The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)

After his family is killed by Union militants, a Missouri farmer (Clint Eastwood) joins a band of guerrilla Confederates. After the war, when he sees his companions slaughtered by Union soldiers after they were promised amnesty, he becomes the outlaw Josey Wales and is pursued by bounty hunters and Union soldiers. Based on the novel GONE TO TEXAS by Forrest Carter and directed by Eastwood (who replaced Philip Kaufman), this is a fine western and contains one of Eastwood's 2 or 3 best performances. Although the Union soldiers are the "bad" guys, this isn't a nostalgic revisionist Confederacy sympathizing film. Eastwood's Josey Wales is a man who's had the humanity driven out of him because of the war and what happened to his family. The film chronicles his journey to regain that humanity. I can't say enough about Bruce Surtees' cinematography which shockingly never received an Oscar nomination, it's simply stunning. But Jerry Fielding's superior score did receive an Oscar nomination and justifiably so. With Sondra Locke, Chief Dan George, John Vernon, Will Sampson, Paula Trueman, Joyce Jameson, Geraldine Keams and Sam Bottoms.