Rating: 
Summary: Hollywood vs. Reality
Review: "Walking Tall" is the story of Buford Pusser, the tall, no-nonsense Tennessee sheriff who fought a tremendous up-hill battle to clean up his hometown. The movie is (sometimes loosely) based on several events which happened to the real Sheriff Pusser in his pursuit of justice. The film seeks to describe (sometimes graphically) the personal price that Pusser paid to rid his town of corruption, not just at the gambling house, but in the courtroom as well. I was surprised how well the film has held up 20+ years later. While definitely not a great film, the story is an exciting, but violent tale of corruption and the man trying to stop it. The film will probably lead a lot of people to find out more about Buford Pusser, especially to learn which parts of the film are true and which are fiction. I was fortunate enough to hear Pusser speak just months before he died. If you can imagine it, the real Pusser was even tougher looking and larger than the actor (Joe Don Baker) who portrayed him. He looked like he could take apart a pro football player without halfway trying. In his speech, Pusser was quick to point out what was accurate and inaccurate in the film, what he was pleased with and what he was disappointed with. He pretty much stuck to the facts and didn't try to play on the emotions of the crowd. But he had one of those faces that you could look into and tell that he had been through all the hell that you see in the film and more, and was still walking tall. He left me with the feeling that he was still not going to turn away as corruption was taking over his town. He knew the cost and he was willing to do whatever it takes. One reviewer (probably rightfully so) mentioned that Pusser's methods WERE often out of line. His behavior may have been wrong, but his intent was not.
Rating:
Summary: Hollywood vs. Reality
Review: "Walking Tall" is the story of Buford Pusser, the tall, no-nonsense Tennessee sheriff who fought a tremendous up-hill battle to clean up his hometown. The movie is (sometimes loosely) based on several events which happened to the real Sheriff Pusser in his pursuit of justice. The film seeks to describe (sometimes graphically) the personal price that Pusser paid to rid his town of corruption, not just at the gambling house, but in the courtroom as well. I was surprised how well the film has held up 20+ years later. While definitely not a great film, the story is an exciting, but violent tale of corruption and the man trying to stop it. The film will probably lead a lot of people to find out more about Buford Pusser, especially to learn which parts of the film are true and which are fiction. I was fortunate enough to hear Pusser speak just months before he died. If you can imagine it, the real Pusser was even tougher looking and larger than the actor (Joe Don Baker) who portrayed him. He looked like he could take apart a pro football player without halfway trying. In his speech, Pusser was quick to point out what was accurate and inaccurate in the film, what he was pleased with and what he was disappointed with. He pretty much stuck to the facts and didn't try to play on the emotions of the crowd. But he had one of those faces that you could look into and tell that he had been through all the hell that you see in the film and more, and was still walking tall. He left me with the feeling that he was still not going to turn away as corruption was taking over his town. He knew the cost and he was willing to do whatever it takes. One reviewer (probably rightfully so) mentioned that Pusser's methods WERE often out of line. His behavior may have been wrong, but his intent was not.
Rating: 
Summary: Somewhat dated? Perhaps...but still significant
Review: As I watched this film again recently, I reacted to it almost the same way I did when I first saw it 30 years ago: Joe Don Baker's performance as sheriff Buford Pusser dominates it from beginning to end. There really are no "gray" cats in the small town in Tennessee's "alley" as Pusser reacts creatively, at times violently to the widespread corruption around him. Because he is such a serious threat to those responsible for the corruption (within and beyond the town), he is constantly in harm's way, as are his loved ones and the honest men who "walk tall" with him. This time around, however, I appreciated even more Elizabeth Hartman's understated (hence more credible) performance as Pusser's wife Pauline. This is one of the most influential of modern (i.e. post 1960) Good Guys versus Bad Guys films. There is absolutely no confusion about who is which. Like Willie Stark in an earlier film, All the King's Men (1949), Pusser gains public office to oppose more effectively the evil he observes around him. Unlike Stark, he is uncorrupted by it. Director Phil Karlson manages to walk a fine line between drama and melodrama (at least most of the time), allowing Baker's commanding presence to guide the narrative to its powerful conclusion. This time around, however, I found the quiet moments in the film to have much greater impact. For example, the scenes in which the Pussers has a family picnic, later when Pusser meets briefly with Callie Hacker (Rosemary Murphy) before she leaves town, and then when his son walks through the hospital hallway to Pusser's room. It remains for others far better qualified than I to comment on this film's historical authenticity. (Although delighted by the attention which the film attracted to him, the real Buford Pusser was reportedly very upset by how Matt Briskin's screenplay portrays him.) Then (1973) and now, I think Walking Tall makes some important statements about what a determined and principled person can accomplish, whatever the cost may prove to be. If some consider this film "corny," so be it. I do not.
