Rating: 
Summary: The best damn western ever
Review: There's nothing like it. Real Conestoga wagons, a John Wayne who isn't an arrogant jerk, incredible scenery, romance, humor. It is like watching a documenary of the trek west, only with personal touches. A truly great film.
Rating: 
Summary: Corny acting but dazzling visuals
Review: This film is definitely worth watching for the scenery alone. The dialogue and acting are enjoyable once you get used to their archaic style (Tyrone Power Sr.'s performance must have been the inspiration for Popeye's nemesis, Bluto). It's too bad the film wasn't the big hit it set out to be, for that failure not only consigned John Wayne to a decade of tacky "B" Westerns, it also sent the lovely Marguerite Churchill back to Broadway, robbing us of the pleasure of viewing her in any other films. Tip: If you have a choice, get the square-screen presentation. Its scenes were framed for the square screens that were then the rule in most theaters, and then reframed and reshot in the special widescreen format available in only a few prestige theaters. As a result, the square-screen version is original to the film and includes all the action involved in any given scene. It does not crop out anything or anyone, as "pan and scan" video versions of most widescreen productions do. And in at least one scene --- the finale in which Wayne and Churchill are reunited at the foot of a giant Sequoia --- the square-screen version offers a more satisfying visual composition than the widescreen version does.
Rating: 
Summary: A Pioneer Effort for Sound
Review: This film is one that bridged the gap between silent and sound films. You can see Walsh's efforts to tell the story with silent film direction and bridge story gaps using the silent title cards to set the mood of the scene. The acting is still very broad and the camera somewhat static, but John Wayne's charisma shines forth in his performance. Also, note that this is one of the last performances of Tyrone Power, the father, not the son who would become a major star of the forties. There are scenes in this film that Hollywood would never be able to create again. It ranks up with "Red River" as a major western epic.
Rating:
Summary: Proto-- Wayne!
Review: This great Western bombed because of the stock market crash of '29. Movie theaters had spent their money converting to sound, and were unable to shell out the dough for 70mm conversion. The majestic background played on "The Big Screen"-- as director Raul Walsh intended, only at Grauman's Chinese and the Roxy in New York. Everyone else saw a choppy 35mm version, cropped on both sides. Brilliant cinamotgraphy became a muddled mess, until it was restored in the 1990's. The story is one of 'Manifest Destiny ' on the move, and of a heroine who has two men courting her. A slick, lying, backshooting gambler and the pure, outdoorsman scout--John Wayne. Will she choose the man who will cherish her or the one who will use her? Wayne dresses in moccasins as if he escaped from 'The Last of The Mohicans', as he tells us that: "The Indian was my friend. They taught me all about the woods." So, while he carries a rifle for hunting, he doesn't even own a handgun! A knife is his only weapon for self-defense. A third male lead completes the story; a brutish and powerfully built bear of a wagon trail leader, played by Tyrone Power Sr. (Yep, the star's father was an actor.) Wayne signs up as the scout because he suspects Tyrone of murdering an old man for his wolf pelts (naturally the old man was Wayne's best friend) The gambler also comes along, to escape a hangman's noose--and sweet-talk the heroine with his lies. Joining forces with the grunting neanderthal wagon master against Wayne, they bide their time to ambush him, as Manifest Destiny leads hundreds of settlers through Comanche territory, floods and blizzards to The Promised Land. It was Walsh rather than John Ford who discovered Wayne,who had only played bit parts in Ford movies previously. But who 'created' John Wayne out of Marion Morrison, after he emerged as a leading man in The Big Trail? Among the film's delights is seeing a Proto-Wayne. He's a protagonist with all the heroic Wayne trademarks fully formed but he's not quite "John Wayne " yet in his acting. It's good but it's not the stuff of myths , not distinct. There is none of the Wayne walk. None of the Wayne gestures, invariably played BEFORE he said his 'punch lines', none of the cadence of "John Wayne" sentences that he broke up (as he made the gestures to deliver before the lines) so beloved of John Wayne impersonators. In short, the most popular movie star of all time did not quite 'play himself.' He found a style of acting that held the camera's eye. He discovered the film version equivalent of the 19th century's "claptrap", which is not a venereal disease, but a theater term for getting the audience to clap and cheer at the end of a speech. An American Original.
Rating:
Summary: Proto-- Wayne!
