Product Description

For steadfast and forthright Hank R. Hill ("Not that Hank P. Hill who doesn't pay his Discover Card bill," he clarifies), these are the times that try men's souls: His presidential candidate of choice, George W. Bush, has a limp handshake. His wife, Peggy, and son, Bobby, prefer charcoal grilling to his precious propane. And a new co-worker from Oklahoma is hustling on the side, casting the clueless Hank (voiced by series creator Mike Judge) as her pimp. But the pleasure of King of the Hill is that we can always count on Hank to do the right thing by his town, his friends, his family, and his country. If he heads for the border to keep niece Luanne (Brittany Murphy) from voting Communist (she likes the candidate's red tie), we know he will turn the car around and make it to the polls with a minute to spare. If he gives Arlen High School's star football player an A so he will be eligible to play in the state tournament, we know he will be moved to stand up for his wife, Peggy (Kathy Najimy), who originally flunked him. And if Alabaster Jones (from Oklahoma City) comes to reclaim his "ho," we can be reassured that Hank will "mack daddy" him down.

King of the Hill's fifth season chronicles another momentous year for Bobby (Pamela Segall), who turns 13, is disgraced, but finds redemption, as the school mascot, and saves the life of a drowning pig at the county fair ("Not this pig, not today!"). Pitiable Bill Dauterive (Stephen Root) continues to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous misfortune, as his faithless ex-wife Lenore returns to louse up his budding romance with, yes, former governor Ann Richards (as herself), and he takes in a delinquent who takes advantage of him ("All the books about parenting are by comedians," he laments, "and I never know when they're kidding or when they're serious."). King of the Hill continues to fly under the radar. This three-disc set's only extra is a brief sneak preview of the series' tenth, and final, season. That's seemingly more effort than Fox's cracked marketing team expends on this underappreciated treasure. But check out season 5. When it comes to brilliantly funny character-based comedy, keen social satire, and virtuoso voice work, nobody messes with Texas. --Donald Liebenson

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Another solid season of an excellent show... let's hope the DVDs get better

King of the Hill - The Complete Fifth Season (2000-2001.)

REVIEW:
I was disappointed when Mike Judge stopped doing Beavis and Butt-Head, as were plenty of other people. But, my disappointment was somewhat lifted when I discovered King of the Hill, the new series that he had begun work on. This series combined crew members from The Simpsons and Beavis and Butt-Head, truly creating a series that was the best of both worlds. Like many TV shows, this one is now getting season box set reviews. Read on for my comments on the Fifth Season.

OVERVIEW:
King of the Hill's fifth season consists of the following episodes:

85: The Perils of Polling 10/1/2000
Election time is approaching, and Hank finds himself in a crisis over which candidate to choose.

86: The Buck Stops Here 11/5/2000
Bobby gets work as a golf course caddy and gets fired, but is immediately rehired as Buck Strickland's personal caddy.

87: I Don't Want to Wait 11/12/2000
Bobby's thirteenth birthday fast approaches, and with Joseph hitting puberty, the two of them encounter their own identity crises.

88: Spin the Choice 11/19/2000
Hank's plans for the perfect Thanksgiving are shattered when John Redcorn reveals the true nature of the holiday to Bobby.

89: Peggy Makes the Big Leagues 11/26/2000
Peggy becomes an excellent player for the Strickland Propane softball team, but Hank fails to give her the proper recognition.

90: When Cotton Comes Marching Home 12/3/2000
Cotton moves to Arlen, and gets a job in a restaurant - only to find they won't give him Veteran's Day off.

91: What Makes Bobby Run? 12/10/2000
Bobby wins a position as school mascot, but disgraces everyone he knows by running away instead of taking the ceremonial beating mascots are supposed to.

92: 'Twas the Nut Before Christmas 12/17/2000
Bill converts his house into a playground for children around the holidays, and dresses up as Santa Claus.

93: Chasing Bobby 1/21/2001
Hank's beloved truck is predicted by a mechanic not to last very much longer.

