The Outlaw Josey Wales | Rotten Tomatoes (2024)

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45 Reviews

91%

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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.

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The Outlaw Josey Wales

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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.

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Critics Reviews

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The Outlaw Josey Wales | Rotten Tomatoes (1)

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

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The Outlaw Josey Wales | Rotten Tomatoes (2)

Variety Staff

Variety

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

Jul 6, 2010

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The Outlaw Josey Wales | Rotten Tomatoes (3)

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

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The Outlaw Josey Wales | Rotten Tomatoes (4)

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

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The Outlaw Josey Wales | Rotten Tomatoes (5)

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

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The Outlaw Josey Wales | Rotten Tomatoes (6)

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

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Audience Reviews

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Carol A unique Western and an Eastwood epic! Rated 5/5 Stars • 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 5/5 Stars • 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 4.5/5 Stars • 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 3/5 Stars • 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 4.5/5 Stars • 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 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/13/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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Cast & Crew

Clint Eastwood Director Clint Eastwood Josey Wales Chief Dan George Lone Watie Sondra Locke Laura Lee Bill McKinney Terrill John Vernon Fletcher

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The Outlaw Josey Wales

The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)

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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

References

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/outlaw_josey_wales