Walking Tall: The Trilogy Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		2.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

Walking Tall: The Trilogy Blu-ray Movie Review

Buford Pusser walks taller on Blu-ray.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman April 13, 2012

Somewhere in this world there's still a little law and order left.

They say some men are born for legend. There are those in every generation of whom they say there will one day be story and song celebrating their lives and accomplishments, their tales forever inked or sung for posterity, lest future generations forget. Film provides another medium for recreating and retelling the stories of those people whose lives have shaped their world for the better, or in some cases, for the worse. Such films succeed particularly well when they remain true to the story, accurate to the events, and sincere in their depiction of the people they recreate. The Walking Tall trilogy does just that. The films tell the story of an adult Buford Pusser, an ex-wrestler-turned hard-nosed Tennessee sheriff. Pusser ignored physical and emotional pain and risked everything for law, for principle, for right, for justice. His brand might hit hard, but no matter one's opinions of his technique, one cannot help but to admire his dedication to self, family, profession, and goodness. His story is told across three films, films of action and heart, drama and raw emotion, joy and pain. They are the stories of legend.

Pusser means business.

Walking Tall
Score: 4/5

Buford Pusser (Joe Don Baker) has recently retired from professional wrestling. His "Buford the Bull" persona is no longer; he's tired of living his life by finding either success or failure in a script and not by his own actions. He's moved his family -- wife Pauline (Elizabeth Hartman), son Mike (Leif Garrett) and daughter Dwana (Dawn Lyn) -- to the small, idyllic McNairy County, Tennessee. He settles in, but is shocked to learn that the McNairy County isn't like it used to be. The figurative center of town is now a hub of gambling and prostitution, a low-rent joint known as "The Lucky Spot." When he lends an old friend some gambling money and learns that the table's cheating, he calls the crooks out only to find himself in a brawl. It's several versus one; Pusser does a fair bit of damage, but succumbs to overwhelming numbers and is severely beaten and slashed. He nearly loses his life and requires 200 stitches throughout his body. Pusser violently seeks restitution from the club, but his counter-attack is frowned upon by the law. He's arrested and tried for his "crimes," but a jury of his peers sides on his favor. Now, with much of the town behind him, Pusser runs for and wins the position of McNairy County Sheriff and hopes to clean the place up, but his old enemies won't take too kindly to his no-nonsense ways, and they won't let a badge and a title get in the way of exacting their own brand of revenge.

There are two worlds depicted within the celluloid, semi-fictionalized, partly-true account of the life of Buford Pusser, and that's the world defined by goodness, friendship, and contentment, and the world shaped by evil, violence, hate, revenge, and sin. As the film opens, audiences are introduced to a smiling, polite, well-adjusted, warm-blooded, good-hearted, kindly father figure. His environment is one of tranquility. He wants only to begin anew and live his life as he sees fit. But the world isn't the sort of place where one can live the way one so chooses, particularly where it's already been corrupted. Violence begets violence, and Pusser is the sort of man who won't stand down, be bullied, or allow wrong to triumph over right. The battle for supremacy between good and evil proves excessively bloody and extremely costly. The picture is shaped by misery and pain and unbelievable tragedy. Sometimes, the movie demonstrates, principles and values must trump safety and security. Pusser chooses not to live in a world overrun by wrongs, and even as he pays a dear price, he sticks to his guns -- and his stick -- in the name of justice.

The movie is largely defined by Joe Don Baker's performance. He captures the duality of the character and the situation beautifully, playing a larger-than-life teddy bear of a man and an equally imposing fighter with no quit in him with equal precision and energy. Baker seems comfortable on both ends, playing the loving father yearning to teach his son how to shoot and the dedicated husband who glows every time he's with his wife. Baker also tackles the more physically-challenging and emotionally-devastating scenes with the same dedication and exactness. He's as physically imposing as he is deadly with a revolver or tough with a stick. The character oozes red blood, literally and figuratively, as he fights for what he holds dear. If there's a fault to be found in the movie, it's that Walking Tall plays with a fairly repetitive cadence. Pusser is beaten, fights back, is beaten, fights back, and so on, the only real difference being that the violence becomes more intense and deadly and produces wider, further-reaching consequences as it moves towards its tragic finale. Still, the movie works as both hard-hitting entertainment and as something of even greater value, a demonstration of what it means to stand up for one's values and a story about the price of justice and freedom over evil.

Walking Tall Part 2
Score: 3/5

Sheriff Buford Pusser (now portrayed by Bo Svenson) is slowly but surely recovering from his wounds. McNairy County remains on edge, and with Pusser still lying in the hospital, the next Sheriff election looms. Some don't believe Pusser to be fit for duty, but those closest to him know the man has no quit inside, no matter how badly damaged his body or how terribly scarred his soul. He recovers and wins re-election, and his first -- and only -- order of business is to continue to hunt down those who harmed him and break apart the McNairy County crime ring. But that will be no easy task. The County's top crime bosses aren't pleased with how things have transpired. They want Pusser dead at all costs, but with the Feds now on the case and every eye on the county's popular sheriff, they know that a more subtle, clandestine approach is preferable to all-out assault. The criminal organization hires a talented local race car driver (Richard Jaeckel) to dispose of the sheriff and also employs a beautiful young seductress (Angel Tompkins) to do the same. Pusser's no fool, and even when the criminals get a step ahead, he takes two of his own forward. With danger lurking in every corner, Pusser must be on the ready while continuing to destroy the county's illegal moonshine operation and fight for justice against those who have harmed him and would break the law.

