Outlaw Josey Wales, The: Steelbook (4K UHD Review)
- Review Date: Apr 29, 2025
- Format: 4K Ultra HD
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Director
Clint EastwoodRelease Date(s)
1976 (April 29, 2025)Studio(s)
The Malpaso Company (Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment)- Film/Program Grade: A-
- Video Grade: A-
- Audio Grade: B+
- Extras Grade: B+
Review
The Outlaw Josey Wales was the fifth film that Clint Eastwood directed, and his second time helming a Western. Yet unlike his previous four directorial efforts, it was never planned that way. In fact, nothing about The Outlaw Josey Wales turned out as expected, from conception to production and beyond. It’s not quite the story that the original author wanted to tell, nor is it the film that its original director wanted to make. It’s not even what Eastwood intended when he initiated the project. Yet it’s still a landmark Western in terms of Eastwood’s career, one that reshaped his persona going forward.
While his previous self-directed Western High Plains Drifter had interrogated the nature of his so-called “Man with No Name” character(s) from the three Westerns that he made with Sergio Leone, The Outlaw Josey Wales dispensed with it utterly. Granted, Eastwood’s characters in Leone’s films really did have names, if somewhat nebulous backgrounds, and while his unnamed character in High Plains Drifter might have been one of two different individuals, Eastwood intentionally left the answer to that question ambiguous. Yet The Outlaw Josey Wales granted Eastwood the opportunity to play one of his most fully-formed Western characters to date, a man whose personality is clearly defined by his tragic background but who evolves in light of his current experiences. Josey Wales is quickly dehumanized at the beginning of the film and then slowly rehumanized as the story progresses—although like Ethan Edwards in The Searchers, he’ll never be fully comfortable as a part of conventional society.
Contrary to what some critics thought at the time, Eastwood was more than capable of bringing Josey Wales to life, on both sides of the camera, but the process of getting there wasn’t an easy one. When Eastwood’s line producer Robert Daley read the 1973 Forrest Carter novel The Rebel Outlaw: Josey Wales (aka Gone to Texas) and brought it to Eastwood’s attention, the two optioned it for a potential film adaptation. Yet Carter showed up drunk and incoherent for his meeting with Daley, and later that night, he pulled a knife on a woman. That should have been a pretty clear warning sign that there was more to Carter than met the eye, but they proceeded with the deal anyway, with Eastwood’s story editor Sonia Chernus taking a stab (pun intended) at a first draft of the script. When they brought in Philip Kaufman to direct, he ended up writing the final shooting script.
And yet the tortuous saga of The Outlaw Josey Wales was just beginning. Eastwood and Kaufman didn’t see eye-to-eye about many different aspects of the production, but Kaufman did his best to accommodate the wishes of the actor/producer. Yet from the ruthlessly efficient Eastwood’s perspective, Kaufman’s unforgivable sin was perfectionism, and so less than three weeks after shooting had commenced, Eastwood fired Kaufman and took over directing the film personally. (That drew the ire of the Director’s Guild of America, which responded by establishing a new rule to prevent that kind of thing from ever happening again.) Everything moved quickly after that, and Eastwood completed the project on time and on budget. It was successful at the box office as well, although that ended up bringing some unwanted (though entirely warranted) attention to Forrest Carter.
After The Outlaw Josey Wales opened in 1976, The New York Times ran an exposé revealing that “Forrest Carter” was really none other than ardent segregationist and Ku Kux Klan activist Asa Earl Carter. Carter had led a particularly violent branch of the Klan called Original Ku Klux Klan of the Confederacy, and as a former speechwriter for George Wallace, he was responsible for the phrase “segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.” (Carter appears to have chosen the nom de plume “Forrest” in honor of Confederate General and Ku Klux Klan leader Nathan Bedford Forrest.) It was also revealed that Carter’s “memoir” The Education of Little Tree was largely a work of fiction. Fortunately, while all of that ended up staining Carter’s legacy as an author, it had little impact on the legacy of The Outlaw Josey Wales.
Superficially, at least, The Outlaw Josey Wales does seem to fall into the “Lost Cause” subgenre of post-Civil War Westerns, which featured defiant former Confederate soldiers harboring resentments against the Union as they struggle to find a place in the newly re-united American West. Given the nature of the source material and the virulently segregationist views of its author, that’s a natural assumption. Yet while the cinematic Josey Wales does carry his own resentments against the Union, or at least against certain specific representatives of it, he couldn’t care less about the causes of war itself. He only signed up with “Bloody Bill” Anderson’s group of renegade Confederate soldiers in order to wreak vengeance after his family was brutally murdered by renegade Union troops, not out of any innate desire to defend the cause of the Confederacy. And he would have faded off into the sunset once the war ended if not for the fact that his men were betrayed and murdered by unscrupulous representatives of the Union.