94: Yankee Hankie 2/4/2001
Hank is in a state of shock when he discovers his actual birthplace is NOT in Texas.

95: Hank and the Great Glass Elevator 2/11/2001
Hank's friends take him to a fancy hotel for his birthday, but he gets them thrown out of the hotel by mooning former Texas governor Ann Richards.

96: Now Who's the Dummy? 2/18/2001
Bobby is given a ventriloquist dummy during a visit to a senior citizen living center.

97: Ho Yeah! 2/25/2001
Hank and Peggy take in a girl who works with Hank at Strickland Propane, not knowing the secrets of her past.

98: The Exterminator 3/4/2001
Dale is forced to give up exterminating when the chemicals of the job make him ill.

99: Luanne Virgin 2.0 3/4/2001
Luanne becomes a born-again virgin, and quickly meets a new boyfriend, much to Peggy's dismay.

100: Hank's Choice 4/1/2001
Bobby is discovered to be allergic to Ladybird, so Hank gives her to Bill.

101: It's Not Easy Being Green 4/8/2001
Hank and the guys protest the draining of a local quarry, because it hides a dark secret from their high school days.

102: The Trouble with Gribbles 4/22/2001
Dale comes up with a rather awkward plan to sue a cigarette company to get Nancy the facelift she desires.

103: Hank's Back Story 5/6/2001
Hank's back condition forces him to wear padding on his rear to compensate for his lack of bone there.

104: Kidney Boy and Hamster Girl: A Love Story 5/13/2001
Bobby sneaks into Arlen High School, and becomes friends with many of the students due to a story he made up about himself.

EPISODES REVIEW:
There's really not much to say. Any fan of King of the Hill knows these are great episodes, and any fan of the series would be making a smart move adding them to their collection. Although I probably wouldn't call this my favorite season overall, the fact of the matter is that they are still great episodes, and any viewer should own them.

DVD REVIEW:
After Season Two, the King of the Hill DVDs took a massive downward turn. Seasons Three and Four featured NO EXTRAS AT ALL. One thing I like about the King of the Hill DVDs is that they give a brief summary of the episode and the original air date in the episode selection screen, but the fact of the matter is that this doesn't compensate for the lack of extras. Let's hope FOX gets their act together for this release, and releases a package that is as good as the First or Second Season boxes.

OVERALL:
Overall, King of the Hill is a damn fine animated sitcom, and the fifth season is really no exception to this rule. If you're a fan of the series, I would strongly recommend buying this set when it comes out.

Season 5 Shows

"THE BUCK STOPS HERE"
Episode KH501
Original Airdate: 11/05/00

Bobby is working for Hank's boss!

"WHEN COTTON COMES MARCHING HOME AGAIN"
Episode KH503
Original Airdate: 11/12/00

It's Veterans' Day in Arlen!

"PEGGY MAKES THE BIG LEAGUES"
Episode KH504
Original Airdate: 11/26/00

Peggy "graduates" to subbing at the high school.

"SPIN THE CHOICE"
Episode KH505
Original Airdate: 11/19/00

Bobby hopes one Thanksgiving will make up for all the white man's sins

"YANKEE HANKIE"
Episode KH506
Original Airdate: 02/04/01

If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere...

"WHAT MAKES BOBBY RUN"
Episode KH507
Original Airdate: 12/10/00

Bobby turns yellow when a middle school tradition turns on him!

"Twas the Nut Before Christmas"
Episode KH508
Original Airdate: 12/17/00

Bill's Christmas cheer doesn't stop with the New Year!

"The Exterminator"
Episode KH509
Original Airdate: 03/04/01

Killing bugs is killing Dale!

"Chasing Bobby"
Episode KH510
Original Airdate: 01/21/01

Hank's gone soft!

"Hank's Choice"
Episode KH511
Original Airdate: 04/01/01

When Bobby discovers he's allergic to Ladybird, Hank must choose between the dog or his son - and it's a tough one

"Hank and the Great Glass Elevator"
Episode KH512
Original Airdate: 02/11/01

"It's a marvelous night for a moon dance..."

