"CLINT EASTWOOD: 35 FILMS 35 YEARS AT WARNER BROS."
To my mind, this is the most exciting DVD release of the year. Clint Eastwood: 35 Films 35 Years at Warner Bros. is a box set that offers just what the title promises. It's rare for a director to stick to just one studio but, with a few exceptions over the years, Eastwood has made WB his home and had most of his biggest successes there.
The set brings together the 35 films he starred in and/or directed for the studio, (minus his most recent, Invictus, which hasn't hit DVD yet) plus some seriously cool bonus content. Totaling 19 discs in all, Eastwood's varied body of work is fully represented, and when you look at the titles side-by-side, you can see just how many genres he's worked in. While most closely associated with action movies and westerns, Eastwood has also done comedy, romance, war, non-fiction, musicals, and even a bit of sci-fi.
Here are the movies included in the box: Where Eagles Dare, Kelly's Heroes, Dirty Harry, Magnum Force, The Enforcer, The Outlaw Josie Wales, The Gauntlet, Every Which Way But Loose, Bronco Billy, Any Which Way You Can, Honkytonk Man, Firefox, Sudden Impact, City Heat, Tightrope, Pale Rider, Heartbreak Ridge, Bird, The Dead Pool, Pink Cadillac, White Hunter Black Heart, The Rookie, Unforgiven, A Perfect World, The Bridges of Madison County, Absolute Power, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, True Crime, Space Cowboys, Blood Work, Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby, Letters From Iwo Jima and Grand Torino.
Of course, every Eastwood fan has his/her favorites (mine are Dirty Harry and Million Dollar Baby). And while not every single film is a masterpiece - Eastwood always was the wrong choice to adapt Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil - the set really emphasizes that he is one actor/director unafraid to takes risks and try different things. The mark of a great filmmaker is not hitting a home run every time at bat, but rather being able to sustain a diverse career that avoids repetition.
The 35th film in the set is The Eastwood Factor, a short put together by film critic and Eastwood biographer Richard Schickel. In this terrific piece, Eastwood tours the Warner Bros. lot, sharing recollections of filming. For example, he visits a small shack, used in many films, that was the location of the Southern diner in Million Dollar Baby. He also visits the costume department and sees his famous Dirty Harry suit for the first time in years. For any diehard Clint Eastwood fan (and I'm obviously one of them), this documentary is something to treasure.
Many of the films come with bonus features and commentaries. The box set also includes studio correspondence and photos, gorgeous album packaging, and a 24-page booklet extracted from Schickel's book "Clint: A Retrospective."
With so many terrific movies and a premier package, Clint Eastwood: 35 Films 35 Years at Warner Bros. is really one of the most impressive and salivation-inducing box sets ever produced.