Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16525 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-06-06
• Rating: Universal, suitable for all
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Black & White, Dubbed, PAL
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Arabic, Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish
• Dubbed in: French, German, Italian, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 118 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
"When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." That's more than the code of a newspaperman in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance; it's practically the operating credo of director John Ford, the most honoured of American filmmakers. In this late film from a long career, Ford looks at the civilising of an Old West town, Shinbone, through the sad memories of settlers looking back. In the town's wide-open youth, two-fisted Westerner John Wayne and tenderfoot newcomer James Stewart clash over a woman (Vera Miles) but ultimately unite against the notorious outlaw Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin). Ford's nostalgia for the past is tempered by his stark approach, unusual for the visual poet of Stagecoach and The Searchers. The two heavyweights, Wayne and Stewart, are good together, with Wayne the embodiment of rugged individualism and Stewart the idealistic prophet of the civilisation that will eventually tame the Wild West. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance may be the saddest Western ever made, closer to an elegy than an action movie, and as cleanly beautiful as its central symbol, the cactus rose. --Robert Horton

Amazon.co.uk Review
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is a late film from the long career of director John Ford that tells of the civilising of an Old West town, Shinbone, through the sad memories of settlers looking back. Ford's nostalgia for the past is tempered by his stark approach, unusual for the visual poet of Stagecoach and The Searchers. The two heavyweights, John Wayne and James Stewart, are good together, with Wayne the embodiment of rugged individualism and Stewart the idealistic prophet of the civilisation that will eventually tame the Wild West. This may be the saddest Western ever made, closer to an elegy than an action movie, and as cleanly beautiful as its central symbol, the cactus rose. --Robert Horton

DVD Description
Extra Features: Theatrical Trailer
English Dolby Digital 5.1
Languages in Mono: French, German, Italian, Spanish
Restored English Mono
Subtitles: English for the hearing impaired, English, Arabic, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish.
Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1

Customer Reviews

Intelligent and Entertaining
This is, as other reviewers have stated, one of the greatest westerns ever. It can make this claim not through any blistering action sequences, but through its tension, its thoughtfulness and an awarness of time and place which is unmatched in the genre.

An example is the scene when the delegates crowd into the hall for the statehood vote - a nicely observed piece -while ignoring the black man sitting at the foot of the steps. A wonderful counterbalance to the talk of freedom inside the hall.

It is also, as I say extremely tense, and the scenes between Wayne and Marvin are as taut as anything either has appeared in elsewhere

Wonderful film

Classic Western !!!
In 1962 John Ford gave us his last great film.
"The Man who shot Liberty Valance " is a truly classic picture. With the exception of "El Dorado" this is the last great classic Hollywood Western(although "Nevada Smith", "The Four Sons of Katie Elder" and "The War Wagon" were decent efforts. Starring John Wayne and James Stewart this film is an interesting study of the painful enforcement of law in the west, and the role of the myth in it's construction.
This picture is not only a classic film but a real treasure in movie history, not only for it's aesthetic beauty but also for the strong sense of nostalgia for the West and the Western genre itself that comes across in director John Ford's beautiful images of is imaginary heroic past that comes to life in the strong performances of John Wayne, Vera Miles, James Stewart, Lee Marvin and all the other suporting actors of Ford's stock company. The DVD edition is a let down for such an important film. Even if the picture quality is ok, the mono sound could have been remasterd to stereo and a making of documentary is obligatory.
Let's hope that a Special Edition would do this classic film justice.

Inteligent, surprising, with great casting, full of humour and with one very tragic character
How come, that the secret of making movies which could be THAT good, seems to be lost? No matter how long you look, you will not find in the contemporary cinema a movie which would be so smart, funny and tragic in the same time as this one. Well, ladies and gentlemen, behold here one of the most legendary masterpieces of western - and three giants of American cinema: James Stewart, John Wayne and Lee Marvin.
This is a highly symbolical story about the barbary being beaten away by the civilisation, the crime being reduced by law and the chaos of wilderness being replaced by order. The symbol of barbary, crime, chaos and violence is a jubilant, agressive, vile and primitiv bandit, called Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin). He is so horrible that almost strangely appealing, a force of nature which can fascinate - until we actually see his victims.... He will be confronted by a young lawyer (James Stewart), who came to the Far West trying to establish a law practice, but who, in a lawless town, will end washing dishes. Now, James Stewart was not a whimp (he actually ended the WWII as general of aviation - the only Hollywoodian actor who went as far in military) but in this movie he portarys the total opposite of Liberty Valance - he is civilised, non-violent, polite, reserved (although well spoken), in fact he seems a little dull compared to the bandit. Until the day when he grabs that gun and (still wearing an apron!) walks toward Liberty Valance...
But the actor who is the reason for which this movie is such a masterpiece is the Duke himself - John Wayne. This is one of his most important, most complex and possibly the most tragic roles. His character represents what we have to loose when the heroic and barbaric times end - we gain civilisation, peace, law and order. But we loose also something - and although finally we get a fair deal, it is still painful. Even if you hate John Wayne, you will feel for his character in this movie - and you will be impressed by his acting.
This movie is not linear - the story of this one gunfight and its consequences is told twice, and before that we are going from one time to another. The plot is watertight - everything falls in place at the end with the precision of a Swiss clock mechanism. And the final punchline of this partly tragic but finally very funny movie will simply blow you away! This is a treasure of the world cinema - a classic to see and then see again.