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Budd Boetticher Box Set (Tall T, Decision at Sundown, Buchanan Rides Alone, Ride Lonesome, Comanche Station) | 
 enlarge | Director: Budd Boetticher
Actors: Randolph Scott, Richard Boone, Maureen O'sullivan, Arthur Hunnicutt, Skip Homeier
Studio: Sony Pictures
Category: DVD
List Price: $59.95
Buy New: $37.52
You Save: $22.43 (37%)
New (15) Used (4) from $37.52
Rating:  11 reviews
Sales Rank: 963
Format: Box Set, Color, Dvd-video, Original Recording Remastered, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Region: 99
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Number Of Discs: 5
Running Time: 380 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.5 x 1
UPC: 043396228856
EAN: 0043396228856
ASIN: B001ER4CNO
Release Date: November 4, 2008 (New: Last 30 Days)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Five Star Seller!!! New, factory sealed US Region 1 DVD. Item is 100% guaranteed not to be a bootleg or import. Item is shipped directly from our warehouse. Easy exchange if item defective or damaged in shipped.
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Product Description
Few hauteur directors are more revered and beloved than Oscar "Budd" Boetticher, Jr., who lived a life more amazing than any movie. And few films have been more eagerly-awaited on DVD than the spare, adult westerns he made at Columbia in the late 1950s, all starring Randolph Scott, most written by future director Burt Kennedy, and co-starring such outstanding actors as James Coburn (in his film debut), Richard Boone, Maureen O'Sullivan, Pernell Roberts, Lee Van Cleef, and Craig Stevens. Now, at last, you hold them in your hand: The Tall T, Decision at Sundown, Buchanan Rides Alone, Ride Lonesome and Comanche Station. Rounding out the set is Bruce Ricker's acclaimed feature-length documentary, A Man Can do That, executive produced Budd's friend Clint Eastwood. Sony Pictures and The Film Foundation are honored to present one of the absolutely essential collections of this or any year.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 6 more reviews...
Five by Budd Boetticher November 22, 2008
Michael B. Druxman (Los Angeles)
Cheyenne Warrior
Shadow Watcher
Nobody Drowns in Mineral Lake
Western fans will rejoice over the long awaited release of THE FILMS OF BUDD BOETTICHER, a 5-disc set from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. The films are five of the seven legendary westerns that director Boetticher made with Randolph Scott.
Back in the days when I was a Hollywood publicist, Budd Boetticher was one of my clients.
Budd was a very interesting man who told me many stories about his years in Hollywood. He was also very open about his self-destructive nature.
At the time we were working together, he was talking about suing Universal Pictures over TWO MULES FOR SISTER SARA, the 1970 Clint Eastwood/Shirley MacLaine western that was directed by Don Siegel. According to Budd. he'd sold the original story of that film to the studio with the proviso that he would also direct and Universal had reneged on that part of the deal. [I don't recall how the matter was resolved.]
Budd also told me how he came to direct WESTBOUND (1959), a Warner Brothers film and the only one of the Boetticher/Scott movies that is not yet available on DVD.
"I offered to direct the movie for nothing," Budd said. "I wanted to protect my star."
The last time I saw Budd was a couple of months before his death. I'd acquired a lobby card from THE TALL T, already signed by Scott, and I wanted Budd's signature on it also. The framed piece now hangs prominently on my living room wall.
The TALL T (1957) is one of the films in this new set from Sony. Arguably, it is the best of the director's collaborations with Scott, who plays a down-on-his-luck rancher, taken hostage with Maureen O'Sullivan by Richard Boone and his gang. The outlaws had planned to hold up the stagecoach, but have instead decided to ransom the lady back to her wealthy father.
Henry Silva co-stars in the Burt Kennedy-written film.
Like THE TALL T, both RIDE LONESOME (1959) and COMANCHE STATION (1960) were both written by Kennedy and were filmed in the scenic Lone Pine area.
Scott plays a much darker character in these films, as he did in DECISION AT SUNDOWN (1957).
In RIDE LONESOME, co-starring Karen Steele, Pernell Roberts and (in his film debut) James Coburn, Scott plays a bounty hunter, bringing killer James Best in to be hung. However, before he can do that, he has to deal with marauding Indians, outlaws led by Best's brother and Roberts, an outlaw himself who by bringing in Best can get amnesty.