"Lupe's Revenge"
Episode KH513
Original Airdate: 05/13/01

During a class field trip to Mexico, Peggy unwittingly smuggles an illegal back into Texas. Guest voice: Kathy Bates

"Now who's the Dummy?"
Episode KH514
Original Airdate: 02/18/01

The show must go on!

"Ho Yeah!"
Episode KH515
Original Airdate: 02/25/01

"The only woman I'm pimping is sweet lady propane!" - Hank

"Luanne Virgin 2.0"
Episode KH516
Original Airdate: 03/11/01

Luanne becomes a born-again virgin, which inspires Peggy to confess a sexual secret

"Hank's Back Story"
Episode KH517
Original Airdate: 05/06/01

Hank's unique health condition threatens his ability to compete in the Durndle County Mower Races

"It's Not Easy Being Green"
Episode KH518
Original Airdate: 04/08/01

Bobby becomes an environmental activist and
unearths Hank's long buried secret

"The Trouble with Gribbles"
Episode KH519
Original Airdate: 04/22/01

Dale fights a big tobacco company and becomes a victim of their hardball tactics

"Kidney Boy and Hamster Girl"
Episode KH522
Original Airdate: 05/13/01

Bobby gets caught up in Arlen High School's quest
to get No Doubt to play their prom

Product Description

Marvel Comics' first family of superherodom, the Fantastic Four, hits the big screen in a light-hearted and funny adventure. It begins when down-on-his-luck genius Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd, Horatio Hornblower) has to enlist the financial and intellectual help from former schoolmate and rival Victor Von Doom (Julian McMahon, Nip/Tuck) in order to pursue outer-space research into human DNA. Also on the trip are Reed's best friend, Ben Grimm (Michael Chiklis, The Shield); his former lover, Sue Storm (Jessica Alba, Dark Angel, Sin City), who's now Doom's employee and love interest; and her hotshot-pilot brother, Johnny Storm (Chris Evans, Cellular). Things don't go as planned, of course, and the quartet becomes blessed--or is it cursed?--with superhuman powers: flexibility, brute strength, invisibility and projecting force fields, and bursting into flame. Meanwhile, Doom himself is undergoing a transformation.

Among the many entries in the comic-book-movie frenzy, Fantastic Four is refreshing because it doesn't take itself too seriously. Characterization isn't too deep, and the action is a bit sparse until the final reel (like most "first" superhero movies, it has to go through the "how did we get these powers and what we will do with them" churn). But it's a good-looking cast, and original comic-book cocreator Stan Lee makes his most significant Marvel-movie cameo yet, in a speaking role as the FF's steadfast postal carrier, Willie Lumpkin. Newcomers to superhero movies might find the idea of a family with flexibility, strength, invisibility, and force fields a retread of The Incredibles, but Pixar's animated film was very much a tribute to the FF and other heroes of the last 40 years. The irony is that while Fantastic Four is an enjoyable B-grade movie, it's the tribute, The Incredibles, that turned out to be a film for the ages. --David Horiuchi

DVD features
The principal extra on the DVD is a spirited commentary track by Jessica Alba, Michael Chiklis, and Ioan Gruffudd. Self-avowed FF fan Chiklis explains why the Thing doesn't have a craggy brow, Alba recalls which things were "cool," and they all talk about looking forward to the sequel. There are three short deleted scenes (including a goofy Wolverine reference), 20 minutes of barely watchable hand-held video footage from the press tour, music videos, and some short featurettes including an appearance by FF creator Stan Lee. --David Horiuchi

The Fantastic Four at Amazon.com

Comics and Graphic Novels	Disney animated series	The classic comic book
Movie tie-in graphic novel	The Xbox game	Fantastic Four Soundtrack

The Fantastic Cast

Jessica Alba as Sue Storm	Michael Chiklis as Ben Grimm
Ioan Gruffudd as Reed Richards	Chris Evans as Johnny Storm

Stills from Fantastic Four (click for larger images)

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Product Description

This savvy Disney hit from 1969 made a star of a Volkswagen precisely when the car was becoming more popular than ever. Dean Jones and Michele Lee head the cast in a story about a VW bug with a mind of its own. Disney point man Robert Stevenson, director of The Absent-Minded Professor, Mary Poppins, and lots of other Disney live-action hits, makes the slapstick work perfectly and keeps the laughs coming. Buddy Hackett is very funny in a supporting role.

