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 - Don't let your daughter watch this....I love John Wayne. I love Maureen O'Hara. And I love them together. And when I first saw this movie, years ago, I loved it. The story is rather standard, but the "mud bowl" is uproarious farce, as is most of the movie. However, upon watching it recently, it hit me like a sledge hammer that I do not want my daughter to see this movie. This movie, like "The Quiet Man", needs to be tossed, as I have tossed my copies. In violent American, where FBI stats tell us that violent homes are found in every tenth house on every street in America, the spectacle of a man chasing his wife through the streets and publicly (or privately) spanking her is not funny! Nor is the more subtle spectacle of that spanking being taken by the woman as a sign that her husband loves her. There is no love in hitting. There is only violence. Any women who thinks otherwise is literally in danger for her life. Do not let your daughter watch this movie. It is NOT funny. Rating: - Only buy the authorized version This movie is my family's favorite. I have been watching it since I was born and can practically quote it line for line. However here is a word to the wise: DO NOT BUY THE UNAUTHORIZED VERSION. It will ruin it for you if you have not seen it before, and gravely disappoint you if you have. The unauthorized version is a waste of $10, or however much you paid for it. Rating:  - Fractured storyThis movie goes off in several directions and never gets back together. For a while it is about a group of settlers who have come to the unnamed territory to farm, but that is soon dropped. For a while it is about the plight of Indians, but that is never resolved. Sometimes it is about various romances, and they dribble away. There is a great deal of chasing and fighting and humiliation of women. The only thread through it all is the relationship between John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara, and that is resolved by the Duke giving her a hard spanking with a coal scuttle in the middle of town on the 4th of July with all the townspeople looking on and applauding. The moral seems to be that problems can be solved only by violence and humiliation. The characters are strictly one dimensional. And that's too bad, because this movie has a competent cast of actors. There are two long scenes, one of a fight at a mine in which all the characters go down a mud slide into a pool of slop. The other long scene is John Wayne chasing Maureen O'Hara through the streets and byways of town, while she loses articles of clothing, falls in a horse trough, and generally demeans herself. I love westerns. And John Wayne has made some good ones. But this isn't among his best. I first saw it in a little theater in Ft. Scott, Kansas, in 1964, and the only line I remembered was Wayne's famous line, "The hell I'm not" at the beginning of the mud slide scene. Seeing it again was perhaps not a good idea. I've matured. Rating:  - This Is A Five Star Movie! But Amazon Needs To Ensure Reviews Are Relevant To The Version Being Reviewed!Please do not confuse consumer complaints, and their one star reviews, about the quality of the DVD (which definitely does not apply to this DVD version), with the quality of the movie. "McLintock" is one of John Wayne's best movies, combining comedy--for which Wayne was not well recognized--and western genres. "McLintock" was the second John Wayne movie ("Stagecoach," his finest, being the first) I showed my three sons as I introduced each of them to the wonder of the greatest film star of all time. While I feel that "Quite Man," also with Maureen O'Hara, is the film Wayne should have won the Oscar for Best Actor, and rivals and parallels "McLintock," the "Quite Man" is more for adults than the entire family. I loved "McLintock" when I saw it on the big screen in 1963, I was thrilled when it came out in VHS (although the quality was bad), and I am honored to own McLintock! (Authentic Collector's Edition). I just wish that AMAZON.COM would differentiate reviews for each version of a movie, as most of the bad reviews of movies are about the disk quality or some other aspect of the product, and not about the movie itself. Hence, the overall reviewer rating for "McLintock" is three stars, mostly, if not entirely, because previously released versions had major quality issues. But those bad reviews serve to inhibit people from buying the "McLintock! (Authentic Collector's Edition)" version. Granted, quality is an issue; but one that needs to be addressed to the studios, not the movie. Thus, if I need a lift, I turn to "McLintock," because it has humor, sarcasm, and hope--not because the quality of the disk or features are less than desired. This delightfully wonderful film essentially spawned a new genre, western comedies, which ultimately lead to Lee Marvin's Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role. "McLintock" also reunited John Wayne with Maureen O'Hara, one of the few actors who could push Wayne to do his best work--in deed, I would include all of their (I believe eight) movies in the top 20 movies John Wayne made. I would like to note that this was NOT their last movie--as stated in other reviews--together, "Big Jake" (1971) being one that comes to mind immediately. While Amazon's review pans the bonus features--again, something that has nothing to do with how great the film is--I found them quite entertaining and interesting. Update--1 July 2008: If this review was not helpful to you, I would appreciate learning the reason(s) so I can improve my reviews. My goal is to provide help to potential buyers, not get into any arguments. So, if you only disagree with my opinion, could you please say so in the comments and not indicate that the review was not helpful. Thanks. Rating: - Very please with this transaction. Fast shipping.Got the DVD very fast. Haven't played it yet but I am very pleased with this transaction.
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