Classic John Wayne Western Still Stuns

“When the horizon’s at the bottom, it’s interesting. When the horizon’s at the top, it’s interesting. When the horizon’s in the middle, it’s boring as s—,” was the advice that the legendary director John Ford gave to a young Steven Spielberg. That philosophy is in full display in 1956’s The Searchers, which is one of the finest Westerns ever made and the most interesting collaboration between Ford and star John Wayne. Luckily, the new The Searchers 4K set is a wonderful release that does this classic film justice.

“Working together for the 12th time, John Wayne and director John Ford forged The Searchers into a landmark Western offering an indelible image of the frontier and the men and women who challenged it. Wayne plays an ex-Confederate soldier seeking his niece, captured by Comanches, who massacred his family. He won’t surrender to hunger, thirst, the elements, or loneliness. And in his five-year search, he encounters something unexpected: his own humanity,” says the synopsis.

First off, The Searchers 4K is absolutely gorgeous to watch. Using a wonderfully restored version of the film from its original negative, the film regularly wows with its American landscapes. Ford shoots the film beautifully, with some of the most stunning shots that can be found in any Western regularly coming up over its nearly two-hour runtime. This is a remastered release done right, as it was meticulously restored rather than running an existing version through a quick and sloppy AI upscaler.

What really makes the film special, though, and so interesting to revisit, is how it depicts its main character. Far from the typical hero that Wayne plays, his character in The Searchers is a violent, bloodthirsty racist out for revenge against the Native Americans who killed his brother and kidnapped his two young nieces. Wayne is given plenty to work with and has some iconic moments, such as the line “That’ll be the day,” and its influence through pop culture is easy to see when revisiting. Special credit also has to be given to Jeffrey Hunter, who does an excellent job as the young co-lead and gives a fiery performance that is a standout of its own.

The Searchers 4K disc only has one special feature, which is an excellent archival commentary track by critic and director Peter Bogdanovich. However, the Blu-ray disc has a ton of fantastic special features that are worth the price of admission by itself. Two standouts are The Searchers: An Appreciation, a wonderful video featuring Curtis Hanson, Martin Scorsese, and John Milius discussing the film’s importance, and A Turning of the Earth: John Ford, John Wayne, and The Searchers, which is a 1998 documentary going over how the film was made. There are also outtakes, the original trailer, coverage of its world premiere, and more, so there’s a lot to help you fully appreciate the film.

The Searchers 4K Review: Final Verdict

The Searchers 4K is a wonderful release that is everything you could want for a classic movie being reissued. The John Wayne classic has never looked better for the film, which is still incredibly moving and poignant today, and it comes with an incredible amount of bonus features on the Blu-ray disc. This is a Western that you’ll want to revisit and share with others, so it’s really an easy recommendation to any lover of cinema.

ComingSoon received product from the distributor for our The Searchers 4K review.