Rooster Cogburn [Blu-ray]

This movie seems to have gotten overlooked by many movie fans and the general public over the years. I understand that even the critics didn't give it much praise when it was released in 1975. I suspect this is largely due to being compared to its predecessor True Grit, which was an outstanding movie, but an entirely different animal. John Wayne merely reprised his role as the ornery Reuben "Rooster" Cogburn in a completely different story. Although that story may seem a bit typical to many people without much in the way of "classic scenes", the movie does offer features that make it very worthwhile. The pairing of John Wayne and Katherine Hepburn makes for some great character interaction, due to their contrasting personalities. Their performances are top-notch.Another feature to this movie is the beautiful scenery. Much of it was filmed in Oregon in an area called Smith Rock. I particularly appreciate that area as it is fairly close to where I live. Other scenes take place on the Rogue River, which is much further south. Been there too a few times.And this brings me to the video quality of the DVD releases. You just can't appreciate this movie and its glorious scenery on the regular DVD release. Many scenes are a bit blurred and have some sort of pixilating going on. From the opening scene, which takes place at night, it's a terrible transfer from a bad source. The film is pretty nicked up and the color is off. I was very happy to find that the Blu-ray edition remedies all of these issues! And I am not a serious Blu-ray fan.....yet! It would take a lot of time and money to replace all my regular DVDs.The bottom line is whether or not you are a major John Wayne fan (which I am), and/or a classic Westerns fan (again, which I am), if you like good movies which look great on a big flat screen TV, I highly recommend this Blu-ray.

For those of you who own the old DVD version of this movie and are wondering if the improved quality of this Blu ray version is worth the purchase I must say emphatically YES! Everything about the Blu version of the movie is a drastic improvement. The movie has been scrubbed of its scratches and nicks and its colors have been enhanced so that they really pop. The picture looks like it could have been filmed yesterday and is a pleasure to watch. The sound is clear and perfect. If you're a lover of classic John Wayne movies you owe it to yourself to add this one to your collection in Blu ray! Don't think about it, just buy it.

I really liked this movie! I wasn't sure if I would. On the one hand the story seemed very interesting to me. On the other hand, I read reviews that described Wayne and Hepburn as bickering a lot. I really don't enjoy films where the main characters are constantly bickering and being nasty to each other. I find that really annoying. Well, the story won out and I finally decided to give it a chance. Glad I did. I found the relationship between the two leads very pleasant. There was some disagreement but on the whole they really liked and respected each other and it was enjoyable watching them get to know one another. The dialogue was wonderful and quite funny in spots. There were many great scenes. I loved when Eula stoically cites Psalm 23 all the while being shot at by the evil Hawk at close range. I have seen many John Wayne films over the last few years and I have to say I'm not really a fan of his in general. However, I liked him in this. His character is very likable. I know I'll be in the minority but I think I liked this one even better than True Grit! (I think because I liked Hepburn's character more than Kim Darby's character.) I bought the regular DVD, not the Blu-ray and I thought the picture quality was fine. The scenery in this is wonderful! There are subtitles for the hard of hearing. I'm glad I bought this one! I'll be watching this one again!

During my stay-at-home stay, I've gotten on to a real kick watching John Wayne movies, and had never seen this sequel to True Grit in its entirety. As Wayne's penultimate film, and as the one that finally paired him with the legendary Katharine Hepburn, it is certainly significant. However, my Blu-Ray has been on the fritz with HD discs as of late, so I figure the DVD would suffice for my relatively small television. Despite double checking the back cover of this edition prior to my purchase, which explicitly states it is in "2.35 : 1 Anamorphic Widescreen", the transfer is decidedly NON-anamorphic, resulting in a window-boxed picture using only about half your actual screen. Additionally, this print quality is atrocious, with notable "cigarette burns" during the reel changes without. This looks to be just a re-packaging of the original release from the early days of the DVD format. I definitely should have ponied up an extra couple bucks and waited till my Blu-Ray player was fixed/replaced. I imagine that even a relatively mediocre HD mastering would improve my view of the film.I hate to bring down the average the way Amazon aggregates reviews, but despite the star pairing, this is one of the least of Wayne's 70's films. I didn't do it any favors watching immediately after the original "True Grit", and the careless repackaging and false marketing of this title didn't do it any favors, either. Seeing a lot of the late-era Duke films in widescreen (when I had grown up watching them on badly-cropped VHS) has helped improve my view of them, but this was an all-around frustrating viewing experience due to the aforementioned issues.

John Wayne and Katharine Hepburn team up in this classic western, as Rooster Cogburn- the crusty one-eyed US Marshal and Eula Goodnight- a Bible thumping missionary.They go on the trail of the outlaws who killed her father.There is a frosty rapport between Rooster and Eula when they first start the hunt for her fathers killers, but by the end of the movie Eula says she is proud to regard Rooster as a friend.The film is the follow up to another classic western, True Grit.

I purchased these DVD's for my Mum when she moved into a care home because the DVD's they had were completely unsuitable for the elderly. When one of John Wayne's was played it guaranteed the lounge was full so that everyone could watch it.

I watched 'True Grit' recently, so I had to watch the follow up 'Rooster Cogburn' again.I had no difficulty giving 'True Grit' 5 stars and I have reserved one star from 'Rooster Cogburn' simply because as a follow up it is not as good as the first film.But, that said it is a good watch.Most memorable bit for me is the character 'Shanghai McCoy'.Played by Strother Martin, who played a different character in 'True Grit'.'I've sailed the seven seas' he says to Rooster, ' I've been everywhere, seen everything'.I laughed out loud, classic.A good film treat yourself.

This is a great feel good movie. John Wayne and Katharine Hepburn are magic together.I really do like this movie.I'm a pensioner and I certainly think the movie is great for my age group but is an action western movie and not what some people would expect. If you loved True Grit you'll love this movie. I'll be watching it again soon.

An unusually good follow-up to a classic