COMANCHE STATION finds Scott rescuing Indian captive Nancy Gates and bringing her back to her husband, who has offered a reward. Again, in order to do this, he must fight even more Indians, plus baddie Claude Akins and his buddies, who want the reward for themselves.
Both DECISION AT SUNDOWN and BUCHANAN RIDES ALONE (1958) are primarily set in a town. SUNDOWN has Scott in what is perhaps his most complex role. He rides into town to kill John Carroll, the man he hold's responsible for the death of his wife. But, Carroll "owns" the town and Randy soon finds himself holed up in the livery stable.
Karen Steele, Valerie French and Andrew Duggan co-star in this one.
In the light-hearted BUCHANAN RIDES ALONE, Scott arrives in a corrupt border town and finds himself in the middle of a blood feud. Craig Stevens co-stars.
Frankly, neither SUNDOWN or BUCHANAN are in the same league with the other three pictures or the first Boetticher/Scott collaboration, SEVEN MEN FROM NOW. The problem in both films is not Scott or Boetticher, but the scripts.
Both screenplays have Randy's character doing some pretty stupid things in their confrontations with the bad guys. Essentially, the characters' actions seem more writer-motivated than character-motivated and they don't ring true.
Nevertheless, if you love westerns you will want to own this set.
Michael B. Druxman,, author of ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD (available December 2008)
An Outstanding collection November 19, 2008
Tim Lasiuta (Red Deer, Alberta)
Budd Boetticher was a remarkable director. Sony Pictures, in their Collectors Choice set, "The Films of Budd Boettcher", presents five remarkable films that are still powerful today.
Including "The Tall T", "Decision at Sundown", "Buchanan Rides Alone", "Ride Lonesome", and "Commanche Station", this set is visually stunning, highlighting the natural beauty of the Lone Pine area. "Ride Lonesome" and "Comanche Station" resonate a theme central to his films, the lone hero seeking revenge and redemption. Randolph Scott stars in all five films, portraying to perfection the strong, silent hero.
In "Ride Lonesome", Barricade (Scott), goes after a man with a bounty on his head. Behind his apparent cold blooded nature, his real motive of finding the man who hung his wife is exposed in the end, and what was once a case of pure bounty, becomes an act of grace and forgiveness.
Future director Burt Kennedy penned the bulk of these films, honing his craft with a director with an eye for sparse storytelling, and a cast that understood what Boetticher was creating. Scott was essential to the films, adding his reputation and experience to roles that screamed "Randolph scott!". Images of Scott atop his animals, or silhouetted against the desert sky are vintage western iconic symbols. Co-stars James Coburn, Maureen Sullivan, Lee Van Cleef, Pernell Roberts, and Richard Boone contribute good performances to great films.
Watching these films is a pilgrimage experience. The Lone Pine settings, used in hundreds of films since the early 1920's, has been transformed into a more urban setting. When Randolph Scott rides by the familiar rocks of the geological formations, images of other films flood by. Randolph Scott appearing onscreen beckons me to a time when legendary actors rode the silver screen range, and westerns rode tall and proud in cinemas around the country. Principles were fought for and died on. Men of moral standing became outstanding community builders.
This is a collection for the collector of great films, though not all are of equal quality. The prints have been restored to brilliant color and sound. Watch these films, but if you have access to a big screen, I mean really big screen, go for the gusto. There is nothing like Randolph Scott riding tall on any screen!
Tim Lasiuta
"This is indeed wondrous!" - Ilya Morometz November 6, 2008
Dan W (Long Island, NY USA)
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
5 Boetticher classic Ranown westerns in one set? Cleaned up & widescreen? WE'RE NOT WORTHY....WE'RE NOT WORTHY!
BRILLIANT MASTERPIECES -- FORGOTTEN GEMS November 2, 2008
Robin Simmons (Palm Springs area, CA United States)
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
Budd Boetticher's classic westerns finally arrive as a set in nice clean transfers. They are long overdue in a digital format and have been highly anticipated by film buffs as well those who treasure a view of Americana that includes honor, duty and a love of the landscape -- the majestic canvas on which we play out our lives.
