The John Wayne Century Collection (Big Jake / Donovan's Reef / El Dorado / Hatari! / Hondo / In Harm's Way / Island in the Sky / McLintock! / Rio Lobo / The High and the Mighty / True Grit / The Shootist / and more) [DVD]

Paramount is generally clueless about handling the classic movies they have in their possession. Just because the movies star John Wayne, I wouldn't expect Paramount to treat them any differently, but this time they actually did a good job. Paramount actually included commentary on five of the films, although why there isn't anything extra on the wonderful "Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" and there's only a featurette on the epic "In Harm's Way", I don't know. The product description does a pretty good job of describing each film, so I'll just list the extra features for each movie:Big Jake - NO EXTRASDonovan's Reef - NO EXTRASHatari! - NO EXTRASIn Harm's Way - Three theatrical trailers; "The Making of in Harm's Way"Man Who Shot Liberty Valance - NO EXTRASMcLintock!Introduction by Leonard Maltin; commentary by Maureen O'Hara, Stefanie Powers, Michael Pate, Michael Wayne, director Andrew McLaglen, Maltin and Western historian Frank Thompson; Interview - Maureen O'Hara and Stefanie Powers Remember; Featurette "The Batjac Story, Part 2 - The Legacy of Michael Wayne"; Featurette "A Good Ole' Fashioned Fight"; Featurette "The Corset: Don't Leave Home Without It"; Original Theatrical Trailer; Batjac Teaser; Rare Archival Photo GalleryRio Lobo - NO EXTRASShootistTheatrical trailer; Exclusive cast & crew interviewsThe Sons of Katie Elder - NO EXTRASTrue GritCommentary by Jeb Rosebrook, Bob Boze Bell and J. Stuart Rosebrook; True Writing; Working With the Duke; Aspen Gold: Locations of True Grit; The Law and the Lawless; Theatrical trailerThe High and the Mighty (2 Disc Edition)Closed Caption; Introductions by Leonard Maltin; Commentary by Leonard Maltin, William Wellman Jr., Karen Sharpe, Pedro Gonzales-Gonzales, and Vincent Longo; "The Batjac Story"; "Stories From the Set"; "On Director William A. Wellman"; "The Music and World of Dimitri Tiomkin"; "Restoring a Classic"; "A Place in Film History"; "Ernest K. Gann -- Adventurer, Author & Artist"; "Flying in the Fifties"; Theatrical trailer, TV trailer, Batjac montage; The High and the Mighty premiere footage; Photo galleryHondoIntroduction by Leonard Maltin; commentary by Maltin, Western historian Frank Thompson and Lee Aaker; Featurette "The Making of Hondo"; Featurette "The Apache"; Featurette "The John Wayne Stock Company - Ward Bond"; "Profile: James Edward Grant"; from the Batjac Vaults; original theatrical trailer; Batjac teaser; rare archival photo galleryIsland in the SkyClosed Caption; Introduction by Leonard Maltin; Commentary by Leonard Maltin, William Wellman Jr., Darryl Hickman, James Lydon, and Vincent Longo; "Dooley's Down: The Making of Island in the Sky"; "Ernest K. Gann -- Adventurer, Author & Artist"; "Flight School -- The Art of Aerial Cinematography"; "The John Wayne Stock Company: Harry Carey, Jr."; "Flying for Uncle Sam"; Theatrical trailer; Newsreel footage of premiere; Introduction to Gunsmoke TV promo; Batjac montage; Photo galleryEl Dorado - NO EXTRASEven though we're not getting "The Quiet Man" in this extensive set, "McLintock" almost makes up for it as the dynamic between John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara is just as combative with that same underlying chemistry. Think of it as The Quiet Man of the frontier west. Highly recommended.

For most any John Wayne fan, this set includes the quinessential movies he is most reknown for and are occassionaly shown on Classic movie channels. However, as a whole this collection incorporates several 30's and 40's Cowboy and Combat films you will watch over and over. Excellent bargain to find this many great Wayne films in a set, and for the old Cowboy movie buff you will enjoy the standard for which spaghetti westerns with several great old films. Several classics are also included such as Donavan's Reef and Island in the Sky, but this collection is a winner and a huge bargain...get it now for your upcoming Father's Day present and your Pappy will the happiest Dad on his special day.

This is a great collection of films by one of the greatest actors to ever grace the silver screen. Too bad he didn't get the recognition that he deserved. He only won one Oscar and that for his last film, "The Shootist". He really should have received more for such films as "The High and the Mighty", "The Quiet Man", "The Cowboys", and others. The films themselves are great. I only gave this collection a 3 due to the poor quality of the DVDs themselves. The sound was remastered for each of the films but no longer is synchronized with the film. In most cases, the sound comes before the action. This is very disconcerting while viewing the film. If not for this, this collection of John Wayne films would have received a 5. Too bad more care wasn't taken in remastering the sound.

Wonderful & Safe Entertainment For Whole FamilyWe do not have regular TV as a result of what is being shown today, especially thecommercials we find very to be very offensive and can be worst then the programming in some cases.We are purchasing more & more of the various DVDs from the time when shows were morally much safer all around! Healthier experience for children of all ages!

I bought these for my dad who is a huge fan. He loves them. A lot of his favorite movies all in one package. Thumbs up here!

I bought the John Wayne box set for my father, but I like the movies listed here. John Wayne was a hero in his time, and as far as I'm concerned no one else can be the actor or even come close to the work he accomplished. I greatly recommend this box set for anyone who's a big fan of the classics.

I would recommend to a friend

I had been looking for some of these movies by themselves and then found this collection. Missing only a few of my favorites but it's a great collection of the Duke's movies.

love them