Rating: 
Summary: BEST EVER
Review: BEST LAW ENFORCEMENT MOVIE I HAVE EVER SEENJ
Rating:
Summary: Walk softly, and carry a .38 caliber handgun
Review: Buford Pusser (Joe Don Baker), has just become an ex-wrestler and goes back home to Tennessee with his wife, daughter and son. His Mom and Dad are happy about his decision along with his own family. Now they can settle down and live like normal people out in the beautiful Tennessee countryside. But, of course, that's not how it turns out. He goes into town and runs into an old football buddy from high school who takes him just outside town and introduces him to one of the new businesses, "The Lucky Spot". Here there is plenty to drink, gambling in the back room, and ladies of the evening that will entertain you in trailors parked off to the side. His buddy blows a 10 spot at the craps table and Buford loans him more. But Buford decides to bring a halt to this and get his money back. Naturally, this is met with resistance. After taking on about 5 or 6 guys Buford is finally restrained and they "show [him] who runs things around here". Buford is dumped on a lonely road and left to die but he survives, recovers and decides to settle the score. This sets the tone of the movie. Buford runs for sheriff and gets elected and decides he's going to clean up the place and naturally, this also meets with resistance. Brenda Benet (Lu Ann) is one of the girls who works at the Lucky Spot. Women don't get any sexier than Brenda. She helps Buford out because she has a soft spot for "big, strong, good lookin' ex-marines". Based on the real life of sheriff Buford Pusser and played well by Baker, the real Pusser was killed about a year after this show came out, under suspicious circumstances.
Rating:
Summary: a very great movie
Review: Buford Pusser, was the cousin of my grandmother, she said that they counld not of change it very much to make this movie more real. I am 30 years old, and I have Purchase two DVD's One to share with my kids and the other for my mother. If you are a family person who is down out set on morals and love this is a movie for you.
Rating:
Summary: Vicious, Brutal and Down Right Tough to Watch!
Review: Despite the brutal nature of the film, Joe Don Baker gives an unforgetable performance as Sherrif Pusser. Elizabeth Hartman also gives an outstanding performance as well. It's very violent and tough to endure, but it is entertaining at times. The "R" rating was well deserved. With the new version out featuring "The Rock", the original may wind up being forgotten.
Rating:
Summary: Vicious, Brutal and Down Right Tough to Watch!
Review: Despite the brutal nature of the film, Joe Don Baker gives an unforgetable performance as Sherrif Pusser. Elizabeth Hartman also gives an outstanding performance as well. It's very violent and tough to endure, but it is entertaining at times. The "R" rating was well deserved. With the new version out featuring "The Rock", the original may wind up being forgotten.
Rating:
Summary: Rude, crude, but what a dude!
Review: Dirty Harry with a big stick. But oh my, to have seen it in theaters when it first came out -- it lit a fuse in audiences the likes of which I've rarely seen. It's a bit hard to take in a living room now, but I'm glad to have seen the way large audiences responded to it.
Rating:
Summary: Johnny Mathis
Review: I can't believe that in all of these reviews, not one of them has mentioned the theme song "Walking Tall," sung by Johnny Mathis during the closing credits! I give the movie three stars as a film, plus two extra for the perfect song to emotionally cap it off. Pusser wasn't perfect, and neither is this film, but I must admit, it still manages to be curiously moving. "All that is necessary for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing." But if we just sit and wait for the Pusser's of the world to walk tall for us all of the time, how can we ever be free of the sort of villains they must constantly rescue us from?
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