Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing for a classic western
Review: Overall, "The man who shot Liberty Valance" is a disappointing film - especially when you consider the vast array of stars that are in it. Compared with other westerns that John Wayne and James Stewart starred in, this is way below par. The story is ragged, the action is minimal and the excitement is low. This is not as good as it is supposed to be.
Rating: 
Summary: A John Ford/John Wayne Classic
Review: "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" tells the story of a young and wild west, where the gun is the law, and law and order is either scoffed at, or coward behind; and where eastern ideals of cvility are fastly encroaching upon this expanse of untamed land.
Jimmy Stewart plays the young lawyer, Rance Stoddard, fresh out of law school, determined to tame the wild west with law and justice, rather than with a gun. On his way west, the stagecoach he is on is stopped by an band of outlaws, run by Liberty Valance, played by Lee Marvin. Stewart, badly beaten by Valance, is found on the trail by Tom Donophin, played by John Wayne, and is brought to the little town of Shinbone. There, he is cared for by young and beautiful Haley, played by Vera Miles. She is Tom's girl, or so he thinks; but he won't ask her to marry him until he can finish the house he is building, and earn enough money to support her. Stewart is determined to bring Valance to Justice, and is scoffed by Donophin when he tells how. Only a gun will stop Valance, Donophin says. The town marshall, played by Andy Devine, cowars when he hears the name of Liberty Valance, and hasn't the courage to put the outlaw behind bars. In the meantime, Stoddard heals from his wounds, and sets up a school in the back of newspaper editor, Dutton Peabody's, office. He hopes to instill the value of law and order, and common civility, in the townfolk, and persuade them that guns will only lead to more violence. While Donophin is away on business, the relationship between Stoddard and Haley deepens, much to Donophins dismay when he returns. Talk of Statehood is debated, and feircely fought over. Valance works for the cattlemen, who do not want to see statehood; and when he vies for a seat in congress, he vows revenge against Stoddard when he is rejected by the town. The ultimate showdown proves that in Shinbone, out west, at least for the time being, law and order can only be solved by a gun. Stoddard and Valance face for a final duel. But - who really kills Valance? Donophin reveals to Stoddard that he did it; but did he really, or did he tell him that merely to ease the young lawyer's conscience? Regardless of "who shot Liberty Valance", with this ruthless bandit dead, law and order, morals and ethics, and common ideals and civility may enter Shinbone, and spread across the land, reaching ever further into the lawless west.
Rating: 
Summary: Emperor's New Clothes?
Review: I am impressed by the passion of the other reviewers but I must say I find most of it poorly shot, poorly paced, and poorly acted by most everybody by Wayne and Strode, with O'Brien giving one of the worst performances recorded on screen. I think this film must teach well. (English professors have come to believe that Bleak House is Dickens' best novel perhaps because it is the most interesting to teach, but not to read). The central idea is catchy and there is a clinging mournfulness to Wayne's fate, with echoes carrying over from "The Searchers". But I just can't see how anybody can prefer this to "My Darling Clementine", which many notable critics do. Because the movie is quite memorable, it is mistaken for being good.
Rating:
Summary: A John Wayne Fan Is Typing This . . .
Review: I love this Movie! Jimmy Stewart and John Wayne are great! I especially like the comical note throughout the movie. This was the first John Wayne movie I ever saw, and it made a good impression. I reccomend this to anyone, even if you don't like Westerns.
Rating:
Summary: Old West 1, Civilization 0
Review: Truth be told, pilgrim, Doniphon was more like Valence than he was like the pencil-necked bookworm played by Stewart, who was more like Vera Miles. (Two ironies come to mind: First, it was Doniphon himself--not law books, women or Stewart's lawyer--who paved the way for civilization, by killing Valence and letting Stewart take the credit. Second, in real life (if movie fans care) Stewart risked his life in WW II bombers over Germany while Wayne stayed at home with a deferment.) One quibble: I wish the studio would use Gene Pitney's song as the theme.
