Bloodtype Online
For the best of the Horror/Cult/Exploitation film experience
Volume Eight
Walking Tall
“A motion picture suggested by certain events in the life of Buford Pusser, Sheriff of McNairy County, Tennessee—a living legend.”
And so begins the saga of ex-Marine, former football star & recently retired professional wrassler, Buford ‘The Bull’ Pusser. Buford is moving his family back home to Tennessee, and it’s not long before they buy a nice home on spacious land with not 1, but 2 catfish ponds.
He soon hooks up with an old friend and it’s off to get beers & catch up on old times. When Buford suggests a certain joint that used to be the hangout, he’s informed that the place hadn’t been around for quite some time. Rest assured, though, there’s a new place around that offers the distinguished gentleman more than just plain cocktails. This ain’t Buford’s McNairy County, and he finds out the hard way. Upon Pusser’s first trip to the Lucky Spot, he’s busted up & bloodied & left for dead in the pouring rain. Once he recovers, he takes a job at his dad’s sawmill and decides to carve himself up a big ass stick. He returns to the Lucky Spot and doles out a little backwoods, Tennessee justice.
As good as that scene will make you feel, it’s actually against the law to inflict bodily harm on some good ol’ boys (hmm…go figure) and Buford gets himself arrested. Against the professional advice of the local judge, Buford decides to take his case in front of a jury. Mind you, he could be facing 30 years, but still…he acts as his own attorney. In dramatic fashion, Buford rips off his shirt and shows the jury the scars he received that fateful night at the Lucky. The jury’s out for less than 5 minutes and return with a not guilty decision. Buford’s off the hook, and is soon persuaded to run for sheriff. That does not sit well with many of the townspeople or the current sheriff for that matter. But, Pusser’s way of handling things does make the majority of people happy and he’s elected.
The rest of the movie is Buford doling out his brand of justice or Buford surviving many assassination attempts. The fact that the real live Buford Pusser acted as a technical consultant on this film actually gives this credibility. Joe Don Baker is very capable of bringing the character to life as are the other main core of actors who portray his family.
Now onto the bad news…I was actually going to review Walking Tall Part 2 & The Final Chapter: Walking Tall as two separate movies. No need to do that though, as the events in The Final Chapter take place during the same timeline as Part 2.
Joe Don Baker is gone. Bo Svenson is now Buford Pusser. Svenson doesn’t have the emotion or the charm that Baker did.
I guess the question here is should you watch the other 2 movies? My answer is to skip Part 2 and head right for The Final Chapter. Action wise, they’re pretty similar, but the events that go down in TFC are sometimes more interesting, even funny. You’ll even get to see how Buford’s approached to make the first film.
As a side note, Buford’s father Carl served as technical consultant on Part 2 and returned with Buford’s brother, John Howard as t.c.’s on TFC.
