Clint Eastwood’sThe Outlaw Josey Waleswas one of his best Westerns, but it was also one of his most staunch anti-war films. Clint Eastwood is easily one of thebest Western actors in history, and he’s right up there with John Wayne and Charles Bronson. He’s responsible for several of thebest Western movies of all time, fromThe Good, the Bad, and the UglytoUnforgiven. While those films are his most acclaimed - for good reason -The Outlaw Josey Walesdeserves more love among Clint Eastwood’s impressive filmography, especially when it comes to Westerns.
InThe Outlaw Josey Wales, Eastwood plays the titular Josey Wales, a former Confederate soldier who only joined the American Civil War to get revenge against the man who killed his family, Union Captain Terrill. It’s certainly a Revisionist Western filled with shades of gray and moral ambiguity, butJosey Walesis one of the more nuanced takes on the Civil War, at least from the Western genre. It’s an endlessly thoughtful and thought-provoking movie that became one ofEastwood’s best moviesin general, and it’s also one of his best anti-war movies.
The Outlaw Josey Wales Is A Classic Clint Eastwood Western
As thought-provoking asThe Outlaw Josey Walesis, the movie is also still a great Western in the classic sense.There are plenty of gunfights, standoffs, and clever moments in the movie, such as when Josey sends the Union soldiers hunting him on a “Missouri boat ride.“The entire movie is propped up by Clint Eastwood’s performance as Josey, but there’s also an incredibly deep cast that help challenge the viewers' preconceived notions of the post-Civil War era.The Outlaw Josey Walesis a lot of things, but it’s certainly not boring.
The Outlaw Josey Walesalso had some ofClint Eastwood’s best quotes, such as the timeless “Buzzards gotta eat, same as worms.“It’s also one of his more visually iconic Westerns: I had a poster of Josey Wales holding his pistols taped to my wall for all four years of college, and that image of Eastwood screaming is still impressive today.The Outlaw Josey Walesis a very well-made and classic Western top to bottom, and it’s probably one of Eastwood’s best outings.
Clint Eastwood Himself Supported The Movie’s Anti-War Message
Eastwood Compared Josey Wales' Messages To The Iraq War In 2011
The Outlaw Josey Waleswasn’t just a great Western, though, it was also a great anti-war movie. In 2011, Clint Eastwood himself praised the movie’s message and the commentary it provided on war, the effects of it, and what warfare means to humankind (viaThe Wall Street Journal).
“As for Josey Wales, I saw the parallels to the modern day at that time. Everybody gets tired of it, but it never ends. A war is a horrible thing, but it’s also a unifier of countries. . . . Man becomes his most creative during war. Look at the amount of weaponry that was made in four short years of World War II—the amount of ships and guns and tanks and inventions and planes and P-38s and P-51s, and just the urgency and the camaraderie, and the unifying. But that’s kind of a sad statement on mankind, if that’s what it takes.”
Clint Eastwood had recently finished directingLetters from Iwo Jimawhen this interview took place, a movie which also took an anti-war approach to World War II.He was also interviewed during the tail end of the United States' war with Iraq following 9/11, and he evidently saw how the messages inThe Outlaw Josey Walescould be applied to real life.
2 Of Clint Eastwood’s Best Movies Tell The Same Story But In Reverse
Two of Clint Eastwood’s best movies are The Outlaw Josey Wales and Unforgiven. He plays an antihero in both, and they tell the same story in reverse
Eastwood is largely right aboutThe Outlaw Josey Wales: the anti-war messaging in the movie is fairly evident. Josey Wales' entire story is about the hatred and atrocities that start wars, and how the people that fight in wars carry them with them long after the last shot rings out.The Outlaw Josey Wales' main villain, Captain Terrill, is a prime example of how war brings out cruelty in people, even those people who are on the more morally justified side. Even the final line ofThe Outlaw Josey Wales, “I guess we all died a little in that damned war,” shows what Clint Eastwood thinks of war.
