The Outlaw Josey Wales

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The Outlaw Josey Wales

PG

Released Jun 30, 1976

2h 15m

Western

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Popcornmeter

91%

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46 Reviews

91%

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25,000+ Ratings

Josey Wales (Clint Eastwood) watches helplessly as his wife and child are murdered, by Union men led by Capt. Terrill (Bill McKinney). Seeking revenge, Wales joins the Confederate Army. He refuses to surrender when the war ends, but his fellow soldiers go to hand over their weapons -- and are massacred by Terrill. Wales guns down some of Terrill's men and flees to Texas, where he tries to make a new life for himself, but the bounty on his head endangers him and his new surrogate family.

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Critics Consensus

Recreating the essence of his iconic Man With No Name in a post-Civil War Western, director Clint Eastwood delivered the first of his great revisionist works of the genre.

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Dave Kehr

Chicago Reader

Wales also possesses a touching emotional vulnerability that marks another significant step away from Eastwood's often-overcriticized "macho" image.

Aug 8, 2011

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Variety Staff

Variety

The screenplay is another one of those violence revues, with carnage production numbers slotted every so often.

Jul 6, 2010

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Richard Schickel

TIME Magazine

[Eastwood] gets to the heart of the matter briskly, orchestrates his confrontations intelligently and gets off without lingering unduly over the resultant ugliness.

Oct 26, 2008

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Eddie Harrison

film-authority.com

…much like the Western genre, TOJW seems to have fallen out of fashion these days, but still packs a punch as a updates slice of the mythic American West, shot through with 70’s counter-culture nihilism...when times are tough, it’s good to be an outlaw...

Rated: 4/5

Jan 12, 2025

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Vickie Ong

Honolulu Advertiser

[The Outlaw Josey Wales] takes the typical Eastwood scenario -- a man seeking revenge for the death of his family and shooting every man who gets in the way -- and embellishes it with drama and comedy.

Apr 5, 2024

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Steve Warren

The Barb (Atlanta)

Although it runs a little long, a good script keeps The Outlaw Josey Wales entertaining, especially for Eastwood fans.

May 9, 2023

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Carol

A unique Western and an Eastwood epic!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

10/31/21

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Nik F

Chief Dan George was the highlight of this movie for me. He really stole every scene in which he appeared. Otherwise, a lot of the performances were rather lackluster. As for Clint Eastwood, I think the super macho roles in which he takes our entire groups of people who are shooting at him are a bit goofy. It was just an OK watch.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/23/25

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Rodney B

One of my all time favorite movies.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/19/25

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Robert T

Outlaw Josey Wales is not your usual revenge movie. It is set during the Civil War. It shows what happens when a country comes apart at the seams. Senseless violence and murder become commonplace and it is impossible to draw a line between right and wrong. The movie has an antihero in Cllint Eastwood who has lost everything. He strikes against a Goliath that has taken over the country. This Goliath talks about righteousness and justice but it becomes a muddled nightmare. Quoting from the leader of the opposition, doing good ain't got no end. It haunts you because you see that it is a story that has been repeated over and over through history.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/16/25

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Fer S

No time to get invested in the characters. Many ridiculous one-man-army scenes. Overall boring.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/31/25

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Horror fan 4

Clint delivers one his top 10 performances on screen and a top 5 directing performance for this masterpiece. Absolutely love this movie. Tim Treakle

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/08/25

Full Review

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Clint Eastwood

Director

Clint Eastwood

Josey Wales

Chief Dan George

Lone Watie

Sondra Locke

Laura Lee

Bill McKinney

Terrill

John Vernon

Fletcher

Joe Kidd

80%

54%

Joe Kidd

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Synopsis

Josey Wales (Clint Eastwood) watches helplessly as his wife and child are murdered, by Union men led by Capt. Terrill (Bill McKinney). Seeking revenge, Wales joins the Confederate Army. He refuses to surrender when the war ends, but his fellow soldiers go to hand over their weapons -- and are massacred by Terrill. Wales guns down some of Terrill's men and flees to Texas, where he tries to make a new life for himself, but the bounty on his head endangers him and his new surrogate family.

Director: Clint Eastwood
Producer: Robert Daley
Screenwriter: Forrest Carter, Philip Kaufman, Sonia Chernus
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co: Malpaso Company, Warner Bros.
Rating: PG
Genre: Western
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 30, 1976, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 1, 2011
Runtime: 2h 15m

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