The Searchers

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Summary: Movie is about racism, not racist
Review: It is sad to see people so quickly label a truly great movie without possessing a knowledge of history or the intent of the film maker. The whole point of this movie was to show how bigotry warps a man to the point that he cannot co-exist with other people. John Wayne's character is left alone to drift at the end of the movie because he cannot adapt to the "confines" of society. As to embattled Native Americans not kidnapping whites, apparently a prior reviewer has never heard of Quanah Parker, a famous, great warrior chief, who happened to be half-white. His mother had been taken captive by Indians.

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Summary: Greatest movie ever made!
Review: Often hailed as one of the greatest westerns ever made, but to me it's more than that. In my opinion it must rank as one of the finest films ever, regardless of genre. Such superb directors as Spielberg, Scorosese and Lukas has openly admitted to being deeply influenced by "The Searchers". As a matter of fact, the original "Star Wars" bears some uncanny resemblance to "The Searchers". This is director Ford's ultimate achievement and actor John Wayne gives the performance of his life as the racist Ethan Edwards. The camera work is also breathtaking with it's panoramic views of Monument Valley, so often an uncredited "star" in Ford's epics such as "Stagecoach", "She Wore A Yellow Ribbon" and, yes, "The Searchers".

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Summary: Relentless Pursuit
Review: The Searchers is probably one of the most analyzed Westerns ever made, so I'm not going to attempt to look at its deeper meaning. From a purely entertainment point of view, the movie works very well. John Wayne is excellent as the tough, driven uncle of Natalie Wood, who goes on a 5 year quest to find her after her family is murdered and she is kidnapped by Indians. Two things about this film standout for me. One thing is the relentless pursuit by Wayne and the way one man, for whatever his motives, refuses to give up or move on without getting what he is after. The other standout is the photography. This must be one of the most beautifully filmed movies of all time. The colour and scenery are breathtaking. Some of the dialogue and acting (especially Jeffrey Hunter) are stilted and unbelievable, but they do not interfere in the enjoyment of the movie. Anyone in "search" of a great, classic Western should be sure to view this movie.

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Summary: The best film Wayne ever made...
Review: If you only ever see one John Wayne film, this is the film to see. The story is about a single man whose only family is wiped out by Indians. He loses his brother and his brother's wife and their two daughters. The bodies of the daughters are not located in the aftermath of the attack, but John Wayne and Jeffery Hunter (a rising young star at the time) form a search party to look for the girls. The searchers soon find the body of the older girl (Hunter's fiance and Wayne's niece) but the younger girl is still missing. At this point the action begins.

Although the other members of the search party give up, Wayne will not give up, and Hunter stays by his side, at first in hope and then in fear that once Wayne finds his niece he will kill her. This is the macho west, where white men killed their women if they had been degraded by a "redskin." The question for the rest of the film is what will Wayne do when and if he ever finds his niece. It might not seem like much of a story line, but it sure holds the audience captive.

Oh, and if Wayne finds his niece, she might be played by a very young Natalie Wood.

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Summary: one of the greatest Westerns ever made
Review: John Wayne as the perfect anti-hero. Great work by director Ford. Although "The Searchers stereotyping shows its date, the film is visually beautiful and well acted. The final shot IS one of the great western images and the movie one of the greatest Westerns ever made. A great addition to the DVD library.

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Summary: The film version of the captivity narrative.
Review: Contrary to what the review from 2/5/00 stated, Indians did kidnap children: some were adapted to replace a dead relative, some were used as slaves, and some were sold for ransom. The captivity narrative has been a popular genre of American literature since the days of the pilgrims. The most famous stories are of those children who so well adapted to their lives among the Indians that they refused to go back to the whites. Ever heard of Eunice Williams, Mary Jemison, Frances Slocum, and Cynthia Ann Parker? Maybe some people should know what they are talking about before trying to give a history lesson.

"The Searchers" is the greatest film interpretation of the captivity narrative. It is the fear of his niece turning Indian that drives Ethan Edwards. He must find her before "she is of an age to. . ." And when he fails that he plans on killing her. Ethan is a racist. He fears and hates the Comanches. His opposite is the Comanche, Scar, whose sons were killed by the whites, and now he fights for vengeance. I think Ford was trying to show that Scar is a Comanche version of Ethan, and vice versa. ("You speak pretty good American. Someone teach you?" is countered by "You speak pretty good Comanch. . ) Scar and Ethan have alot in common.