As a general rule, sequels often prove inferior to the original, and such holds true with the Walking Tall pictures. There are two primary drawbacks with Part 2, the first being the loss of Joe Don Baker in the lead role. Bo Svenson's performance is fine, in a general sense, but irreplaceably gone is Baker's commanding screen presence. The Pusser character in this film does little more than go through the motions, and Svenson's performance is largely limited by a flat script that's almost entirely about action and that gives only cursory attention to the emotions which must run rampant through the physically beaten and emotionally devastated sheriff. Pusser seems hardly phased, from a psychological perspective, in this picture by the events of the last. That limits the film's depth and also limits what Svenson can do with the role. The plot is a little more complex this go-round as it takes audiences fairly deep into the criminal underworld, but such comes at the sacrifice of meaning and heart. Walking Tall Part 2 generally transitions from one action scene to the next and spends precious little time with the Pusser family. The film rolls full steam ahead with "kill Pusser" and "get the bad guys," but it noticeably lacks that emotional depth that should have been the picture's foundation, not a throwaway element.

Final Chapter: Walking Tall
Score: 3.5/5

It's been a year to the day since tragedy struck the Pusser household. The sheriff (Bo Svenson) still wants justice, but it's looking more and more like he won't get it, not through the "proper channels," anyway. He knows the man behind the deed -- John Witter (Logan Ramsey) -- but red tape, technicalities, and the letter of the law are making it nearly impossible for Witter to come to justice. As if that wasn't enough on his mind and heart, Pusser's lost some of his sheen around McNairy County. There's an election coming up, and he's not a shoe-in for re-election despite cleaning up the county, getting rid of the gambling, the whore houses, and the backwoods moonshine operations. Yet sheriff or no, there's still an element out to get him, even if the criminal enterprises are at least considering licking their wounds and moving on from business in McNairy. But Pusser has yet to face his greatest challenge: he's offered a deal to make a movie about his time as County sheriff. That might make the Pusser family financial problems disappear, but can Pusser withstand the reopening of old wounds as he watches them play out on the big screen?

Final Chapter: Walking Tall more than makes up for the absence of emotional content from the second picture. The third and final film in the trilogy is all about dealing with the past, even as more tragedy looms on the horizon. Svenson gives shape to the character on a level beyond the superficial that was clearly absent in the second film, working through a script that nicely balances action and drama. In fact, one might even see the action as toned down a great deal in this film, though not to the detriment of the entire story. By now, audiences should be enjoying the whole legend of Buford Pusser, not just cheering on his actions with his stick and gun. Final Chapter moves to a new arena, so to speak, dealing more with the inside rather than the outside. The character and the story have both come full-circle, and it's impossible to get through this movie -- particularly when viewing it in a back-to-back-to-back marathon with the first two -- without tears flowing at two points in this third picture, the first being when Pusser relives the tragedy of the first film as he watches that film play out in front of him on the big screen, and also in the closing moments as the tale comes to a terrible end. This is a fine picture and a great -- yet thematically tragic and emotionally difficult -- way to end the series.

Walking Tall: The Trilogy Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Walking Tall
Score: 3.5/5

Viewers won't mistake Walking Tall for a fresh-from-theaters visual extravaganza, but Shout! Factory's 1080p transfer delivers a quality, filmic presentation of this aging classic. The opening title sequence features a plethora of spots and pops, but the image cleans up nicely thereafter. A moderately heavy grain structure supports nice details -- the dirty and dinged Pusser mobile seen near the beginning, straw hats, clothing stitches, or heavily textured woods -- throughout the movie. Faces sometimes appear somewhat pasty and smooth, but the image remains mostly sharp and well-defined, otherwise, with only a few clearly soft edges and only a handful of smeary details. Colors are stable, neither dull nor all that vibrant. Green grasses, red shirts, and the like are handled with a mostly natural precision. Light blocking and a bit of noise are sometimes visible. Blacks are steady and flesh tones generally true. This isn't a transfer that will dazzle most viewers, but this is working man's sort of transfer that suits the aging picture nicely.

Walking Tall Part 2
Score: 4/5

Walking Tall Part 2's transfer is generally excellent. The opening title sequence is full of scratches and pops, but the image cleans up magnificently thereafter, with such intrusions largely absent. The image is crisp and nicely defined, with natural grain retention and quality detailing evident in just about every scene. The picture looks great whether on the waterways, in the backwoods, or around town. Camouflage outfits, facial textures, building façades, and all sorts of elements appear sharp and true. Colors are nicely balanced, perhaps not as precisely accurate as they may be on a newer image, but this transfer appears true to the source. Flesh tones are satisfying, ditto black levels. As with the first film, this transfer won't be remembered as the pinnacle of the Blu-ray format, but this quite the stable, good-looking image.

