Searchers
Approval Rate: 83%
Reviews 12
by sokfuzz
Sun Feb 07 2010IMO the best Western ever made. Wayne should have won an Oscar for his performance.
by bkm4d815
Mon Oct 20 2008Really good Western. The Duke...
by spike65
Thu Aug 23 2007Best-looking John Wayne film of all time. The cinematography was stunning. The story is compelling, the acting is better than average, and Natalie Wood is in it. I would love to see this on the big screen sometime. One of the very best color westerns of all time.
by genghisthehun
Mon Aug 29 2005This John Ford movie should be much further up the list! John Wayne is a misfit and a loner on a quest to rescue his neice who was stolen by the Indians. Why does Wayne's character really want to find her? Duke is more of an anti-hero than hero here. The last scene is terrific--wind it back and watch it again.
by louiethe20th
Tue Jul 06 2004John Wayne at his best!One of, if not the best western of all time.
by pabobe99
Mon Sep 15 2003Best western of all-time, and John Wayne's best peformance in any movie he starred in. A totally different role for the Duke in this one. He was a dark, prejudicial character and played this role so well. No dull moments in this film. Stirring, emotional, and entertaining from beginning to end.
by jimmyinatlanta
Mon Jun 23 2003I admire Wayne as the new, lone rebel archetype - the kind that Shane, Eastwood, etc. are known for - a dark, flawed, anti-hero. That's very modern, but the rest of this movie bothered me. Maybe it's because of the racist subtext. The Indians are not treated well at all, not even as good villains. The whites ALWAYS win. Not realistic. I didn't like the Jeff Hunter character - I guess he was supposed to be the disrespected half-breed who symbolized the hope between the 2 communities. Whatever - he kicks his unwanted squaw 'wife' down a hill for no apparent reason, and that bothered me. The women in the movie act really silly too. Other than the Wayne character, very dated. Wait - I forgot - there is a hilarious hick character who goes thru the movie strumming a guitar and laughing - "haw, haw, HAW!!!!" He's hilarious.
by nataliefan16
Tue Jul 09 2002A real great, classic western all around. The really cool thing for me, was having Natalie and Lana Wood play sisters!!
by loadf19d
Wed May 22 2002A film of enormous scope, breath-taking beauty and thought-provoking drama, "The Searchers" is THE movie for many people. Its influence is seen all over the films of such great directors as Spielberg, Lucas, Scorsese and Coppola. John Ford made many great films, but "The Searchers" is the one for which he will be remembered.
by john_davies
Thu Jan 24 2002Atmospheric..elegiac..haunting..poetic..stunningly photographed..majestic scenery; comfortably the greatest Western.A personal favourite of Martin Scorsese,among many others,it's a Wayne film which should be enjoyed by non-fans.Here his persona is more complex and ambiguous than usual.The ending,when he's framed in the doorway,torn between wilderness and "civilisation"(a favourite theme of director John Ford)is justly famous.It also superbly balances the opening.The moment when he picks up the frightened Nathalie Wood (after years of searching)-"Let's go home,Debbie"- always has me gulping.
by joeawaz
Wed Jul 25 2001Great westen story! Not the best western I've ever seen, but very high up there. John Ford is a genius. He certainly has a feel for the landscape in his pictures and it shows in The Searchers. For those who think John Wayne is a bad actor, I urge you to see him in this film. His potrayal of Ethan Edwards is one of the best performances in cinema history. The only thing I don't understand is how, at first Debbie is reluctant to go with them but when the other guy (I forget his name) sneaks into the camp and tells her he's gonna take her away, she's more than happy. A last minute slip-up which kind of hurts the dramatic impact of the climax. But other than that, The Searchers is a pretty solid film.
by grenville
Fri Dec 29 2000Could be the best of the traditional westerns. Wayne was in one of his best, perhaps only outdone by his work in "Fort Apache". As with all westerns of its era it is not politically correct in its treatment of Indians, however, it does convey a sense of the harshness for all involved in the confrontation between settler and Indian in the south-west. A good flick.