The films have been detailed elsewhere. My favorite and perhaps the best of the lot is "THE TALL T." There's a clean, sun-baked, windswept look to the whole enterprise that sort of frames the simmering tensions that are finally played out in an explosive climax. The underrated Randolph Scott is a taciturn and rivetting screen presence. His understated manner is compelling. Hard to take your eyes off him. In many ways, I think he was Boetticher's on-screen avitar.
What or who is the "tall T"? It is never mentioned in the film. Personally, I think the "T" is part of the architecture of the ranch where Scott rides a bull. It is prominent in one particular shot. And it is tall. Why this is the title of the film is a puzzle unless it is here where the story is set in motion
Boetticher's recurring elements: a lone figure seeking vengeance or justice, figures adrift amidst an untamed landscape, tight places where moral imperatives explode. And always in Boetticher's westerns, there are unexpected moments where the camera holds on the physical beauty of a place or dotes on the sensuous image of a horse being groomed or running.
Boetticher, a cult director who continues to grows in stature, makes the most of his deceptively minimalist stories inhabited by complex characters. But it's not really the story that matters for Boetticher as much as the characters, how they move, and what they don't say, and of course the ever-present land scapethat offers unexpected moments of challenge or transcendence.
It seems to me that Boetticher's westerns are about coping with antiquated notions of honor and justice while we traveling a path where fate, destiny and free-will intersect. I guess that's why they linger in the mind. There's an undeniable Old Testament feel to the stories yet the main character is often saddled with a sense of existential angst. Maybe that is the definition of living in the post modern world.
For movie buffs and film scholars alike, the late Budd Boetticher is a giant, widely praised for the seven low-budget westerns he made starring Randolph Scott between 1956 and 1960. What's even more amazing is that these B movies were crafted with such loving care and precision. As in other art, overlooked at first, but now recognized as unique and authentic perhaps because they seem effortless and pure even to the naive viewer.
While working on the Columbia Pictures lot, I got to know Boetticher quite well. He liked a script I wrote and invited me to ride one of his fine horses, Peropo, a spirited, unscarred veteran from the Spanish bullring. I apparently passed my test and this led to trips to Mexico where we scouted locations and Boetticher put on astonishing displays of how to fight bulls from horseback. During this time, I understood how much of Boetticher the man was in his westerns. Always the outsider who won't compromise, Boetticher was the real deal. Enthusiastic, witty, optimistic, artistic and a great horseman -- he relished being alive.
The underdog nature of his bare-bones westerns usually had a lone, mostly silent, alienated hero on a journey through a hostile landscape. He crosses paths with a self-serving villain. There are tight places and grand vistas, lyrical and pastoral surprises. Existential and ambiguously emotional, there remains a moral tone that somehow revolves around integrity itself. Integrity, grace and fate were Boetticher's cinematic trinity. Burt Kennedy's ironic, poignant screenplays were a perfect fit for Boetticher's mindset.
I encourage film buffs to also find Budd Boetticher's classic 1956 western SEVEN MEN FROM NOW (Paramount) which was released earlier on DVD in a clean, restored transfer with significant extras. This should be included along with this set. Here, Randolph Scott, a sheriff haunted by the death of his wife in a robbery, hunts for the seven men responsible. Along the way, he helps a couple from Kansas heading west and is forced to deal with another former outlaw he had once sent to prison. As in some of his other films included in this collection, SEVEN MEN FROM NOW is a tense journey that takes us to a point of stillness, the moment of truth where righteousness of character is all that's left because "there are some things you can't ride around." The esoteric commentary's by James Kitses, author of "Horizons West: Anthony Mann, Budd Boetticher, Sam Peckinpah" and there's a new documentary "Budd Boetticher: An American Original."
why not for the European market??? Region 2? October 29, 2008
Sabine Budde (Germany)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Great product, brilliant films, I`d love to order the box, but as I`m from Germany, I couldn`t play the films here.
Yes, Europeans love good western movies too, seems a bit out of place to produce them just for the American/
Canadian market. My favorite is " Ride Lonesome" , for sure Pernell Roberts is the perfect cast for a real cowboy,
but the other actors are great as well.
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