The first sequel, Herbie Rides Again (1974), is similar enough to the first film's charm and raucous comedy that it works on its own. Neither Dean Jones nor Michelle Lee are back, but a nice cast of familiar pros (including Disney vet Ken Berry) keeps things moving along slickly. The story finds Herbie helping Helen Hayes--yes, the First Lady of the American Theater--keep out of the clutches of Keenan Wynn's villain.

Dean Jones came back to the fold for this third lap around the block, Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo (1977), which finds him racing in the famed city while thieves plant a stolen diamond in Herbie's gas tank. The plot is forced and conventional, but the cast is the thing: the excitable Don Knotts (The Apple Dumpling Gang) and the tormentable Roy Kinnear (Mr. Salt from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory) are good men to have in a potboiler such as this.

The fourth movie, Herbie Goes Bananas (1980), is a wooden story about Herbie's funny adventures heading toward a race in Brazil. Charles Martin Smith and Steven W. Burns try hard to bring some life into this project, but it just doesn't happen. There is one good laugh in the whole thing, in a scene where Herbie becomes a matador. Otherwise, even the picturesque, south-of-the-border stuff doesn't help. Harvey Korman and Cloris Leachman star. --Tom Keogh

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Garfield, the newspaper cartoon strip by Jim Davis, was such a hit when adapted to occasional animated specials on CBS in the 1980s that the network built a Saturday morning series, Garfield and Friends, around the portly, sardonic cat. The new show, wrapped within its winning programming formula, also proved successful. Episodes of Garfield and Friends featured two eight-minute stories starring Garfield, the airhead pooch Odie, and their owner, bachelor Jon Arbuckle, that were joined by one short, delightful new cartoon called U.S. Acres, concerning the misadventures of a group of barnyard animals led by a clever pig called Orson. Garfield and Friends expanded to an hour by season 2 and lasted seven years; several members of the vocal cast also had leading roles on U.S. Acres, and both shows attracted such celebrity guests as Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, and Debra Messing.

As with the CBS specials, Garfield and Friends fortunately found Jim Davis in a hands-on, production capacity. But if the new shorts prove not quite as soulful as those longer, prior productions, they are nonetheless witty, well-written, and spirited. The 24 episodes (48 individual Garfield 'toons in all) included in Garfield and Friends, Volume 1 are full of fresh ideas and good laughs. Among the highlights are "Box o' Fun," in which Garfield proves to have a Snoopy streak when an ordinary cardboard box becomes (courtesy of Garfield's imagination) a vessel for numerous, wild-eyed adventures. In "Nothing to Sneeze At," Liz the veterinarian consents to a mercy date with Jon, only to find Garfield jealously tagging along. The slapstick "Magic Mutt" finds Garfield and a dog dueling in a magic shop, turning one another (and poor Jon) into a variety of animal and human forms. About U.S. Acres: It may take an episode or two to catch on, but once it does, the show proves to have a sweet sophistication similar to Garfield. --Tom Keogh

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While 2003's Daredevil was a conventional superhero movie, the 2005 spinoff, Elektra, is more of a wuxia-styled martial arts/fantasy flick. Elektra (Jennifer Garner) has returned to her life as a hired assassin, but she balks at an assignment to kill a single father (Goran Visnjic, ER) and his teenage daughter (Kirsten Prout). That makes her the target of the Hand, an organization of murderous ninjas, scheming corporate types, and a band of stylish supervillains seeking to eliminate Elektra and tip the balance of power in the ongoing battle of good vs. evil.

