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- Real Name
- Ronald Epstein
The Walking Tall Trilogy
Studio: Rhino
Year: 1973-1977
Rated: R
Film Length: 350 minutes
Aspect Ratio: Full Frame (1.33:1)
Subtitles: None
The last thing I enjoy watching is any film about
red-necked white trash. So what am I doing reviewing
a film like Walking Tall? Well, it happens
to be the very first screener DVD that Rhino
Home Video has sent me, and out of respect for
that, I figured I would give this film a look.
I am actually only going to review the first film
of this trilogy, Walking Tall, released in
1973. I didn't want to go beyond the original
release simply because Rhino didn't give me an
incentive to watch the sequels. I'll talk about
all of this in just a moment.
Walking Tall is loosely based on the life
of Buford Pusser, a Sheriff in Adamsville, Tennessee
who died in a mysterious car crash in 1974. His
story is perhaps one of the bloodiest true stories
ever brought to the screen. It sort of became a
1970s drive-in exploitation flick best described
as Dirty Harry set in the country.
Joe Don Baker gives a top-notch performance as
Buford Pusser, a retired wrestler who now seeks a
quieter life with his wife, two children and dog.
They have moved back to Buford's old stomping ground
in Adamasville, Tennessee. It doesn't take long
for him to realize that times have changed for the
worse, finding the town overrun with gambling,
prostitution and general corruption. Upon a visit
to a local gambling joint, Pusser witnesses cheating
at the craps table and proceeds to make a stink
about it only to be outnumbered by locals boys who
cut his chest and abdomen with a knife and dump him
in a ditch to die
This sets Pusser on a mission to bring down the
evil forces in the small town, which includes every
bar owner, peace officer and even the judge. He runs
for town Sheriff and wins. He elects a black man
as his deputy. With a big stick in hand, Pusser
goes after illegal casinos and moonshiners -- but
there seem to be villains everywhere who are intent
on seeing the Sheriff dead.
Released in 1973, this gritty backwoods Mafia tale
caused quite a stir with the MPAA, who was in the
initial process of introducing their new ratings
system. The studio launched an ad campaign aimed
at parents, letting them know that the "R" rated
Walking Tall contained violence and not sex,
and therefore was good family entertainment! If
you have had the opportunity to watch this film,
you know it is anything BUT family entertainment.
I actually enjoyed this film (despite its awful
presentation on DVD) due its raw and realistic
look at a corrupt southern town and it's "Real
American Hero."
The Walking Tall Trilogy arrives in a
partially slipcased cardboard package whose innards
slide out into a 4-pane gatefold that house the
three DVD titles, Walking Tall, Walking Tall:
Part II and Walking Tall: The Final Chapter
in plastic hub housing. A 2-page chapter index
booklet resides in the far left pane pocket.
How is the transfer?
I am extremely disappointed with Rhino Home Video's
treatment to the first film. To begin with, this is
a full-frame release. You would think that a
quality-driven company like Rhino would know better
and have splurged on anamorphic presentations. It
also doesn't seem like the film is properly framed
as an overhead boom mike consistently reappears in
the upper portion of the frame throughout the film.
To make matters worse, the film looks washed-out
and muddy, without any attention given to detail
or sharpness. Colors look absolutely bland and
flesh tones are overly red. There are blemishes and
film jumps scattered throughout. It is apparent
that Rhino Home Video just didn't give a crap about
what they were putting out as there was no effort
given to restoring this film.
The audio is just as bad as the video presentation.
The mono soundtrack comes across as sounding harsh
and flat without any added dynamics. In short, this
film looks and sounds as bad something you would see
on late-night broadcast television.
There are also no subtitles included here nor
any indication on the packaging of closed captioning.
This is extremely disrespectful to the hearing
impaired community.
Special Features
There are none
Final Thoughts
For years, I have collected much of Rhino's
music compilations on CD due to the fact that the
company really put a quality effort into their
releases. I had hoped for the exact same effort
to be found in their Home Video product, but am
shocked by what I have seen today. They have pretty
much thrown together a boxed set with complete
disregard to presentation quality, supplemental
material and subtitles that would aid the hearing
impaired community.
It's a real shame. I really liked Walking Tall,
a film that shows true strength in its subject matter,
and if it had been properly presented on the DVD
format I think I could have given this film a good
sell. The problem is, unless you are a hardcore fan
of this film, the DVD isn't a very good sell at all.
Release Date: NOW
All screen captures have been further compressed.
They are for illustrative purposes only and do not
represent actual picture quality
