Walking Tall Trilogy (1973-77)
Review by HTQ4
Film:
DVD:

Written by Mort Briskin, Stephen Downing, Howard B. Kreitsek & Samuel A. Peeples
Directed by Phil Karlson, Earl Bellamy, Jack Starrett
Starring Joe Don Baker, Elizabeth Hartman, Gene Evans, Bruce Glover, Bo Svenson, Robert DoQui, Margaret Blye, and Morgan Woodward

Released by: Rhino Home Video
Rating: R
Region: 1
Anamorphic: N/A; they appear in their original full screen condition.
My Advice: Rent it, but only if you really like redneck movies; otherwise skip it

Buford Pusser (Baker, then later Svenson) has just returned home to McNairy County, Tennessee after trying to start a new life for his family. However, he finds out that his hometown is not exactly how he left it. The town has been turned into a hotbed of corruption that includes a nest of prostitution, moonshine stills, and gambling. After he gets the crap beat out of him and he's left for dead, he returns to the scene of the crime with a huge stick and singlehandedly beats the beejesus out of all of the guys responsible and demands that they pay for the damages to his car and his body. Since he's tired of the corruption, he runs for Sheriff with the aim to clean up McNairy county once and for all.

These movies are based on the life of a real man named Buford Pusser who was indeed the Sheriff of McNairy County, Tennessee. As with most movies that are based on real life, the facts are exaggerated a bit. What happened in this case was that the filmmakers latched on to the idea of the underdog taking on a much larger conspiracy of corruption and fighting the good fight. However, a little historical background will tell a different story. Let's just say that he was not the saint that these movies made him out to be. With that factoid out of the way, Baker did a great job with the script he was given. But, make no mistake, it is a bad script. It is overly melodramatic and the dialogue is uber-"Southern" in some places, if you get my drift. When Svenson took over the role of Pusser, it was a completely different story altogether. He played everything way over the top.

The one thing that these movies had going for them are the fight scenes. They are very well staged and executed. If you can get beyond the mid-70s fight sound effects (you know what I mean), then you're fine--with one exception: the blood. All of the stage blood that is used looks way too thin.

The DVD package is nothing to write home about. There is nothing in the way of special features on any of these three discs. Anyway, as I said, it would have been nice to have some kind of documentary on the actual man who these movies are based off of, don't you think? How about some interviews with Baker and/or Svenson about their portrayal of Pusser? As you know, I place a high value on the presence of a commentary track, and it would not have been too hard to get someone in to talk about these movies either from the standpoint of the making of the film or from the standpoint of how and where the movies strayed from the real Pusser's life.

I would say that, unless you are really into mid-70s redneck movies, this will be one that you'll want to skip (or catch on TBS latenight sometime). I don't even think it's worth the rental.