Rating: 
Summary: Great movie, sparse DVD
Review: This thoughtful and somewhat melancholy western classic gets a good-looking transfer onto DVD. The richness of the picture stands in contrast to the recent release of Rio Bravo, which looks a bit faded. The sound is also crisp, with good dynamics throughout. Although James Stewart is little long-in-the-tooth to be playing a law school grad, and John Wayne is way too old to be Vera Miles boyfriend (six years earlier, in The Searchers, Wayne was the uncle of Miles' boyfriend), both actors give fine performances. It's fun to watch Wayne stagger around in a drunken stupor, shoving people and falling over his own feet, a kind of character he seldom got to play. Unfortunately, many of the supporting actors ham it up to an embarrassing level, especially John Carradine in a bit part. That Wayne's performance stands out above all the others is more evidence that he was a woefully underrated thespian. My main complaint about the disk is the scarcity of extras. We get a theatrical trailer and nothing more; not even an animated menu. If it was an [...] cheapo I wouldn't expect much, but with [it's price], you'd think they could dig up something.
Rating: 
Summary: A Great Film Gets Poor Treatment from Paramount
Review: This is one of the greatest films ever made, a perfect blending of form and content. I pick it above "The Searchers," quite frankly, because for once Ford stuck to the message he was trying to deliver. However, Paramount blew it. Absolutely blew it. Outside of a trailer, there are no extras. With all the information that has been put out on John Ford, James Stewart and John Wayne, a "Making of the Movie" would have been wonderful! Yet, Paramount has the audacity to charge full price (if not more). Compare this to the Hitchcock series, with loads of extras. A great movie did not get its due.Since writing this, Paramount has come to its senses and now prices its DVDs at a much fairer price. Thus this DVD is well worth what it costs. But the lack of extras is pathetic.
Rating:
Summary: John Ford Masterpiece
Review: First the movie itself needs no discussion. Its simply one of the best westerns ever made. It deals with morality in the old west and gives no easy answers. John Wayne gives one of the best performances of his career and even people that don't like Wayne will like him in this film. The DVD has a beautiful transfer from Paramount. The image has very few defects and the picture is very rich. The restored mono soundtrack is excellent, but the new DD 5.1 track is really no big deal. There are no extras on the disc, but a film this great really needs none.
Rating:
Summary: Print The Legend
Review: John Ford hits on all cylinders, Lee Marvin plays a classic bad guy, and John Wayne plays the stereotypical John Wayne character in a very non-stereotypical manner in THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE. Wayne plays the same basic character he'd played in so many other westerns. But, instead of being the young stud settling the Wild West, Wayne plays an aging dinasaur, his kind of justice increasingly unwanted and outdated. Easily Wayne's best performance. Stewart and Miles are good, though a bit of the lovey-dovey glazed looks could have been edited out, as far as I'm concerned. To me the best performance here comes from Lee Marvin. His Liberty Valance is a dirty, slimey, bullying psychopath. Brilliantly done. But who decided to give the bad guy a goofy name like Liberty Valance? Sounds like an 18th century piece of furniture.
Rating:
Summary: Quiet, Sad, and Brilliant
Review: "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" is one of the best Westerns made, but is seldom spoken of. A sparkling casts portrays a set of American icons or archetypes, in a rambling, quietly stirring mystery story. Jimmy Stewart is the Eastern, educated, sophisticated lawyer who has gone West to spread civilization. John Wayne is the unsophisticated, uneducated, good-guy cowboy. Lee Marvin is the ultimate villain - Liberty Valance - who keeps a small town in terror while sneering at the likeable but inept local sherrif, Andy Devine. Stewart first tries to pursue Marvin through legal channels, but fails because no one believes that route can work except him. It all comes down to a shoot-out between Marvin and Stewart, who has been forced to sink to Marvin's methods. To everyone's amazement, Stewart wins the shoot-out by killing Marvin. Or, does he? Stewart goes on to win statehood for the territory, be its first governor, be an ambassador to England, and serve in the United States Senate. He comes back, with his wife who was once Wayne's unofficial fiancee, for Wayne's funeral. While back in the small town, he tells the local newspaper editor the story of what really happened. This is a quiet movie, but everything is done exceedingly well. What else would one expect from this cast?
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