The fact that The Outlaw Josey Wales opens with two separate war crimes enacted by the North against the South definitely puts the story into Lost Cause territory, and that was clearly Carter’s intent in his novel. Yet while Josey never forgets the tragedies that set him on his path, he’s usually far too busy with the actual process of living in the here and now to keep dwelling on the past. While he still wants revenge against his former comrade Fletcher (John Vernon) and the Redleg Union Captain Terrill (Bill McKinney), he keeps getting sidetracked by the growing group of castaways and misfits who have come under his wing. Initially, it’s just his fellow former Confederate soldier Jamie (Sam Bottoms), but later he attracts others like Lone Watie (the utterly delightful Chief Dan George), Little Moonlight (Geraldine Keams), Laura Lee (Sandra Locke), Grandma Turner (Paula Trueman), and even a stray dog. Josey was never that interested in the geopolitical disputes of the Civil War anyway, and taking care of others forces him to accept the fact that dying ain’t much of a living.
That’s expressed most clearly in The Outlaw Josey Wales not by any of his newfound relationships, but rather by how he deals the conflicts that he faces on their behalf. When his followers are threatened by a band of Comanche led by Chief Ten Bears (Will Sampson), Josey rides out alone in order to meet them on his own terms. Yet those terms involve an offer to set aside their differences and live together in peace:
“I came here to die with you. Or to live with you. Dying ain’t so hard for men like you and me. It’s living that’s hard when all you’ve ever cared about has been butchered or raped. Governments don’t live together; people live together. With governments, you don’t always get a fair word or a fair fight. Well, I’ve come here to give you either one or get either one from you. I came here like this so you’ll know my word of death is true, and my word of life is then true. The bear lives here, the wolf, the antelope, the Comanche. And so will we...”
“These things you say we will have, we already have.”
“That’s true. I ain’t promising you nothing extra. I’m just giving you life and you’re giving me life. And I’m saying that men can live together without butchering one another.”
Eventually, Josey comes to accept that the idea of people living together without butchering each other might even extend to setting aside his own differences with Fletcher, albeit somewhat tentatively. Dying was never going to be hard for either one of them, but continuing to live will be a daily struggle. Yet in this struggle of life or death... it shall be life.
I reckon so.
Cinematographer Bruce Surtees shot The Outlaw Josey Wales on 35mm film using Panavision Panaflex cameras and Arriflex 35 IIC cameras with Panavision C-series anamorphic lenses, framed at 2.39 for its theatrical release. This new 4K master is based on 4K scans of the original camera negative, with all digital restoration work handled by Warner Bros. Motion Picture Imaging. The restoration pipeline was completed in P3 D65 color space, with grading supervised by MPI senior colorist Jan Yarbrough (who has experience working on Eastwood films). Everything was approved by editor Joel Cox. This version is encoded on a triple-layer BD-100, with High Dynamic Range in HDR10 only.
The image is generally sharp and refined, with all of the intricate details of the landscapes, costuming, and facial textures perfectly resolved. Dupe footage like the opening title sequence and any dissolves in the rest of the film are noticeably softer, and Warner Bros. decided to deal with the coarser grain on those elements by applying heavy grain reduction. Opticals like those always stand out regardless of what’s done with them, but in this case the grain management was strong enough that it has resulted in some frozen grain and softened textures. The grain in the rest of the film is muted but much more natural—Surtees used 100T Eastman 5254 stock, which was extremely fine grain to begin with, and newer scans like this one are capable of pulling the detail off the negative without exaggerating the grain as much as older scanners did. That said, grain reduction has been applied to many of the shots of characters framed against the sky, probably because the background grain was more prominent in those cases. It still wasn’t done destructively, however.
The colors all look natural as well, warm and inviting during the first few scenes of the prologue and just a little bit cooler after the monochromatic title sequence. The HDR grade has been used to enhance the contrast range, not necessarily drawing more detail out of the shadows where there shouldn’t be any, but brightening the highlights in the pools of light. Eastwood’s face is set off even more strongly against the dark interiors, at least when he’s lit from outside, but it’s still shadowy whenever he’s backlit outdoors, just like it should be. It’s stronger contrast than could ever be produced on a film print, so it may be a matter of taste—personally, I would prefer it to be toned down slightly. Yet given how many people complain about HDR grades being too dark (which is usually a tone mapping issue on their end, but that’s another story), I suspect that most people will be thrilled with how The Outlaw Josey Wales looks here.
Primary audio is offered in English Dolby Atmos and 2.0 mono DTS-HD Master Audio. The Outlaw Josey Wales was released theatrically in mono, and this is indeed the original theatrical mono track, not a fold-down of the Atmos or the older 5.1 remix. This new Atmos version was created by Warner Bros. Post Production Creative Services sound mixer Doug Mountain, using the best available archival sound elements and the original multitrack music recordings. It’s an aggressive mix for a film that was originally released in mono, with plenty of directionality across the front soundstage, added surround effects, and limited ambient use of the height channels as well. All of these kinds of multichannel changes come across much smoother and more natural than they did in the old 5.1 mix. Still, it’s Jerry Fielding’s score that benefits the most from the upgrade—it’s easy to forget just how important that Fielding was to Eastwood’s films during this stage of his career, so it’s nice hearing it being given plenty of breathing room.
