Will Munny. Philo Beddoe. Walt Kowalski. Josey Wales. “Dirty” Harry Callahan.
Clint Eastwood: 20 Film Collection, just released on Blu-ray by Warner Home Video, captures Eastwood in some of his most memorable performances as well as his best directorial efforts. You get a clunker or two (Firefox comes instantly to mind but Pink Cadillac is mercifully omitted), as is the case with any home video collection, but the classics outweigh the filler in this Warner Bros.-centric package.
The obvious choices include Unforgiven, Eastwood’s retooling of his own western canon, as well as Mystic River, the film which helped him concentrate more on directorial efforts. Minor gems flesh out the collection, including the introspective A Perfect World and Gran Torino, the 2008 drama which showed Eastwood could still pack ’em in no matter what it says on his birth certificate.
The collection also comes with two Eastwood-centered documentaries, but 20 Film Collection’s release date near Father’s Day is hardly accidental. The actor’s blunt image, one he masterfully tweaked for decades, appeals to male movie goers uneasy with today’s freshly scrubbed stars.
Eastwood revved up his political persona during the 2012 presidential election, alienating some of his Hollywood peers as well as his liberal fan base. Those willing to look past his politics, or even embrace his courage in bucking conventional industry wisdom, will find a career like few others captured in one impressive set.
The collection includes:
A Perfect World
Dirty Harry
Every Which Way But Loose
Firefox
Gran Torino
Heartbreak Ridge
Hereafter
Invictus
J. Edgar
Letters from Iwo Jima
Magnum Force
Million Dollar Baby
Mystic River
Pale Rider
Space Cowboys
Sudden Impact
The Gauntlet
The Outlaw Josey Wales
Trouble with the Curve
Unforgiven