Rating: 
Summary: Ghost Hunters
Review: This review refers to the MGM DVD edition of "Hang Em High"....So..What's our boy Clint up to in this great western? Well, he gets beat up, strung up, fed up, shot up(all very tough to take for the Eastwood fan), and then hung up on the beautiful Inger Stevens. Eastwood plays Jed Cooper, an ex-lawman, now looking to get into the cattle business.After purchasing his cattle, he is mistaken for a rustler and murderer by nine very angry men. They take the law into their own hands,they lynch him and then leave him for dead.(No spoilers here folks, this all happens in the first 5 minutes!)Their actions will come back to haunt them though... A lawman finds Cooper in the nick of time, cuts him down and brings him before a tough judge. After being found innocent,he puts the badge back on and goes after these vigilantes with a vengance.He is to bring these guys back alive(Yeah Right!) so they can recieve the justice due to them.There are lots of great western action and tension filled moments as he hunts them down and of course some romance, as Cooper falls for Rachel(Stevens),another who is hunting her own ghosts. This was Eastwood's first American made western. Although you may see shades of the "Fistful of Dollars" trilogy in Clint's character, this is a great western story in itself. His costars in this one are legendary western actors themselves. To name a few there's Ben Johnson, Ed Begley, Bruce Dern and Pat Hingle.Some other notables to watch for are Alan Hale Jr., LQ Jones, Dennis Hopper, James MacArthur and Arlene Golonka.It was directed by Ted Post,and has a great score by Dominic Frontiere. The film made in 1968 is a decent transfer to this DVD. The Picture is presented in widescreen, which shows off the nice western cinematography(or standard if you prefer). It's a nice clear picture and the colors are very good for a film of this age.The sound, although not bad, was a bit disapointing. It's in Dolby, but in mono(this was my only reason for 4 stars),and so many of the films of this era are at least in stereo now.Even with that it was still a good transfer and enjoyable to watch.There are no special features to speak of, but it does come with an informative booklet, the film may be viewed in French and has subtitles in French, English and Spanish. It also has the original theatrical trailer. "We all have our ghosts...." Rachel to Jed....enjoy..Laurie
Rating: 
Summary: Clint meets mayhem
Review: ~This movie is far more than Western macho dudes strutting around looking for the man who shot his pa. It begins with Clint getting hung by a gang for allegedly stealing cattle. Someone saves him, and then we see the complications of revenge and justice, and how easily one can slip from the latter into blood lust. Clint gets a job as a top lawman, and is assigned to arrest those very men who tried lynching him. Naturally, he can have nothing but doubts about anyone he meets, as Oklahoma law in~~ its pre-state status is nearly non existant. Here he becomes very much a D'Argtanian type figure, where prowess and toughness correspond directly to law, order, and loyalty to the public good. Yet, all the while, the viewer and the characters themselves have doubts about their deeds and the potentially grave consequences of being involved in maintaining social order -not to mention if they fail at their jobs. In the end, we get an entertaining piece with great acting, and a thought provoking~~~~ protrayal of whether law can transcend the gutters of violence and establish true justice.~~~
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