Big Jake

Loved it. I love most of John Wayne's movies. After all he was the Duke!

Great movie!

Big Jake, an excellent John Wayne western movie - and produced by Wayne's own production company, Batjac - and has all the familiar elements we've come to expect from Wayne with a few wrinkles. The film begins during the turn of the 20th century at Jacob McCandles' ranch where a gang of kidnappers take the young grandson of "Big Jake" and demand the payment of one million dollars in return for the boy's life. The gang flees to Mexico with the young boy after ambushing the party of Texas Rangers that have gone after them. Jake, played by Wayne, is estranged from his family, living in the part of the west that is still wild when news comes of the kidnapping. His wife has summoned him for the purpose of taking the ransom to the kidnappers and bringing the boy back. As you can imagine, the kidnappers picked on the wrong man! The film brings together many of Wayne's costars from years past; Maureen O'Hara, Bruce Cabot, Harry Carey Jr. as well as Wayne's son Patrick and Christopher Mitchum, son of Robert Mitchum. The leader of the kidnappers is veteran actor Richard Boone. I thought the performances were excellent. There's still that on-screen chemistry between Wayne and O'Hara we see in the film's opening sequences. The film itself takes place during the period when the old "Wild West" is certainly dying, making way for progress and civilization. Yet, there is still enough wildness in the west to cause trouble. Mitchum, who plays a son of "Jake", employs modern weapons (an automatic pistol and scoped rifle) while Wayne and Cabot cling to the old ways. Automobiles are making inroads into the world still largely driven by horses. I thought the acting, score, cinematography, locations were all quite good. The script is solid, giving Wayne plenty of one-liners such as "That'll be the day." which Wayne growls each time someone tells him they thought he had already died. The direction by George Sherman is crisp and the film never seems to drag. The action sequences are very good for the time. Frankly, I prefer the staged violence of that era to the overly bloody special effects of today. This is a solid western that allows Wayne to be himself, the strong, tough man of action that always fights on the side of right. It's an excellent film and I recommend it with five stars.

John Wayne aged like a fine wine This is Pure J.W. at his best. Great Writing, and his usual Friends to add to this adventure What a treat to have Richard Boone aboard

I actually received my DVD a day before I expected. It is a great John Wayne movie.

Arrived on time and received with pleasure! Thank you!

As John Wayne films go, Big Jake has always been a favorite of mine. From its quickly paced simplistic story to John Wayne's ability to command the silver screen this one has a lot to offer. Starring The Duke, his son Patrick and even a pivotal role for his youngest son Ethan; Big Jake is a fun ride from start to finish. I've read some Amazon reviews stating that the film has been edited or that it is the "TV version". Having owned the DVD and now the Blu Ray I can verify that this is simply NOT TRUE!. The film is intact on both the DVD and Blu Ray. Dog saves the boy and is shot in the process, but dog is only wounded and gets killed at the hand of "Fatty" with a machete in a later scene while saving the boy. The scene is there in its entirety. I am not sure if the reviewers stating otherwise have clouded memories of this film or fell asleep while watching this on the home video releases. I saw this three times in a theater (all the same day) and I remember this film vividly. As far as the blu ray, there is nothing to complain about, especially for a catalog title. Kind of a bummer there is absolutely no bonus material not even a trailer. The film is pretty much free of damage and looks very clean with the exception of a few frames of heavier grain here and there. These frames are hardly a millisecond long, so you may not even notice them. The sound is unobtrusive and clear, but with little to no enhancement. If this is a favorite film of yours, then the blu ray will not disappoint.

Sharp, vibrant color.

I have no words to express how delighted I am to have my favorite film in the best possible quality. Big Jake is definetely one of Duke's finest and best films and one of his most popular ( see IMDB) to the point of becoming John Wayne last big hit in the 70's. At the time of it's original release, Big Jake topped the Box Office for 3 weeks and allowed Duke to be N°1 of the top 10 for the 4th and last time in 1971. For true Duke's fans, it's hardly surprising when you consider the crème de la crème worked on this film : William Clothier (Photography), Elmer Bernstein (Music), Harry Julian and Rita M.Fink (Screenplay), Albert Withlock (Visual effects), Cliff Lyons ( Second unit director - stunts), Howard Jensen (Special effects)... for the crew. And for the cast, John Wayne at his best and definetely in one of his best performances ( even better than inTrue Grit ) that could have brought him an Oscar if True Grit had not been so close to Big Jake, the great Richard Boone and Gregg Palmer's machete psycho both as Duke's best foes ever to face him, Maureen O'Hara in the short but powerful part of John Wayne's estranged wife, Bruce Cabot as his indian friend, Harry Carey Jr as an evil dirty old man, Patrick and Ethan Wayne as his son and grandson, Chris Mitchum as another son and a galore of familar faces like John Agar, Hank Worden, Chuck Robertson, Chuck Hayward, Jim Davis, Roy Jensen, Jerry Gatlin, etc... And of course, Dog, John Wayne's dog and best friend, always ready to attack on his master's command. The blu-ray is a pure treat with a wonderful PQ and cristal clear sound to the point that Big Jake never looked so good. After the VHS and the dvd, it's like watching a truly brand new movie in full HD. Details you missed before appear clearly in the light of this wonderful blu-ray. A must have for all Duke's fans.

Esta película no es muy conocida de las Wayne, sin embargo es de las que mas me gustan de el, tiene un toque obscuro y agresivo al estilo de las películas de Harry el sucio, tiene doblaje al español y subtítulos.

aus einer Zeit, in der der Wilde Westen eigentlich nicht mehr existierte. Ein großartiger John Wayne Film.

Ottimo

On-time as advertised - Couldn't ask for anything more from a vendor :)