Review: This great Western bombed because of the stock market crash of '29. Movie theaters had spent their money converting to sound, and were unable to shell out the dough for 70mm conversion. The majestic background played on "The Big Screen"-- as director Raul Walsh intended, only at Grauman's Chinese and the Roxy in New York. Everyone else saw a choppy 35mm version, cropped on both sides. Brilliant cinamotgraphy became a muddled mess, until it was restored in the 1990's. The story is one of 'Manifest Destiny ' on the move, and of a heroine who has two men courting her. A slick, lying, backshooting gambler and the pure, outdoorsman scout--John Wayne. Will she choose the man who will cherish her or the one who will use her? Wayne dresses in moccasins as if he escaped from 'The Last of The Mohicans', as he tells us that: "The Indian was my friend. They taught me all about the woods." So, while he carries a rifle for hunting, he doesn't even own a handgun! A knife is his only weapon for self-defense. A third male lead completes the story; a brutish and powerfully built bear of a wagon trail leader, played by Tyrone Power Sr. (Yep, the star's father was an actor.) Wayne signs up as the scout because he suspects Tyrone of murdering an old man for his wolf pelts (naturally the old man was Wayne's best friend) The gambler also comes along, to escape a hangman's noose--and sweet-talk the heroine with his lies. Joining forces with the grunting neanderthal wagon master against Wayne, they bide their time to ambush him, as Manifest Destiny leads hundreds of settlers through Comanche territory, floods and blizzards to The Promised Land. It was Walsh rather than John Ford who discovered Wayne,who had only played bit parts in Ford movies previously. But who 'created' John Wayne out of Marion Morrison, after he emerged as a leading man in The Big Trail? Among the film's delights is seeing a Proto-Wayne. He's a protagonist with all the heroic Wayne trademarks fully formed but he's not quite "John Wayne " yet in his acting. It's good but it's not the stuff of myths , not distinct. There is none of the Wayne walk. None of the Wayne gestures, invariably played BEFORE he said his 'punch lines', none of the cadence of "John Wayne" sentences that he broke up (as he made the gestures to deliver before the lines) so beloved of John Wayne impersonators. In short, the most popular movie star of all time did not quite 'play himself.' He found a style of acting that held the camera's eye. He discovered the film version equivalent of the 19th century's "claptrap", which is not a venereal disease, but a theater term for getting the audience to clap and cheer at the end of a speech. An American Original.
Rating:
Summary: Where is the "Fox Grandeur" Widescreen Version?
Review: This is a film that really deserves to be seen in its widescreen glory. This is truly an epic film. However, I feel compelled to point out that the version that is available on this DVD is not, in fact, a "cropped" version of the film. The movie was actually filmed in three different versions. The first two, featuring the original cast, were the widescreen "Fox Grandeur" version and the version available here, shot in the Academy Standard ratio, which allowed the vast majority of cash-strapped theaters (they couldn't afford the special equipment for widescreen projection) to exhibit the film. The scenes in this version were blocked appropriately for a standard film of this era. The third version, shot concurrently, was a German edition using German actors in medium and close shots and footage of John Wayne and company in the long shots.
Rating:
Summary: Where is the "Fox Grandeur" Widescreen Version?
Review: This is a film that really deserves to be seen in its widescreen glory. This is truly an epic film. However, I feel compelled to point out that the version that is available on this DVD is not, in fact, a "cropped" version of the film. The movie was actually filmed in three different versions. The first two, featuring the original cast, were the widescreen "Fox Grandeur" version and the version available here, shot in the Academy Standard ratio, which allowed the vast majority of cash-strapped theaters (they couldn't afford the special equipment for widescreen projection) to exhibit the film. The scenes in this version were blocked appropriately for a standard film of this era. The third version, shot concurrently, was a German edition using German actors in medium and close shots and footage of John Wayne and company in the long shots.
Rating: 
Summary: What a dissapointment.
Review: This is one of the very first widescreen films ever made. To be forced to see it in pan and scan is a real drag. I already have it on VHS so this DVD is a major dissapointment. Boycott this disc until Fox gets wise and offers a widescreen version. Give us the historic widescreen version.
Rating:
Summary: where's the rest of it?
Review: Where's the widescreen version? And why, when it's officially listed as 125 minutes in the "flat" version is this DVD release 108 minutes? Shame on Fox.
Rating:
Summary: The Duke is now John wayne.
Review: Yes it is a classic. Yes, there is a lot to recommend this movie. But hey, it was made nearly 70 years ago and watchability is a factor. It is a little distracting to watch something this old. But savor the scenery, savor the Duke and savor the lack of foul language.
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