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List Price: $12.98 | | Label: Warner Home Video
Salesrank: 1529
Released: May 22, 2007 |
| Our Price: $5.49 |
| Used Price: $3.48 |
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MPAA Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
John Wayne had brawled bareknuckle gunned down desperadoes fought jungle wars and piloted the skies. But The Cowboys gave him one of his juiciest roles as a leather-tough rancher who deserted by his regular help hires 11 greenhorn schoolboys for a cattle drive across 400 treacherous miles.When the dust settled Wayne had given one of his best performances. In The Cowboys Rex Reed wrote all the forces that have made him a dominant personality as well as a major screen presence seem to combine. Old Dusty Britches can act. Co-starring the equally memorable Roscoe Lee Browne Colleen Dewhurst and Bruce Dern The Cowboys is exciting proof.Runtime: 134 minFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: WESTERN/MISC. Rating: NR UPC: 085391145356 Manufacturer No: 114535
Description of The Cowboys (Deluxe Edition):
Almost in spite of itself, The Cowboys has taken its place among John Wayne's most beloved films. It wasn't always that way: When it was released in January of 1972, the film was widely criticized for appearing to promote the notion that boys become men through violence. From a politically correct perspective, this apparent message is arguably deplorable (and some interpreted the film's young fighters as a reflection of young draftees into the Vietnam war), but there's no denying that The Cowboys remains as invigorating as it ever was, no matter how dubious its thematic implications. Based on a novel by William Dale Jennings, and adapted with Jennings by the married screenwriting team of Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank Jr. (whose impressive credits include Hud, Hombre, and Norma Rae), the movie opens with aging ranch owner Wil Anderson (Wayne) desperate for ranch-hands to herd 1,500 head of cattle across 400 miles of dangerous territory. With no better options, he reluctantly hires boys from the local schoolhouse (including Robert Carradine in his screen debut), and an experienced, worldly-wise cook named Nightlinger (played to perfection by Roscoe Lee Browne) joins the cattle drive--the first black man the boys have ever seen.
A Hollywood liberal who initially felt at odds with Wayne's right-wing politics, Mark Rydell (On Golden Pond) originally sought George C. Scott for the lead, but studio executives urged him to convince Wayne to take the role. It was a happy outcome for both, as Rydell directs Wayne with an enjoyable mixture of Old West humor and grizzled trail-hardiness, and The Cowboys is a top-drawer production with gorgeous cinematography (on location in Mexico and Colorado) by veteran cameraman Robert Surtees. Colleen Dewhurst appears briefly but memorably as the madam of a traveling troupe of prostitutes (in a scene often cut from earlier TV broadcasts and some home-video releases), and the young A Martinez (who would later star in several TV soap operas and the indie-hit Powwow Highway) makes a strong impression in a prominent supporting role. But the real reason for the film's lasting popularity is the hiss-worthy villainy of Bruce Dern (as "Long Hair," leader of the rustlers), who earned a dubious place in movie history for his character's cheating approach to gunplay. No matter how you interpret its themes of fatherly influence and justified vengeance, The Cowboys (later the basis of a short-lived TV series) is undeniably entertaining, dominated by Wayne's reliable presence and bolstered by a rousing, Copland-esque score by John Williams. --Jeff Shannon
The Cowboys (Deluxe Edition) Reviews:
duke at his best 
2009-09-24 - the cowboys is one of john wayne's best if not the best highly recommend this movie.
Cowboys 
2009-09-23 - One of John Wayne's better movies in the twilight of his career along with the "Shootist". I enjoyed this flick when it first came out and it stands the test of time and continues to be a quality film.
Perfect!
2009-09-17 - This was one of the movies I watched with my dad over and over. I was so happy to find it on Amazon. The movie arrived very promptly, much sooner than I had expected. Movie arrived in perfect condition. I will not hesitate to purchase from Amazon or any Amazon seller. It's always a positive experience!
Not as family friendly as suggested! 
2009-08-09 - We are glad we didn't purchase this movie. We were taken back by all the cursing and swearing in the movie from early seventies! If you are offended by language, then do not purchase unless you have a program to take out all the profanity. The story line was great and the language did not add to it.
why the alternate ending???
2009-07-17 - Can anyone please tell me why the new release of this movie doesn't show the ending where the boys take the money back to john waynes characters wwife??? I have seen this ending before in this movie but in the releases you see today it isn't there???? And also if anyone knows where to buy the original ending please let me know. Thank You.
