Among the best of Clint's initial films directing himself, it is a fabulous combination of historical fact and screen-friendly cowboy fantasy.

Peaceful Missouri farmer Josey Wales has no desire to become an outlaw, but, in 1858, the Civil War throws him into a bunch of Confederate fighters. That starts him off on killing the Unionists, without political cause or pity. As formal hostilities cease, he is branded an outlaw.

The Eastwood personality dominates the frame with a towering magnificence, becoming an inestimable part of the film, even the plot. He is not simply an avenger, or a fugitive with a gun. Like a crusader, he defends women, children, and the weak. His love affair is triggered when the man hardened by circumstance feels the need to flee into poetic reverie.

Clint quote of the film: 'Things look bad and it looks like you're not gonna make it, then you gotta get mean. I mean plumb, mad-dog mean. 'Cause if you lose your head and you give up then you neither live nor win. That's just the way it is.'