In "The Searchers" the Comanches burn farmhouses, kill and rape women, and steal children, and it shows whites repaying in kind with the innocent Look being killed by the cavalry. Such was life on the Texas frontier in the late 1860's: brutal, racist, and violent. "The Searchers" definetly shows its age with the use of certain stereotypes, and it would have been more realistic to show the Rangers killing women and children when they charge into the Comanche village in the end, but it's still a heck of alot more honest than "Dances with Wolves."

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Summary: Counterpoint
Review: Some people feel that this movie is bigoted and disrespectfulto native americans. Now I'm only a european decended white guy, But Ilike to think that I have some intelligence. I personally love this movie.I feel that it is less about whites and native americans than about individuals who were screwed out of their families. Scar, the Comench chief in this movie acts as he does out of anger and grief, because his sons were killed by white men. Ethen acts also out of the same motivations. In addition it is not and never was meant to be a great action western but rather a philosophical movie about the evil anger can do.

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Summary: Not Historical Fiction
Review: Well, contrary to the review above of by Chris Labarbara, Native Americans did, (a) capture, (b) kidnapp, and (c) hold hostage settlers of the west. All you have to do is read, "Captivity of the Oatman girls." In 1851 nine members of the Oatman family set out for California. Seventy miles from California a group of "Apache" Indians came to their camp to beg, grew angry, massacred the family, and took two of the Oatman children captive. This neuvo idea that all Native Americans are "Dancing with Wolves" passives is ludicrous. Everyone knows the Sioux were one of the most ruthless warrious ever, and gave as well as they took from the American Calvery and settlers. Look, not all Native Americans are what appears in this film, that is logical, but to say this is Hollywood fiction is trite.

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Summary: The Searchers or The Oppressors? Stereotypes Natives
Review: This movie is a classic example of the "cowboy vs. Indians" media push in the United States-- which all too often ends up with a skewed, barbaric picture of Native Americans and a completely inaccurate portrayal of Native culture and rituals. Movies like this have the widespread popularity to change or shape public opionion, and in this movie it has done this in the worst way.

As the cowboys search for their niece who was "kidnapped by Indians," we are given a cruel vision of Natives...one might be tempted to think that Natives are mystical and grim, seeking to kinap whites and covert them to their "savage ways." Contrary to this film, I think it's important to note Native Americans DO NOT kipnap children.

The kidnapped white children in the film were depicted as insane and animal-like after spending years with the Natives; the viewer knows that it was living with the Natives and their culture that had turned them into such mindless wild creatures. Need I point out the misconceptions? Native culture is not savage and inhumane, and the Native American ways of life will make a white person, in the words of John Wayne, "Like they're not even white." Did I mention how this line alone perpetuates the notion that white culture is something orderly and intellectual while Native American culture is chaotic and beastly?

Native American women, as shown in "The Searchers," amongst others, are passive and coy; women in the film seem to submit to the white man, and follow him around in ignorant and loving bliss. However, the role of women in Native American cultures is hardly passive; often women make important political and economic decisions, they sometimes held the right of choosing when a tribe will go to battle, and they had profound influence in the farming culture of Native Americans. Native American women were some of the hardest working people in American history. Native women also voted in tribal elections long before the 1920's. Make no mistake about this one, Native American women are not wooed by the white man's "superior" ways and will not follow him like an obedient pet. Native American women are strong, and always have been extraordinarily independent from masculinist stereotypes.

I hope this has been helpful for you. Above all, I think "The Searchers" needs to be treated more as a cultural/hisorical movie than a "great action Western." The unfortunate part is that this movie tells a profoundly sad and discriminatory story, one which I hope America frees itself from believing.

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Summary: Something New with Each Viewing
Review: So much has been written about "The Searchers" over the last 25 years or so (since it was "rediscovered" by the film community) that writing any more praises almost sounds like empty babbling. My only suggestion to those who have seen it only once, whether they liked it or not, is to see it again--and again. This is an extraordinarily complex film, and with repeated viewing more and more reveals itself to the modern viewer who is often unaccustomed to visual storytelling by a master like John Ford, who did his screenwriting with the camera. I say this in particular for people like the gentleman who wrote previously saying that he did not see any of the characters change during the film. Especially with respect to John Wayne's character, watch his actions, expressions and movements in isolation from the words he says. His character certainly does change, enormously. One only has to pay attention.