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Red Headed Stranger [VHS] | ![Red Headed Stranger [VHS]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/512G5MQJ92L._SL160_.jpg)
 enlarge | Director: William D. Wittliff
Actors: Willie Nelson, Morgan Fairchild, R.g. Armstrong, Royal Dano, Katharine Ross
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Buy Collectible: $19.99
Used (3) Collectible (5) from $19.99
Rating:  8 reviews
Format: Color, Ntsc
Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: VHS Tape
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 105 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.3 x 4.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 0792838114
UPC: 027616686138
EAN: 9780792838111
Theatrical Release Date: October 1986
Release Date: March 24, 1998
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 A minor masterpiece June 19, 2010
Frank Paris (Beaverton, OR USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I was stunned by the quality of this virtually unknown movie. If ever there was a sleeper waiting to explode on the scene, this has got to be it.
I watched it last night on cable Encore Westerns, which gave it only one star. But I've always been amused by Willie Nelson Westerns, usually good light entertainment, so I thought I'd give it a try until the one star rating reared its ugly head. I kept waiting and waiting for its promised mediocrity to emerge, but things just got better and better. By the end of the movie I was wondering where on earth the one star rating had come from. Did someone say, "Oh, this must only be one star because it wasn't big budget and I never heard of it"? What does the Encore Westerns star rating system mean, anyhow? Popularity? Reputation? If that's what it means, then it's one star, but no one uses that system for movie ratings, at least no one with a modicum of intelligence.
Enough of my rant. What about the movie itself? It has many of the characteristics of a classical Western, its setting and development. This really is the Wild West: lawless, where people had to take care of themselves without expecting any organized law and order. We have the familiar hero confronting evil forces in the face of cowardly townsfolk being bullied and exploited by those evil forces and in need of rescue by the courage of the hero. But in this case, the hero goes from the heights of idealism and uncompromising high principles and courage, to the nadir of despair and iniquity, only to rebound with newfound grounding in his original ideals, born from simple feelings of emptiness in his fall into perdition, and recognition that his original high mindedness is where life that is truly worth living is to be found.
There is also a parallel story of the hero's principal supporter, the town sheriff who is well-intentioned from the beginning but lacks the courage of the hero and requires the hero's courage to stand by his principles, only to fall himself into perdition like the hero, and later find redemption and courage that he'd never known before. That side-story is neatly woven into the plot and gives the story line a kind of elation that it otherwise would not have had. It was also kind of expected, and the fact that it didn't look as if his turnaround was going to happen made the actual outcome all the more joyful and satisfying.
This pattern of high flying morality followed by parallel and independent descents into hell, followed by redemption, is what is unusual about this Western, and is one of the principal elements that distinguishes this from almost all other Westerns. What includes this movie in the "good guys vs. bad guys" genre of the classical Western is how the hero - now heroes in the plural - vanquish the enemy in the end, just as so often happens in the worst as well as the best of Westerns. It is the descents into hell and subsequent redemptions that distinguish this Western from the lot, not just of one hero, but of two.
Another thing that distinguishes this Western is the quality of its dialog, especially from Willy Nelson. It is the dialog that one would expect from a thoughtful and insightful hero, but for that very reason, is completely unpredictable. There are no clich s in the hero's speech. His verbal responses to situations are both surprising and completely within character and obviously heartfelt, giving the Willy Nelson character a reality and concreteness that one does not often find in Western characters. This is dialog that I know will stand the test of time: repeated hearings that one will never tire of and will continue to delight in, even when we have it all memorized, like for example in the movie, Fargo.
Now my only question is, why didn't this minor masterpiece ever make it onto DVD? I'd be the first in line to buy it. It's great that this Western has appeared on Encore Westerns, because maybe that means there will be repeat showings, prompting others to show up on this review page with their own reviews, and encouraging the industry to release this on DVD before it falls completely into obscurity, which would be a great cinematic loss.
Red Headed Stranger movie March 2, 2010
L. Canterbury
Bought this movie for a friend who has had a copy of this for many years and he was thrilled. Said clarity was great. Best quality he has seen on a VHS tape in a long time.
the beauty of reality November 30, 2008
alex.y
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I have watched this movie more than 20 times. It represents honesty, pride, power, and determination molded all in love and care. This movie is not for everyone. It is for men of ethics, tradition, and determination.
a wonderful gift March 4, 2008
S. Williams (Vallejo, CA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
my FIL wanted this movie and could not find it anywhere it was so great to find it for him and he was so surpised...
Wonderful Classic February 2, 2004
Kathryn Howery (Virginia)
7 out of 9 found this review helpful
All I will say is "I LOVE THIS MOVIE"!! I am so glad to have found it online! I haven't seen it since it first came out and I was a kid. I have always wanted to find it on video to buy! It is just a western romance about a cowboy's heart ache and his search for his runaway wife. But I won't tell you much more (like other reviews). I don't want to ruin it for you. Other people are making this mistake of telling the ending, such as who kills who and when and so forth. HELLO!! Don't ruin the ending!!!
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