Clint Eastwood: 35 Films 35 Years at Warner Bros.
Clint Eastwood was already a box office star when he moved onto the Warner Bros. lot in the mid-’70s. But it’s there that he became something bigger — a Hollywood icon. Over the past 35 years, Eastwood and the studio have done pretty well by each other: The suits got a steady stream of unfussy, profitable films and a handful of Oscars; the star got security and a green light to take on whatever project tickled his fancy (within reason). Not every collaboration between the two has been a gem, but as this new, 19-disc behemoth of a box set proves, the good ? far outweigh the bad and the ugly. Kicking off with the rollicking 1968 action-adventure Where Eagles Dare (dig those sideburns!) and running up to 2008’s Gran Torino, Clint Eastwood: 35 Films 35 Years at Warner Bros. is best for what comes between its bookends — Dirty Harry, The Outlaw Josey Wales, Unforgiven, and yes, even The Bridges of Madison County are films that get better with each viewing. Pink Cadillac and anything with an orangutan, less so. Is all of this worth the hefty $179.98 sticker price? Well, assuming you don’t already own a few of these suckers on DVD, then yes. After all, you’re only paying about five bucks a title. And the EXTRAS, while not exactly mind-blowing, only sweeten the deal: There’s an excellent 24-page booklet by biographer Richard Schickel and a decent (but too brief) doc that follows a chatty Clint as he walks around the lot, literally taking a stroll down memory lane. B+
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