Amazon had a good deal on Blu-ray movies a couple of weeks ago, so I ordered a few that I had always intended to buy on DVD but just never got around to. They came the other day, and the first one I watched was the 1956 film "The Searchers" starring John Wayne. All I can say is WOW! The picture looks stunning, especially all the shots in Monument Valley, with crystal clear detail.
I had seen "The Searchers" many years ago, but it's a film you really have to see more than once. It's not your typical 1950s western. What's striking about it is the level of implied violence that you don't seen in films even today. Perhaps the violence is so shocking just because the viewer doesn't see it on the screen. We do see the characters' reactions to it though. My thought was that if The Duke can't handle seeing it, then I don't want to either.
There's a lot of different layers to "The Searchers," a lot of things going on in the subtext. And for someone who supposedly wasn't a good actor, John Wayne gives a superb performance (he was always underrated as an actor). The look on his face when he saw his brother's farm burning was just heartbreaking. I wound up watching the movie three times, partly to marvel at the stunning 1080p picture, but also to catch little things that I missed on earlier viewings. Even my 8-year-old got into it. In fact, both of my boys are now John Wayne fans, and they both want me to buy them cowboy hats.
