Joe Kidd was one of the few Clint Eastwood films I had not had the opportunity to watch until this year. Since I had since just about every other Eastwood Western, and was being announced for an upgraded Blu-ray release, I felt now was the right time and I am glad that it gave it a spin.

In Joe Kidd (Clint Eastwood, Play Misty for Me), the story is about a former bounty hunter (Kidd) who, despite being conflicted about it, decides to assist a wealthy landowner Frank Harlan (Robert Duvall, Tender Mercies) and his posse to hunt down a Mexican revolutionary leader Luis Chama (John Saxon, Planet Earth), who is fighting for land reform. Harlan and Chama are at war over land that the Mexicans are being removed from. Harlan, not interested in taking Chama to court over this land dispute, would just as soon kill him. This leads to him hiring Joe Kidd to help track down Chama. Even though Kidd accepts, there is a great deal of reluctance on his part as he does not exactly trust Harlan. During the hunt, dissention beings with Kidd and Harlan’s group, and the tension mounts. Harlan later captures some Mexican villagers, including Chama’s girl Helen Sanchez (Stella Garcia, The Private Lives of Adam and Eve) keeping them hostage in a church along with Kidd, who he no longer trusts. Harlan is using the hostages to get Chama to surrender. Kidd, now seeking revenge on Harlan for backstabbing him, escapes with the hostages leading to a shootout with Harlan and his bloodthirsty henchmen.

Directed by John Sturges, who was no stranger to the Western drama, does another fine job at the helm of Joe Kidd. His film moves along at a by design methodical pace, without music which adds to the atmosphere. Some might call the film a bit too slow, but I think films that move at a purposely slow pace such as this adds something more to it and slowly builds suspense for what we think is about to happen.

I feel Joe Kidd is a bit underrated and does not quite get the recognition it deserves. The film might not reach the levels of greatness that are Play Misty for Me or High Plains Drifter, but this movie holds up well on its own merits. The cast for this film hands in top-notch performances, as one would expect. I mean it is Clint Eastwood, John Saxon and Robert Duvall after all. Don Stroud’s role as Lamar is also a compelling character. Lamar is always on Joe Kidd’s case with various threats, but Kidd just keeps knocking him around, always a step ahead.  

Another great highlight of the film is the cinematography by Bruce Surtees. He captures a lot of beautiful shots of the landscape that are always beautiful to look at.

Joe Kidd is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. Just as was the case with High Plains Drifter, an existing HD master was used, and more supplements were added. The picture quality is still more than satisfying with lots of beautiful crisp, clear shots of the landscape during daylight scenes. Interior shots are highly detailed and rich in textures. Browns and blues are exceptionally strong here as the color palette leans tends to be cooler. Flesh tones appear to be accurate and black levels during the nighttime scenes are balanced. Print damages, speckles are at a bare minimum.

The English DTS-HD master audio 2.0 track is flawless with all dialog, gunshots and Lalo Schifrin’s score sounding clear. Nothing is neither too aggressive, nor too subtle, and there is a good balance between the audio and other noises. No audio issues were detected. Optional English subtitles are available.

This is where the new Joe Kidd release stands out. There are additional extras exclusive for this release.  There is an interview with actor Don Stroud, called “Man with a Gun” where he reflects on working with Eastwood. There is a new audio commentary by filmmaker Alex Cox who discusses the film, providing lots of fascinating information as he normally does. Also, for this release there are a pair of TV spots, and image gallery and trailers for Joe Kidd and other Kino Lorber catalog releases that feature Clint Eastwood, which consists of Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, Play Misty For Me, Coogans Bluff, High Plains Drifter, A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Two Mules for Sister Sara, The Eiger Sanctum, and the Beguiled

Joe Kidd is another recommended Clint Eastwood film with a strong cast and this new Kino Lorber release with some additional extras, including a slipcover (for those that are slipcover geeks) is a worthy pickup!

Joe Kidd

Director- John Sturges

Cast- Clint Eastwood, Robert Duvall 

Country of Origin- US

Distributor – Kino Lorber

Number of Discs – 1

Reviewed by – David Steigman

Date- 12/5/20