The Outlaw Josey Wales

The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)

  • 94% of critics liked it
    (35 reviews)

  • 55% want to see it
    (28,497 ratings)

Clint Eastwood's fifth film as a director and eighth Western as a star (ninth if you count Paint Your Wagon), The Outlaw Josey Wales chronicles the hero's violent journey westward after the Civil War. With fresh memoris of his family's slaughter by Red Leg soldier Terrill (Bill… More

Play Trailer

PG,
Directed By
Written By
Philip Kaufman, Sonia Chernus, Phil Kaufman
Genres
Western, Drama, Action & Adventure
Warner Home Video

Critic Reviews

  • Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

    All in all, a very creditable film.

  • Variety Staff, Variety

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

  • 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.

  • , Time Out

    Demonstrated Eastwood's ability to recreate his first starring role, as the mythic Man with No Name of the Italian Westerns, and to subtly undercut it through comedy and mockery.

  • Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

    Eastwood is such a taciturn and action-oriented performer that it's easy to overlook the fact that he directs many of his movies -- and many of the best, most intelligent ones.

Read all 17 critic reviews

See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • Al S


    One of the best westerns of all time. Another Eastwood Classic. Clint Eastwood is excellent, he delivers a thrilling performance and even more thrilling directional feature. A stunning and well-crafted western that delivers plenty of sensational shoot-ours and great humor. A fun and… More

  • Jeff "


    Clint Eastwood's The Outlaw Josey Wales is a near flawless Western with a great cast of actors. Directed by Clint Eastwood who also plays the lead role of Josey Wales, This is a classic Western that is packed with effective story telling, good action, memorable characters and… More

  • Universal D


    A typical horse opera with Eastwood as the stranger you better not mess with, only different, yea charged, with the blithe spirit of Chief Dan George as the unlikely second banana, who manages to lift the usual proceedings single-handedly into 4 star territory.

  • Chris W


    This film plays very fast and loose with both history and geography, but that aside, this is a very thrilling and rousing western adventure. The story concerns a Missouri farmer named Josey Wales who joins up with Confederate bushwhackers after Jayhawkers kill his family and destroy… More

  • Reid V


    While not perfect by any means, Eastwood manages to pull off an anti-war western. It is superbly shot and visually very enthralling compared to many of his other works. While I cannot for the life of me understand why he always chose to work with Sandra Locke all of those years, she… More

Read all 20 featured audience ratings

Currently unavailable on Flixster

Also available on

UltraViolet Retailers

Other Retailers

Subscription Services

Not Available
Not Available
Not Available

Cast

See more (30)

Trailers & Clips