As the star of Alias, Garner has proven that she can kick butt with the best of them, and some of the visual effects are impressive, but the action sequences tend to be anticlimactic, and there's not much to the story. Fans will notice numerous references to Frank Miller's comic books, but there's very little resemblance to Miller's cold-blooded killer (Elektra with an agent? Elektra referring to herself as a "soccer mom"?).

Is Elektra better than Daredevil? Not really, even with the distinct advantage of having all Garner and no Ben Affleck. That could be the spinoff's greatest disappointment: after Spider-Man 2 raised the bar for comic-book movies, Elektra lowered it back to Daredevil's level. Directed by Rob Bowman (the X-Files movie), and featuring Terence Stamp as the mysterious mentor Stick, Will Yun Lee (Die Another Day) as the chief villain, and NFL-player-turned-mixed-martial-arts-champion Bob Sapp as the immovable Stone. --David Horiuchi

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Richard Widmark's bravura debut as snickering gangster Tommy Udo, and particularly his infamous encounter with an old woman in a wheelchair, enjoys such pop cachet that the movie itself has been somewhat underrated. More's the pity. Henry Hathaway's third entry in 20th Century–Fox's series of post–WWII thrillers is just about the best of the bunch. These films incorporated the semidocumentary techniques and wondrously persuasive on-location shooting Hollywood learned from Italian neorealism and the wartime filming of some of its own best directors. Kiss of Death is more fictional than documentary in thrust, with a solid script by ace screenwriters Ben Hecht and Charles Lederer. But that only makes its imaginative, atmospheric use of real places and spaces--e.g., a superb opening robbery sequence in a New York skyscraper--the more remarkable.

Victor Mature belies his rep as one of the Hollywood star system's bad jokes with his intense performance as Nick Bianco, a career criminal driven to turn squealer. Nick's motivation is family values: although he had gone to Sing Sing (yes, they filmed there, too) as a stand-up guy, "the boys" failed to take care of his wife and daughters as promised, with devastating results. Despite the best efforts of an assistant D.A. (Brian Donlevy), Nick is forced to lay everything on the line to rescue his family's future. The movie abounds in evocative texture, thanks to the no-frills excellence of Norbert Brodine's camerawork and an exemplary supporting cast including Millard Mitchell (as a sardonic police detective), Karl Malden (another D.A.), and Taylor Holmes (a flannel-mouthed Mob shyster). Kiss of Death was remade twice, as a Western titled The Fiend That Walked the West and as a straight thriller again in the '90s. --Richard T. Jameson

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This restoration of Sam Peckinpah's 1965 western Major Dundee is nothing short of magnificent, a noble attempt at restoring a famously wrecked masterpiece. When Peckinpah went over budget and over schedule during the Mexico shoot, unshot scenes were canceled and the footage rudely cut by the studio. The director disowned the results. In 2005, surviving footage was patched back in, and a new musical soundtrack commissioned to replace the score Peckinpah hated. This raises some legitimate questions about interpreting a director's intentions, and about messing with film history, but Major Dundee--The Extended Version is such a rousing, mysterious experience, one feels grateful.

Major Dundee (Charlton Heston) is a vainglorious officer busted to the decidedly inglorious job of overseeing prisoners in a fort in New Mexico. An abduction gives him the excuse to mount an expedition into Mexico, chasing the perpetrators and perhaps a shot at greatness. His ragtag posse includes Confederate POWs, notably one Captain Ben Tyreen (Richard Harris), whose intense former friendship with Dundee is tainted with a sense of betrayal on both sides. (Heston and Harris, two actors not known for subtlety, are splendid.) Part Ahab, part Alexander the Great, Dundee leads the expedition away from its purpose and into a near-mythic kind of wandering.

