cuff observations are fantastic and sharp.  His calming delivery can be soothing yet funny and his dedication to Josey makes him endure to the very end.  His sight gag with the young squaw (as he calls her) Little Moonlight is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen in a western.

This also marks the first appearance of Sondra Locke in a Clint Eastwood film.  This means obviously that this is also the beginning of their romance.  At the time, Locke was a great blonde beauty and here she is quietly sensitive, falling for Josey as he rescues her from the marauders and helps her rebuild her family’s version of El Dorado.

Pacing and storytelling are the next key elements in The Outlaw Josey Wales.  The core story is one built on revenge and justice, and both are served in might heaps of violence and action here.  There is also a great pace throughout the film.  Nothing feels slow or forced or unnecessary within the film.  There is an incredible sense of determination within the characters to survive and keep going and within them, the audience can develop a sense of caring and concern.

I had never seen The Outlaw Josey Wales prior to this new 4K release.  I was sorely missing a wonderful experience.  A wonderful, priceless and action-packed western with laughs, an iconic performance and director’s turn from Clint Eastwood and a signature one-off performance from Chief Dan George, this film very much deserved its place in the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry.  This is a western film masterpiece in every way!

Video

Encoding: HEVC / H.265

Resolution: 2160p

Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1

HDR: HDR10

Layers: BD-100

Clarity/Detail: Much like Dirty Harry, The Outlaw Josey Wales was scanned at 8K before being locked at 4K for this release.  The results in comparison to previous releases is jaw-dropping.  I went back to a digital stream of the film to compare just out curiosity.  Besides the typical streaming anomalies, colors, grain and textures were all muddied and ugly compared to this new release. Every element has been remastered with incredibly loving intent to give the best possible presentation at home.  Rough textures and sharp lensing give a beautiful look to this 48-year-old film. Details are more in focus than ever with everything from costuming to sweat beads looking like new throughout.

Depth: Depth is handled deftly.  Foreground and background focus is excellently rendered here.  Nothing looks out of place or odd and nothing has been done to make the film look as if it’s been altered.  Overall, the focus remains sharp and pristine.

Black Levels: Blacks are without crush and always look pitch perfect.

Color Reproduction: Colors have that sunburned and washed out look like the old west.  Browns and blacks are the colors of the day with natural light sources being the norm and keeping the colors looking as accurate as possible at all times.

Flesh Tones: Skin tones are perfect throughout.

Noise/Artifacts: Pristine.

Audio

Audio Format(s): English Dolby Atmos, English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono (Original Theatrical Audio), Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0, French Dolby Digital 2.0

Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish

Dynamics: The Outlaw Josey Wales takes a trek into 4K territory with a new Dolby Atmos mix.  Utilizing the immersive mix capabilities, Atmos is perfect in enhancing Jerry Fielding’s score as well as bringing ambience and texture to the mostly outdoor scenes.  Gunshots and explosions can ping and pan from left to right on occasion, but nothing here screams modern mix.  That said though, the new mix is exceptional in its respectful reproduction of the older elements, making the sound effects sound bigger and surrounding without sounding like overkill or bringing in new sound effects to make the experience feel forced.

Height: Height speakers hold up the score to the heavens, with some of the gun battles and a few other elements popping off up top at times.

Low Frequency Extension: Bass is subtle a lot of the time, but a few moments allow for some booming bass to come through, especially with the marching band style theme music.

Surround Sound Presentation: Surrounds are used as subtlety as the heights, spreading sound effects in the rear channels without compromising the original mix’s integrity.

Dialogue: Dialogue sounds excellent and prioritized in the center channel.

Extras

The second of 3 Clint Eastwood classics receiving the 4K treatment, The Outlaw Josey Wales also has 2 new bonuses, one sort of new one and a few legacy bonuses too.  This one disc edition does not come with a Blu-ray but does have a digital code.  There is also a steelbook edition that more closely resembles some of the poster artwork that was around when the film was in theaters!

Bonus Features:

• Audio Commentary – by Time Magazine critic Richard Schickel.

• An Outlaw and An Antihero (7:22) (New) – An appreciation of the film by writers and film professors, many of which offer fresh perspectives on the film and the character of Josey Wales.

• The Cinematography of an Outlaw: Crafting Josey Wales (7:55) (New) – A too-short look at the cinematography of Bruce Surtees, in what would be the first of quite a few films that Surtees did with Eastwood.
• Clint Eastwood’s West (29:03) (Legacy)

• Eastwood in Action (7:54) (Legacy)

• Hell Hath No Fury: The Making of The Outlaw Josey Wales (29:14) (Legacy)

• Reinventing Westerns (17:36) (From 2021)

Summary

The Outlaw Josey Wales refreshed the Western genre.  The film takes elements from classic American Westerns and adds some details from the Spaghetti Western to create one of the most iconic blends of Western cinema ever committed to screen.  The film is exciting, pulpy, violent, funny and wholeheartedly entertaining.  Warner Bros.’ new 4K edition is an exceptional way to own and watch the film and is by far the best way the Outlaw has ever looked at home. We all know Clint Eastwood as a classic cowboy, and Josey Wales could very well be his most famous. Now we have that character in pristine 4K to enjoy forever.

 

Buy your copy of The Outlaw Josey Wales HERE

Buy The Outlaw Josey Wales Steelbook HERE