The Searchers

Frequently regarded as an all-time classic, this overly racist display of anti-Native filmmaking does not pass the test of time. Hard to watch by today’s standards, and impossible to justify. Shame on John Wayne.

An entertaining epic with influential camera work, master class writing, and a color pallet that would bring Edgar Allen Poe out of depression. A enjoyable classic with all the fun of a great western.

The Searchers is widely praised as one of the “greatest Westerns ever made,” but for me, watching it in 2025, it was a genuinely unpleasant experience, and not in the way the filmmakers intended. Yes, I’m fully aware of the classic excuse: “You can’t judge old movies by modern standards.” But I’m going to do it anyway, because there were plenty of films and actors of the 1950s who managed not to be blatantly racist sexist. So to me, there’s absolutely no justification for the way this movie handles its themes and characters.

Let’s start with the racism, because it’s impossible to ignore. The film’s entire portrayal of Native Americans is steeped in stereotypes: they’re depicted as violent, primitive, and essentially faceless obstacles to overcome. John Wayne’s character, Ethan Edwards, isn’t just flawed, he’s outright bigoted, and the narrative frames his hatred as something we should accept as part of the gritty realism of the frontier. Personally, I don’t buy that. When a story seems more interested in dehumanizing an entire group of people than examining the roots or consequences of that hatred, it stops being a complex character study and just becomes ugly. And this film chooses ugly, again and again.

Then there’s the sexism. Women in The Searchers serve almost exclusively as kidnapping victims, love interests, or moral props to highlight how troubled the male characters are. The female characters barely have agency, and when they do, it’s either ignored or punished. It’s like the movie can’t imagine women existing outside a kitchen or a crisis. Even in 1956, there were films that treated women with more nuance than this.

Beyond the social issues, the story itself drags. The pacing is uneven, with long stretches that feel more like a showcase for scenic vistas than an actual narrative. John Wayne’s performance, often hailed as one of his greatest, left me cold, mostly because the character is written as a one-note embodiment of rage and prejudice. And while the cinematography is undeniably impressive, beautiful landscapes can only do so much when the story and characters are this frustrating.

I understand the film’s historical significance and its influence on later directors, but that doesn’t excuse the experience of watching it now. Sometimes “important” movies simply don’t hold up, and The Searchers is one of those for me. It feels dated in all the worst ways, not just because of the era it came from, but because of the choices it deliberately made even within that era.

In short: this was a one-star watch for me. Technically impressive, sure, but artistically and morally exhausting. Some classics age like wine; The Searchers aged like milk.

The Searchers is widely praised as one of the “greatest Westerns ever made,” but for me, watching it in 2025, it was a genuinely unpleasant experience, and not in the way the filmmakers intended. Yes, I’m fully aware of the classic excuse: “You can’t judge old movies by modern standards.” But I’m going to do it anyway, because there were plenty of films and actors of the 1950s who managed not to be blatantly racist sexist. So to me, there’s absolutely no justification for the way this movie handles its themes and characters.

Let’s start with the racism, because it’s impossible to ignore. The film’s entire portrayal of Native Americans is steeped in stereotypes: they’re depicted as violent, primitive, and essentially faceless obstacles to overcome. John Wayne’s character, Ethan Edwards, isn’t just flawed, he’s outright bigoted, and the narrative frames his hatred as something we should accept as part of the gritty realism of the frontier. Personally, I don’t buy that. When a story seems more interested in dehumanizing an entire group of people than examining the roots or consequences of that hatred, it stops being a complex character study and just becomes ugly. And this film chooses ugly, again and again.

Then there’s the sexism. Women in The Searchers serve almost exclusively as kidnapping victims, love interests, or moral props to highlight how troubled the male characters are. The female characters barely have agency, and when they do, it’s either ignored or punished. It’s like the movie can’t imagine women existing outside a kitchen or a crisis. Even in 1956, there were films that treated women with more nuance than this.

Beyond the social issues, the story itself drags. The pacing is uneven, with long stretches that feel more like a showcase for scenic vistas than an actual narrative. John Wayne’s performance, often hailed as one of his greatest, left me cold, mostly because the character is written as a one-note embodiment of rage and prejudice. And while the cinematography is undeniably impressive, beautiful landscapes can only do so much when the story and characters are this frustrating.

I understand the film’s historical significance and its influence on later directors, but that doesn’t excuse the experience of watching it now. Sometimes “important” movies simply don’t hold up, and The Searchers is one of those for me. It feels dated in all the worst ways, not just because of the era it came from, but because of the choices it deliberately made even within that era.

In short: this was a one-star watch for me. Technically impressive, sure, but artistically and morally exhausting. Some classics age like wine; The Searchers aged like milk.

At least mose got his mf rocking chair

Even though it was visually pleasing, the story was flat and predictable