Peckinpah gets everything right--the landscapes, the sneaky humor, the code of men. He also takes time to distinguish the supporting characters, such as Jim Hutton's awkward young officer and Senta Berger's stranded widow. The Peckinpah stock company of amazing character actors is in place, too, including James Coburn, Warren Oates, Ben Johnson, L.Q. Jones, and Slim Pickens. It will never be exactly what Peckinpah envisioned, but now Major Dundee rides suspiciously close to greatness. --Robert Horton

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Anybody who has written him off because of his string of stinkers--or anybody who's too young to remember The Goodbye Girl--may be shocked at the accomplishment and nuance of Richard Dreyfuss's performance in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Here, he plays a man possessed; contacted by aliens, he (along with other members of the "chosen") is drawn toward the site of the incipient landing: Devil's Tower, in rural Wyoming. As in many Spielberg films, there are no personalized enemies; the struggle is between those who have been called and a scientific establishment that seeks to protect them by keeping them away from the arriving spacecraft. The ship, and the special effects in general, are every bit as jaw-dropping on the small screen as they were in the theater (well, almost). Released in 1977 as a cerebral alternative to the swashbuckling science fiction epics then in vogue, Close Encounters now seems almost wholesome in its representation of alien contact and interested less in philosophizing about extraterrestrials than it is in examining the nature of the inner "call." Ultimately a motion picture about the obsession of the driven artist or determined visionary, Close Encounters comes complete with the stock Spielberg wives and girlfriends who seek to tether the dreamy, possessed protagonists to the more mundane concerns of the everyday. So a spectacular, seminal motion picture indeed, but one with gender politics that are all too terrestrial. --Miles Bethany

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Lights Over The Devil's Tower - "Many Are Called, But Few Are Chosen"

Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss) is sent out on an emergency repair job late one night. While traveling alone on an isolated road he encounters the unexpected, an unidentified flying object is spotted overhead. The object also sees him, shining a bright light on his vehicle which causes a sunburn effect to appear on his face the next morning.

However Roy soon discovers he has received more than just a sunburn during the strange proceedings of the previous night. An idea, or impulse has overcome him and he isn't sure what it all means. He only knows "it's important."

Soon his strange behavior and obsession with the experience results in his wife Ronnie (Teri Garr) and three children packing up and moving out. Undetered by their absence Roy continues on with his quest to discover what he's supposed to do. Roy finds the answer when he looks upon the image of a monolithic rock formation in Wyoming known as the "Devil's Tower." The only question that remains is can he get there in time to greet the ship when it arrives?

An ingenious blending of twentieth century UFO lore with overt Christian symbology and a religious-like fervor makes Steven Spielberg's '77 sci-fi classic more relevant today than ever.

Another amazing acting job by Richard Dreyfuss along with a surprisingly good supporting role by the legendary French director Francois Truffaut and the adorable little Cary Guffey as "Barry!"

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Guy Pearce (L.A. Confidential) and Joe Pantoliano (The Matrix) shine in this absolute stunner of a movie. Memento combines a bold, mind-bending script with compelling action and virtuoso performances. Pearce plays Leonard Shelby, hunting down the man who raped and murdered his wife. The problem is that "the incident" that robbed Leonard of his wife also stole his ability to make new memories. Unable to retain a location, a face, or a new clue on his own, Leonard continues his search with the help of notes, Polaroids, and even homemade tattoos for vital information.

Because of his condition, Leonard essentially lives his life in short, present-tense segments, with no clear idea of what's just happened to him. That's where Memento gets really interesting; the story begins at the end, and the movie jumps backward in 10-minute segments. The suspense of the movie lies not in discovering what happens, but in finding out why it happened. Amazingly, the movie achieves edge-of-your-seat excitement even as it moves backward in time, and it keeps the mind hopping as cause and effect are pieced together.

