Product Description

THE STORY OF A LAND WAR BETWEEN MEXICAN NATIVES AND AMERICANLAND BARONS.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #17158 in DVD
• Brand: UNI DIST CORP. (MCA)
• Released on: 1998-08-18
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French, Spanish
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Dubbed in: French
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 88 minutes

Amazon.com
Clint Eastwood's stardom was supernova, thanks to Dirty Harry; John Sturges, the man behind The Magnificent Seven and a dozen other memorably leathery Westerns, was directing; and Elmore Leonard was the screenwriter. It just goes to show. Joe Kidd is a muddle and a drag, the shoddiest Eastwood vehicle since Rowdy Yates trod in his last cow flop. Kidd, first seen as a duded-up drunk sleeping one off in jail, is supposed to be a horse rancher and an expert tracker--just the fellow a rapacious land-grabber (Robert Duvall committing lazy villainy) needs to chase down the uppity Latino (John Saxon) who's trying to reclaim the grabbed land for its rightful owners. Neither the characters nor the overland pursuit makes any sense, thanks to chasms in the continuity and no direction to speak of. An absurdly arbitrary assault-by-locomotive provides the climax; as Eastwood observed, "Jesus, anything at this point--let's end it." --Richard T. Jameson

Customer Reviews

Not a Complete Film on this Universal DVD
Scenes are missing on this DVD by Universal. Besides Kidd's and Helen's personal scene that's not apparent, what about the missing dinner scene at Helen's cabin? Duvall and Stroud reveal their characters even more at the dinner table but it is not shown on this version. Duvall invites a reluctant Helen to the table and takes command for himself. This film gets no respect by not being complete.

As good as any
I don't understand why this got mediocre to bad reviews,I've seen this movie many times & think it's as good or better than any of his early work.As a bonus you get Robert Duval & Don Stroud(who you know is going to get killed before the end of the movie).
Highly recommended to any Clint fan !

Average Western, But The DVD Is Not The Complete Film.
Since I never expected a whole lot out of JOE KIDD, I wasn't really disappointed. I was expecting a standard, light western, nothing more . . . . . and that's exactly what I got. JOE KIDD is about a guy named Joe Kidd (gasp!), who gets involved with a posse led by a rich land baron named Harlan (Robert Duvall). He's after the Hispanic revolutionary wannabe Luis Chama, who's causing a lot of trouble and stirring up the Spanish populace. And that's about it. Like I said, nothin' at all to get excited about, but Clint's mere presence can make a movie worth while. Unfortunately (and obviously), he's the highlight of the film, as the rest of the cast is just passing. Not even the great Robert Duvall seems to be interested in the picture, but who can blame him? Actually, the story has (or had) potential; it covers (or tries to) a lot of ground about loyalty, right vs. wrong, and it even raises the question of "What IS right?". But none of this is ever brought up to its full potential, and if it had, this may have been a truly great western. But alas, it is not so. All this is even more disappointing from the fact that this is a John Sturges film. This is the same man who helmed such masterpieces as THE GREAT ESCAPE and THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN!?! Surprising, and utterly devastating. Not to say that JOE KIDD is a necessarily BAD film, far from it! It just isn't GREAT. And I shouldn't complain much, I guess; what the hell could you expect from a running time of 1 Hr. 28 Mins.? This is about thirty minutes short of what all westerns should be. But I must admit, the main theme present during the opening and closing credits is pretty cool!

Along with the HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER re-release, all that has changed in this DVD is the cover and disc art. All there is for special features are production notes, cast and filmmakers' bios, and a theatrical trailer. Heck, even the production notes make the film sound tired! And the transfer ain't all that great, but it gets better as the film goes along. But the whole reason I lowered my rating down to two stars instead of three, is the fact that a certain scene (one of the best in the entire film) has been completely eliminated from the film! In it, more of the morality touches are discussed and brought into light. As well, it is this scene where Joe Kidd admits his love for Helen, a crucial element to the movie's impact! It's a short scene, but it remains one of the most impactful in the entire movie. I just watched it on AMC, and that scene was right there, playing out in front of me! This really ticks me off, the fact that along with miniscule extras and an average transfer, I can't even watch the complete film!!!

Only worth buying if you're a big Eastwood fan/collector. For [$$$]... , I guess it ain't a big loss.