Final Chapter: Walking Tall
Score: 4/5

Ditto the Walking Tall Part 2 video review. Final Chapter looks great on Blu-ray. This is a solid, crisp, nicely defined image. Details are sharp and clear, evident throughout the transfer, with all of the usual suspects such as faces, clothes, brick and stone, trees and grasses, and elements all over the frame appearing film-accurate. Grain retention is necessary and impressive. Colors are steady, not exactly vibrant, but not particularly dim, either. They're accurate and well-balanced, whether Pusser's red and black checkered shirt or green vegetation. Skin tones are true, and black levels are solid. Print wear is minimal, and the same may be said of noise or other unwanted artifacts. All around, this is a high quality catalogue transfer from Shout! Factory.

Walking Tall: The Trilogy Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Walking Tall
Score: 2.5/5

Walking Tall's DTS-HD MA 2.0 lossless soundtrack effectively conveys the film's sonic elements, but clarity and precision are not parts of its vocabulary. The track is almost constantly hissing and delivers only basic clarity and energy. Sound effects are often garbled and indistinct, such as passing cars through town or heavy hits and falls and crashes and screams and the general din of chaos during various fight scenes. Many effects lack precision and body. There are a few, however, that prove superior to the rest, for instance a heavy falling rain that produces an authentic drenching sound effect or a bar scene late in the movie where music nicely and robustly fills the listening area. Dialogue is generally even and clear, though not quite to the exacting standards of the best tracks. This one won't impress a great deal, but it's a satisfactory presentation, all things considered.

Walking Tall Part 2
Score: 2/5

Walking Tall Part 2's DTS-HD MA 2.0 lossless soundtrack doesn't fare quite as well as that of its predecessor. This track features more than its share of pops and hisses. Clarity is average at best, with many effects coming across as mushy and indistinct. Listeners won't find much energy or accuracy in car chases, gunshots, or music. But the real issue with this track is dialogue reproduction. The spoken word is largely uneven, sometimes sounding detached and separate rather than a naturally integrated element. It's not always centered, and there are occasional issues with very minor but evident lip sync. As with the first film's track, this one generally gets the job done, but most will be left wanting something a little more accurate and natural.

Final Chapter: Walking Tall
Score: 2/5

Final Chapter: Walking Tall also arrives on Blu-ray with a DTS-HD MA 2.0 lossless soundtrack, and the results are just about the same as found on Part 2. Clarity comes up lacking. The track plays with a hissy, scratchy, sharp, sometimes piercing sound. General effects are mushy, whether moving cars or something simple like a sliding kitchen table chair, ambient chirping birds and buzzing insects, or crunching leaves underfoot. Dialogue in this track, as with the Part 2 track, sounds detached and uneven. The spoken word is intelligible to be sure, but listeners will wish for superior clarity. While none of these track really impress, they're at least serviceable, and the quality video presentation makes these iffy audio presentations a bit easier to digest.

Walking Tall: The Trilogy Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Walking Tall Trilogy is spread across two Blu-ray discs, the first housing the the first two films and the second disc the third picture. Each movie contains a few extras on its respective disc. The highlight is a well-put-together thirty-minute documentary about the films and the real Buford Pusser.

Walking Tall
Score: 1/5

• TV Spot 1 (SD, 0:30).
• TV Spot 2 (SD, 1:00).
• Photo Gallery (1080p).

Walking Tall Part 2
Score: 2/5

• TV Spot 1 (SD, 0:27).
• TV Spot 2 (SD, 0:10).
• TV Spot 3 (SD, 0:32).
• Trailer (SD, 1:54).
• Photo Gallery (1080p).
• Walking Tall, The Buford Pusser Story (1080p, 29:19): Joe Don Baker and others are featured in a retrospective look back at the film trilogy, the lives of the real people depicted in the film, the differences between Baker and Svenson, the work of the additional cast, the real-life Pusser's involvement with the films and his untimely death, the themes and importance of the story the pictures tell, the films' legacy, and more. Clips from the movies and interviews with cast, crew, and Pusser family members and friends shape this solid documentary feature.

Final Chapter: Walking Tall
Score: 1.5/5

• Vintage Featurette (SD, 8:41): An old feature that showcases interviews with real-life McNairy County residents, examines Pusser's legend, takes a peek at the making of a scene, and looks at the film trilogy's success.
• Trailer (SD, 1:23):
• Photo Gallery (1080p).

Walking Tall: The Trilogy Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Suffice it to say, the Walking Tall trilogy of films serve as an important reminder of the power and purpose of law and order, but also something greater. They showcase the very essence of courage, principle, goodness, and integrity all personified in a lawman legend. The story of Buford Pusser inspires and breaks the heart all at once. Life's difficulties seem never to come to an end, but it's how one works through those difficulties, not shies away from them, that's the true measure of character, and there are precious few people in human history who have displayed more character than Buford Pusser. Shout! Factory's Blu-ray release of the Walking Tall Trilogy features great video, subpar audio, and a handful of extras. Recommended.