Pearce captures Leonard perfectly, conveying both the tragic romance of his quest and his wry humor in dealing with his condition. He is bolstered by several excellent supporting players, and the movie is all but stolen from him by Pantoliano, who delivers an amazing performance as Teddy, the guy who may or may not be on his side. Memento has an intriguing structure and even meditations on the nature of perception and meaning of life if you go looking for them, but it also functions just as well as a completely absorbing thriller. It's rare to find a movie this exciting with so much intelligence behind it. --Ali Davis

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Besides being a terrific movie in its own right--and the second entry in a remarkable eight-film series teaming director Anthony Mann and star James Stewart--Bend of the River is also fascinating as a variation on one of the greatest Westerns. With or without anyone else's knowledge, screenwriter Borden Chase reworked scenes, character configurations, and much of the structure of Red River, the screenplay of which he had cowritten (from his own novel) for director Howard Hawks six years earlier. Seeing what Hawks and Mann did with some of the same scenes--a spooky night skirmish with Indians, for instance--makes for a compelling lesson in the transformative power of directorial style.

Instead of Texas and the Chisholm Trail, Bend of the River is set in the Oregon river country, with a wagon train substituting for an epic cattle drive. Wagonmaster Stewart, a man with a secret past he's determined to redeem, rescues another, not-so-ex-renegade (Arthur Kennedy) from a lynching. Stewart finds Kennedy a powerful ally in a fight but ultimately has to face him as a mortal enemy--and to revert to his old savage ways in order to save his adopted community. Along the trail, they are variously companioned and/or menaced by the likes of slick gambler Rock Hudson (compare the Cherry Valance part in Red River) and hard cases Harry (then Henry) Morgan, Royal Dano, and Jack Lambert. There's knockout scenery, as usual with Mann, and fight-to-the-death action as bracing as a plunge into an icy river. --Richard T. Jameson

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Who are you running away from?

Man-with-a-past Glyn McLyntock (James Stewart) guides a wagon train of settlers to new land in Oregon. They first battle man and mountains to reach the land and later looming starvation when their vital first year supplies are delayed and hijacked by men maddened with gold fever. All the while McLyntock is haunted by his secret past: Can a bad man change? Perhaps more importantly, will others let you change?
Jimmy Stewart and Anthony Mann collaborated on some of the best westerns ever. In them they usually explored the inner demons the main character was wrestling with. Beyond vague references to McLyntock's past (He's THE Glyn McLyntock of the Missouri border wars, one character tells us, explaining it all) and hints that he was once the odd-man out during a lynching party, we're spared the gruesome details. McLyntock's past is left unexplored, the point being that he has the capacity to be very bad, and is trying his best to start anew. I can't think of any other actor, then or now, capable of convincingly playing a basically decent character who, when pressed, allows the devils to erupt.
The same can, and can't, be said for Arthur Kennedy's Emerson Cole, another gun sharp who, like McLyntock, has a capacity for goodness but seems a little weaker when confronted with temptation. McLyntock and Cole are from the Kansas and Missouri area, "good, clean country" moral center and settler leader Jeremy Baile (Jay C. Flippen) says, "'til man came in to steal and kill. Can't let it happen here." Of course Baile doesn't know anything about McLyntock's past and trusts him completely, a trust McLyntock values enough to make him that much more concerned about keeping his secrets secret.
A strong cast and story makes BEND OF THE RIVER one of the best movies of the 1950s. As usual in a Mann western, the story is played out against a glorious, Technicolor background. In this case Mount Hood, Sandy River, and Timberline, all in Oregon. The story is credible and, as usual, Stewart is excellent as the outlaw trying to reform. Strongly recommended.


Good movie ... worst DVD EVER

I would like to echo the other reviews here ... Universal has done an incredibly shoddy job on this DVD. The film is a good one ... not as good as The Far Country, but a respectable and enjoyable Western by the reliable Anthony Mann. The picture quality is often poor, and why the movie had to be panned and scanned when it was not widescreen to begin with is beyond me. Cost can't be an excuse ... the Hammer DVD's of The Curse of Frankenstein and The Horror of Dracula by other studios were similarly priced yet far better in quality. Universal should be ashamed of issuing a classic Western in this condition. I want my money back!