Walking Tall Trilogy (1973, 1975, 1977/Paramount/BCP/Shout! Factory Blu-ray set + DVD set)

 

Picture: B-/C+     Sound: B-/C+     Extras: C+     Films: C+/C/C-

 

 

Another one of the great things that tended to happen in the late 1960s to mid 1970s is that small films (sometimes from smaller distributors) could suddenly find themselves become big hits.  The 1973 hit Walking Tall was one of them, part of two cycles that helped it become a hit.  One is the modern revenge film where the protagonist would fight back (think Billy Jack or even Rocky, both also reviewed elsewhere on this site) making the underdog a hero or even antihero, but the film also was part of a series of film that tried to be like documentaries (though not explicitly saying they were) telling a “real story” (like Survive! and Texas Chain Saw Massacre (both also reviewed elsewhere on this site), even if the story was converted, exaggerated, etc.) and the advertising helped.

 

Now, Shout! Factory is issuing the Walking Tall Trilogy on both Blu-ray and DVD.  Originally, the first film was distributed by Cinerama, the second by Cinerama and American International and third by American International, so it was independent all the way.  However, they were all produced by BCP, Bing Crosby Productions and that catalog is now with Paramount, who licensed these to Shout! Factory.

 

Before we proceed, note the hideous remake has very little to do with any of these films save some names and bizarre revisionist history.

 

 

Joe Don Baker played Pusser in the 1973 film, while Bo Svenson played him replacing Baker in the 1975 sequel Walking Tall, Part Two and 1977 threequel (what a term) Final Chapter: Walking Tall.  Pusser has major damage to his face at the end of the original film, so we are supposed to believe that when the bandages come off in the next film, he looks like Svenson.

 

Essentially, Pusser is a man who stands up for what he believes in and starts to encounter violent retaliation against his family, but some twists in his story help him get the upper hand and ride a popularity wave that makes him a local lawman and he goes out for revenge, including his notable two-by-four bat known as the Mississippi Toothpick.

 

Baker is better at the role than Svenson, but Svenson is still good enough and the makers milk the audience for all they are worth under the pretense that we should root for Pusser.  He is likable enough, but this illicit appeal to pity is quickly played out in the first film, so it is up to some suspense, some fine character actors and just watching to see what is next and if it will work or not is the reason why all three are worth seeing once.  I should add that the sequels, pre-home video, have more overlap than they should.  Otherwise, something new occasionally happens and at least none of the action is digital animation, which makes the populism more tolerable.

 

Because there is some heart and soul to these semi-exploitation films, they have not been easy to duplicate and are time capsules.  A 1978 telefilm with Brian Dennehy and 1981 TV series with Svenson (lasting only 7 episodes) did not work out, but shows people thought the story had more mileage in it.  As for the films, the first (directed by Phil Karlson) also stars Elizabeth Hartman, Noah Berry Jr., Lurene Tuttle, Arch Johnson, Bruce Glover, Logan Ramsey and Leif Garrett.  Most of them returned for the sequel directed by Earl Bellamy, joined by Luke Askew, Robert DuQui, Richard Jaeckel and Angel Tompkins.  Forrest Tucker, Morgan Woodward and Margaret Blye join the last film, directed by Jack Starrett.  Credit should also go to the solid journeyman directors who made this material work better than it might otherwise have.

I was never the biggest fan of these films, but they are all worth a look and this set is a good one.

 

 

The 1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer of all three films on Blu-ray is better than the anamorphically enhanced DVD version with better color range, depth and definition overall versus the still-watchable DVDs.  In both cases, the color is best on the first film, but definition slowly gets better with each sequel as color range slightly dips each time.  The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Mono lossless mix on all three films are better than the lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono on the DVDs, but all show their age.  However, they were well recorded for their time and budget, cleaned up as well here as can be expected.

 

Extras in both sets are the same including a nicely illustrated booklet on the films with informative text, while the discs offer trailers and TV ads for all three films, a vintage featurette for the final film and a new documentary with vintage footage, vintage interviews and new interviews with the surviving cast members as well as friends and relatives of Pusser.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo