77 reviews
Sales Rank: 3340

Format: Ac-3, Black & White, Closed-captioned, Dvd-video, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled)
Rating: Unrated
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 133
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
DVD Layers: 1
DVD Sides: 1
Picture Format: Academy Ratio
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.1 x 0.6

MPN: 027616604224
ISBN: 6304696612
UPC: 027616604224
EAN: 9786304696613
ASIN: 6304696612

Theatrical Release Date: September 30, 1948
Release Date: November 19, 1997
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: ******BRAND NEW****** THE SOURCE FOR RARE MEDIA, THOUSANDS OF CUSTOMERS SATISFIED, AND OVER 250 000 ITEMS IN STOCK, BUY FROM A TRUSTED SOURCE, ESTABLISHED SINCE 1998 - INETVIDEO ~~~

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Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
A cattle baron and his adopted son head the first drive over the Chisolm trail when he can't find a local market for his herd.
Genre: Westerns
Rating: NR
Release Date: 1-MAY-2001
Media Type: DVD

Amazon.com essential video
Any short list of the all-time greatest Westerns is bound to include this 1948 Howard Hawks classic about an epic cattle drive. Red River features one of John Wayne's greatest performances. Like his Ethan Edwards in John Ford's 1956 masterpiece The Searchers, the Duke plays an isolated and unsympathetic man who is possessed by bitterness. Wayne is Texas rancher Tom Dunson, who adopts a young boy orphaned in an Indian massacre. That boy, Matthew Garth (played as an adult by Montgomery Clift in his screen debut), becomes Dunson's assistant and heir apparent--until Dunson's temper gets out of control during a long cattle drive and Matt intervenes to stop him. From that moment on, Dunson swears he will kill Matt. Red River has everything a great Western ought to have: a sweeping sense of history, spectacular landscapes, stampedes, gunfights, Indian attacks, and, of course, Walter Brennan as Dunson's crusty old cook and comic sidekick, Nadine Groot. As a special bonus, the film also features the legendary Harry Carey (upon whom Wayne would base some of his gestures in The Searchers) and his son Harry Carey Jr., who became a fixture in Ford and Hawks Westerns. Red River is essential for anyone who loves Westerns, or movies in general. This one's a real beaut. --Jim Emerson

Customer Reviews: Read 72 more reviews...

4 out of 5 stars

Still fun to watch after 60 years April 12, 2008
This is one of John Wayne's better roles, mostly because he is given a more complex character to portray. The film was released in 1948 and directed by Howard Hawks. I used to think someone did a poor job of casting women in these Hawk/Wayne films, but after re-watching this movie, I now believe that the scriptwriters just didn't know how to write realistic dialogue for women. It wasn't how they said their lines, it was that their lines were inane. Too bad. It's the only flaw in this otherwise classic western.

At the beginning of this century, Red River enjoyed a mini-revival after City Slickers mentioned and then reenacted the iconic yelping kickoff of the cattle drive. Great fun to watch them together, but start with Red River. It really explains the motivation for the characters in City Slickers.
The Shut Mouth Society
The Shopkeeper

5 out of 5 stars

A great western February 5, 2008
I love Red River. It is another classic John Wayne western, with excellent acting, wonderful story, and great scenery. Montgomery Clift was superb, as well as John Wayne, Joanne Dru, and Walter Brennan. An excellent western.

5 out of 5 stars

Take 'em to Missouri, Matt! November 7, 2007
3 out of 4 found this review helpful

With RED RIVER, versatile director Howard Hawks, well-known for his screwball comedies (BRINGING UP BABY, HIS GIRL FRIDAY) made one of the greatest westerns ever in just his first attempt at the genre. This story of the epic first cattle drive up the Chisholm Trail in 1865 is noted for its fine acting performances as well as for its tension-filled and exciting storyline. This was also really the first film in which John Wayne notably plays a troubled anti-hero rather than the more conventional matinee-style hero or villain he was known for previously. The greatest roles that lay ahead in his career (particularly Ethan Edwards of THE SEARCHERS) would follow in this mold.

Wayne plays Tom Dunson, a self-made but ruthless man who has built the largest ranch in Texas with 10,000 cattle that need to go to market. Montgomery Clift, in his first major film role, plays his adopted son Matt Garth, who has just returned from service in the Civil War. Tom and Matt and their cowhands set out on the 1000 mile drive intending to take their herd to Missouri. Although Dunson gives his men the option to opt out before the drive begins, he will permit no man who begins the journey to quit along the way. As the hardships mount up on the trail to Missouri and the men begin to hear of the new, safer Chisholm trail to Abilene, Kansas, morale drops. When Dunson refuses to go to Kansas due to uncertainty about its having access to a railroad, the men begin to leave. Several attempting to leave are shot dead by Dunson.

Eventually, after Dunson attempts to hang some more deserters, Garth wrests control of the herd and steers them toward Kansas with Dunson vowing that he will kill him when he catches up to him. Despite the rather vile acts that Dunson commits, he is not an altogether unsympathetic character and Wayne plays the character in a well-nuanced performance. Garth clearly loves his adopted father but, at the risk of being perceived as "soft," he is more empathetic and intelligent in his approaches to problem solving than is Dunson. The tension mounts as Garth tries to reach Kansas before the vengeful Dunson, even as he knows that he will eventually have to face him anyway.

Leading the strong supporting cast is Walter Brennan, who is as great as he always is as chuckwagon driver "Groot." Also supporting this film are such Western stalwarts as Hank Worden (who was also a particular favorite of John Ford), John Ireland, Paul Fix, and Noah Beery Jr. (known to a later generation as "Rocky" on THE ROCKFORD FILES). On an interesting note, this was Harry Carey Jr's first film as well as the last film of Harry Carey Sr, and so is the only film in which the father and son appeared together (albeit in different scenes). Joanne Dru is appealing and attractive as the love interest. More trivially (for the trivia-minded), Richard Farnsworth and Shelly Winters have tiny, uncredited roles that fans of Where's Waldo? might want to watch for.

RED RIVER, along with The Searchers (John Wayne Collection) has always been on the top of my list of my favorite westerns. Anyon who doubts John Wayne's abilities as an actor need to check out these two films. While it is true when people say that the only character that John Wayne ever played was "John Wayne," he was sometimes quite remarkable in playing that character.

Jeremy W. Forstadt

5 out of 5 stars

Red River June 25, 2007
3 out of 6 found this review helpful

Director Howard Hawks gave western icon John Wayne another indelible, ruggedly stubborn character to play in his masterful "Red River," a high point of their many collaborations. Populated by colorful supporting characters, including the salty Walter Brennan as camp cook Groot Nadine, "River" combines psychological drama, action, and suspense in a stirring, expansive western landscape. The final settling of scores between Wayne and Clift is unforgettable.

4 out of 5 stars

Great Western, slightly disappointing ending. May 24, 2007
5 out of 6 found this review helpful

I thoroughly enjoyed this film. It's rare to see John Wayne playing a bad guy but he carried it well. The photography was great but the film suffers from contrast particularly during some of the frequent night time scenes. Images are almost lost in the dark of the night due to the limitations of old black and white film. If the light dark contrast could be adjusted, the film would benefit greatly. Beyond that, the acting was great, particularly Montgomery Clift. My lone complaint was the ending. It has a sudden character twist where Wayne shifts gears 180 degrees and everyone just seems to pass it off and forgive his characters actions through out the movie simply because he suddenly turns over a new leaf in the final two minutes. This was just a little too much for me. I would have preferred an actual showdown/shoot out.