Blu-ray Review: ‘Clint Eastwood: 20 Film Collection’ Highlights Legendary Career

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CHICAGO – “Clint Eastwood: 20 Film Collection” is a great Father’s Day gift that’s nonetheless a bit difficult to describe. It’s not exactly a greatest hits collection of its legendary star since it’s missing some of his most iconic films and includes some of his most notable failures. At the same time, every Eastwood fan would be happy to have at least half of these films in their collection and there’s no better way to do it then this set. It also may allow for some reevaluation and reappreciation of some of Eastwood’s less-beloved movies. I wish that Warner Bros. had taken the opportunity to upgrade a few Eastwood films that still need HD restoration but there’s enough brilliance in this box that it’s tough to complain.

Rating: 4.0/5.0

Which ones are the classics in this impressively-packaged set? There are undeniable, iconic ones like “Dirty Harry,” “The Outlaw Josey Wales,” “Unforgiven,” “Mystic River,” and “Letters From Iwo Jima.” There are lesser-known but great films like “Pale Rider,” “A Perfect World,” and the highly underrated “Hereafter.” And there are hits like “Every Which Way But Loose” and two of the four Dirty Harry sequels — “Magnum Force” and “Sudden Impact.” Those films alone would make most Eastwood fans happy enough to ignore the inclusion of misfires like “The Gauntlet,” “Firefox,” “Space Cowboys,” and “The Trouble with the Curve.”

How could this set have been better? Take those four out (along with “Invictus” and “J. Edgar”, two barely-liked films that Eastwood directed but no one would really associate with him) and include the other two Dirty Harry films, and long-overdue HD upgrades of “Bird,” “White Hunter Black Heart,” and, yes I’m going to say it, “The Bridges of Madison County.” If you’re wondering, a few of Eastwood’s beloved films, including the Leone works, “Play Misty For Me,” and “In the Line of Fire” were produced by other companies and so couldn’t be included in a WB-produced set.

Complaints about film selection aside, this set is regularly priced in such a way that most outlets will sell it to the point where it works out to around $5 a movie. Five bucks. For Blu-ray copies of some of the best films of Clint Eastwood’s career. Throw in the nice hardcover book that’s included and two documentaries about the man — “The Eastwood Factor” & “Eastwood Directs: The Untold Story” — and it’s really hard to complain. Unless you’re a diehard “Bird” fan.

Clint Eastwood: 20 Film Collection was released on Blu-ray on June 4, 2013
Photo credit: Warner Bros.

Films Included (Chronologically):
Dirty Harry
Magnum Force
The Outlaw Josey Wales
The Gauntlet
Every Which Way But Loose
Firefox
Sudden Impact
Pale Rider
Heartbreak Ridge
Unforgiven
A Perfect World
Space Cowboys
Mystic River
Million Dollar Baby
Letters From Iwo Jima
Gran Torino
Invictus
Hereafter
J. Edgar
Trouble with the Curve
The Eastwood Factor
Eastwood Directs: The Untold Story

By BRIAN TALLERICO Content Director HollywoodChicago.com brian@hollywoodchicago.com