I have avoided 'The Cowboys' in recent years due to my complete lack of interest in full frame transfers of scope films so was looking forward, with great anticipation, to Warner's letterboxed reissue. The Cowboys' is at least as good as I remember it, maybe better. The Duke's performance here, though not as strong as 'True Grit' or 'The Shootist' , is classic John Wayne. An excellent supporting role by Roscoe Lee Browne and above average performances by all the young actors make this admittedly simple and predicable story highly watchable. The quality of the transfer is generally very good.
Colors are solid, though a bit faded in most scenes.
There is a somewhat brownish tint in most of the prairie scenes, however, this may have been intentional. Except of a few night scenes where there is some fairly pronounced grain, the image is clear and sharp with excellent detail. The widescreen framing gives a very satisfying rendition of Bruce Surtees' excellent cinematography. The audio is also quite good. The jacket states this is Dolby Surround but, except for the score, there is very little directional or surround information.