The Outlaw Josey Wales

Play trailer

The Outlaw Josey Wales

PG

Released Jun 30, 1976

2h 15m

Western

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

91%

Tomatometer

45 Reviews

91%

Popcornmeter

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.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Buy Now

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.

Read Critics Reviews

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

Full Review

Variety Staff

Variety

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

Jul 6, 2010

Full Review

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

Full Review

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

Full Review

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

Full Review

Rob Gonsalves

Rob's Movie Vault

Those who brand Eastwood as a reactionary, conservative filmmaker must’ve forgotten this film; there’s a fair amount of bitterness about the white man.

Rated: B+

Nov 29, 2022

Full Review

Read all reviews

Carol

A unique Western and an Eastwood epic!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

10/31/21

Full Review

Andrew Y

One of the best films of all time - and not just this genre. Everything about it is superb; storyline, acting, script, scenery, directing. I swear it has everything. This is a must see movie, again and again and again………….

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

06/27/24

Full Review

Barry J

This movie is probably Clint Eastwoods best. Josie Wales is the perfect character for Eastwood. He is tough, strong and basically the perfect man. The story is also very well written.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

06/01/24

Full Review

Lanfranco C

It were impossible to shot nowadays a movie like this: with a Confederate as Good Guy! We are living in censorship times.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/31/24

Full Review

Alec B

Clint Eastwood's portrayal of Josey Wales is exactly what you'd expect (stoic intensity along with terrifying one-liners) but the rest of the characters are all wonderfully strange and unique . . . so while Wales is a familiar character, the world he occupies is not. Ultimately, what makes "The Outlaw Josey Wales" far more complex and daring than your standard revenge story is that it actually portrays the negative effects of violence on individuals and communities.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

11/10/23

Full Review

Larry M

Ones of his best movies ever! I quoted pieces of the movie so many times, the Rascals at work began quoting it! Ha!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

09/13/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Clint Eastwood

Director

Clint Eastwood

Josey Wales

Chief Dan George

Lone Watie

Sondra Locke

Laura Lee

Bill McKinney

Terrill

John Vernon

Fletcher

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

Joe Kidd

80%

54%

Joe Kidd

Watchlist

The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid

73%

45%

The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid

Watchlist

The Shootist

81%

88%

The Shootist

Watchlist

The Return of a Man Called Horse

55%

42%

The Return of a Man Called Horse

Watchlist

The White Buffalo

17%

51%

The White Buffalo

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

Morgan Freeman’s Five Favorite Films

Rank Clint Eastwood’s 10 Best Movies as Director

Best-Reviewed Summer Blockbusters by Year Since 1975

View more photos

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

Most Popular at Home Now