On the other hand, this may be one case where the Atmos mix is perhaps a little too aggressive in how it reworks the original mono dialogue & effects, at least for my tastes, so it’s wonderful that Warner Bros. is finally including the original theatrical mixes on these new catalogue releases. The overall fidelity on that track is quite solid, so while it gives up the channel separation for Fielding’s score, it still sounds more than acceptable. Audition them both and decide for yourself—you can’t go wrong either way.
Additional audio options include French, German, Italian, Spanish (Spain), and Spanish (Latin America) 1.0 mono Dolby Digital. Subtitle options include English SDH, French, German SDH, Italian SDH, Spanish (Spain), Dutch, Spanish (Latin America), Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish.
The Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment Steelbook release of The Outlaw Josey Wales is UHD only—like most of their current releases, it doesn’t include a Blu-ray copy. It does include a Digital Code on a paper insert, however. Like all of their new Steelbook releases of classic Eastwood films, the new artwork prominently features Eastwood himself, and should please most fans. There’s also a non-Steelbook option for those who prefer more standard packaging. The following extras are included on both releases:
- Audio Commentary by Richard Schickel
- An Outlaw and an Antihero (HD – 7:22)
- The Cinematography of an Outlaw: Crafting Josey Wales (HD – 7:55)
- Clint Eastwood’s West (HD – 29:03)
- Eastwood in Action (HD – 7:54)
- Hell Hath No Fury: The Making of The Outlaw Josey Wales (Upscaled SD – 29:14)
- Clint Eastwood: A Cinematic Legacy – Reinventing Westerns (HD – 17:36)
The commentary with critic and Clint Eastwood biographer Richard Schickel was originally recorded for the 2011 Blu-ray release of The Outlaw Josey Wales. When it comes to Eastwood, Schickel has always been more of a hagiographer than a biographer, but he still tells some interesting stories about the making of the film. (It’s worth pointing out that the above story about Richard Daley and Asa Earl Carter was derived from Schickel’s otherwise lightweight 2011 tome Clint: A Retrospective, which he repeats here.) He does spend plenty of time blowing smoke at Eastwood, and he’s also prone to describing what’s happening onscreen, but there’s still enough interesting information here to make it worth a listen.
Warner Bros. has added two all-new extras for this release, and one more archival extra that wasn’t on previous versions. An Outlaw and an Antihero is an examination of the way that cultural shifts affected the nature of antihero characters like Wales, featuring new interviews with Dr. Debarati Byabartta, John Trafton, Sue Richardson, Dr. Leah Aldridge, and Jim Hemphill. The Cinematography of an Outlaw: Crafting Josey Wales covers the way that Surtees’ work on this film ended up defining the look of Eastwood’s films for the rest of his career, featuring new interviews with Trafton, Hemphill, Aldridge, Byabartta, and Professor William McDonald. Clint Eastwood: A Cinematic Legacy – Reinventing Westerns is an episode of the seven-part 2021 Warner Bros. documentary on the actor/producer/director, focusing on Eastwood’s complex relationship with the Western genre. It includes interviews with Eastwood, Joel Cox, Mel Gibson, Kevin Costner, Morgan Freeman, Frank Darabont, John Lee Hancock, James Mangold, Martin Scorsese, Christopher Frayling, and more.
Like the commentary track, Clint Eastwood’s West was also produced for the 2011 Blu-ray. It’s a slightly more in-depth look at Eastwood’s cinematic journey in the old West, featuring interviews with Eastwood, Costner, Freeman, Cox, Darabont, Hancock, Mangold, Frayling, and more. If all of those names sound familiar, it’s because these same interview sessions were re-used later in Clint Eastwood: A Cinematic Legacy. Some of that material is repeated between the two, but there’s still more depth here than in the Cinematic Legacy recap.
Hell Hath No Fury: The Making of The Outlaw Josey Wales is a 1999 featurette that was first included on the 2001 DVD release of the film. Narrated by John Milius, it includes interviews with Eastwood, Cox, Bill McKinney, Sam Bottoms, John Vernon, and Geraldine Keams. (Chief Dan George and Will Sampson also appear via archival footage.) Considering that many of these actors aren’t represented elsewhere in the set, it’s an invaluable document of stories from the people who were there.
Finally, Eastwood in Action is a promotional short from 1976 about the making of The Outlaw Josey Wales. It’s far too brief and cursory, but it does offer some behind-the-scenes footage of Eastwood, Bruce Surtees, Chief Dan George, Will Sampson, Geraldine Keams, Sandra Locke, Paula Trueman, and other members of the cast and crew.
That’s everything from previous editions of The Outlaw Josey Wales save for two insignificant omissions. For some reason, Warner Bros. hasn’t been including the theatrical trailers on any of these new Eastwood 4K releases, but they’re readily available elsewhere. There was also a brief (44 second) introduction from Eastwood that was on the 2001 DVD but hasn’t ever been carried forward ever since. That’s about it. In every possible way, this 4K Ultra HD release of The Outlaw Josey Wales is a huge upgrade compared to Blu-ray, so it’s an easy recommendation for Eastwood fans, Western fans, and fans of great filmmaking in general. I reckon so.
-Stephen Bjork
(You can follow Stephen on social media at these links: Twitter, Facebook, BlueSky, and Letterboxd).