Murder at Yellowstone City Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		2.5

Murder at Yellowstone City Blu-ray Movie Review

The devil went up to Montana.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III August 12, 2022

Australian film director Richard Gray goes Western with Murder at Yellowstone City, shot on location in Montana and featuring a decent cast including Gabriel Byrne, Thomas Jane, Richard Dreyfuss, and... that towel-wearing guy from the Old Spice commercials. Its opening scenes follow the fate of a mysterious drifter named Cicero (Isaiah Mustafa, AKA towel guy); he's accused of killing Robert Dunnigan (Zach McGowan), a local who recently struck gold and left some of it with his wife Emma (Scottie Thompson). Circumstantial evidence leads Sheriff Jim Ambrose (Byrne) to lock up Cicero and prove his guilt... but the town's pastor/mortician Thaddeus Murphy (Jane), whose congregation can't sing for shit, eventually starts his own investigation. It may not matter: the witch hunt's already on, drawing parallels with current social issues while Murder at Yellowstone City explores other back roads of a small, struggling community.

Don't get too excited, though: this film unevenly plays out like a TV pilot that got greenlit as a movie instead, taking its time to set up an overcrowded cast of characters before rushing to a conveniently bow-tied conclusion -- not an easy or recommended thing to do in 126 minutes. Then there's the fatal familiarity of it all, as Murder at Yellowstone City just can't help but feel painfully similar to recent and classic Western films and shows that it so desperately emulates in characters, settings, and tone. (I made similar comments about another recent AMC+ property, That Dirty Black Bag, coincidentally also released on Blu-ray by RLJ Entertainment just two short weeks ago.)

But its most nagging problem are the script and its characters: both are loaded with clichés, and the least interesting ones we meet take center stage as multiple plot points conveniently converge in a sloppy, action-packed home stretch. It's no surprise, since Murder at Yellowstone City crams in so many characters that it can't possibly tend to them all, leaving its initial premise dangling as it wanders off to solve other, less interesting mysteries. (Even some of the "big names", especially Richard Dreyfuss, get left in the dust with almost nothing to do.) Another red check mark belongs to its pandering treatment of certain female characters, including the pastor's milquetoast wife Alice (Anna Camp, who really shouldn't quit her day job) and the brothel's "adopted little sister" Josephine (Isabella Ruby); both learn to shoot laughably fast so they'll be part of the big finale too, but at least we see Jo take a few lessons first.

Even so, Murder at Yellowstone City is fitfully engaging and at the very least wants to separate itself from the pack, even if the route it takes to get there doesn't feel entirely well thought-out. Unapologetic Western fans may enjoy it more than most, and the sporadically central presence of its bigger names does add some weight to the proceedings. But it's a "try before you buy" movie, and RLJ Entertainment's Blu-ray follows suit with a questionable 1080p transfer (which may not be their fault) and a few feather-light extras that don't add much in the way of value.

Murder at Yellowstone City Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The digitally shot Murder at Yellowstone City ticks most of the boxes for a watchable Blu-ray, yet comes up short in two areas that may or may not be related to its source material. The first is its texture, as the image sports a slightly waxy appearance that clearly lacks the added grain so closely associated with genre films of this type. It's possible that noise reduction was used, but the more likely conclusion is that this was a conscious -- or at least warranted -- visual choice. Either way it just looks kind of cheap, much like Michael Mann's notoriously all-digital Public Enemies.

The other area is color balance, which doesn't apply to most of Murder at Yellowstone City's subdued earth-tone palette with hints of golden yellow, rusty browns, and occasional spots of more vivid color that provide a nice visual contrast. There's a noticeable stretch during its second act where obvious color shifts -- some even between shots in the same location -- prove to be distracting, and other scenes where the desaturation is applied a bit too strongly. Combined with a few rather spotty lighting choices, it makes a handful of scenes hard to "read" and, like those lacking textures, they stand out for the wrong reasons. But it's doubtful that its Blu-ray transfer has anything to do with these sporadic but noticeable problems; more than likely, such scenes was just not carefully graded in post-production.

Yet most of Murder at Yellowstone City looks fairly good and, again, RLJ Entertainment Blu-ray seems to support the film's modest strengths in the areas of production and costume design (at least considering its presumably ultra-tight budget), so this disc gets passing visual marks overall even with a few nagging nitpicks along the way.

Murder at Yellowstone City Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

This DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix, on the other hand, is a more straightforward effort with no obvious hiccups along the way, pairing a center-heavy soundstage with crisp surround activity that livens up everything from weather-related effects to music cues and, of course, action scenes when gunshots and debris whiz past the rear channels. No obvious sources defects or even bad ADR readings were heard along the way, nor were there any flagrant sync issues. Overall, a somewhat predictable but nonetheless very enjoyable sonic presentation that gets the job done.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included during the main feature only.

Murder at Yellowstone City Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a standard keepcase with poster-themed cover artwork, a matching embossed slipcover, and a promotional insert. The bonus features look decent on paper, but don't get your hopes up.

• Audio Commentary - This track features actress/producer Anna Camp; actresses Scottie Thompson, Aimee Garcia, and Tanaya Beatty, and Isabella Ruby; and writer Eric Belgau, the only participant helpfully identified by his actual profession. (Hosting duties are provided by a seventh man who doesn't identify himself at all but turns out to be director Richard Gray.) This serves as a microcosm of the film itself: it's overcrowded, takes itself too seriously, and it really isn't all that engaging. What's more is that this session was clearly recorded over some type of Zoom or conference call interface, so there's lots of distortion, varied volume levels, and tripping over each other's words. You know, everything you want in a 126-minute group chat. Yeesh.

• The Making of Murder at Yellowstone City (4:33) - A disappointingly short and promotional behind-the scenes piece that features brief, surface-level comments from key members of the cast and crew.

• Deleted Scenes (6:48 total) - Six short, unnamed deleted scenes in (mostly) finished form that are presented in 1080p with DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio sound. Interestingly enough, a few notes to the VFX team can be seen via burned-in subtitles that indicate where various visual touch-ups need to be made.

Murder at Yellowstone City Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Richard Gray's Murder at Yellowstone City is a well-intentioned Western with a decent premise, a surprisingly stacked cast, and a script that unfortunately lags far behind. What begins as a relatively engaging effort soon spirals into a mostly sloppy and predictable mess in the second half, and one that sadly moves most of its least effective characters (and performances) front and center in the process. Nonetheless, it's still entertaining enough for a once-over but, despite the modest A/V strengths of RLJ Entertainment's Blu-ray, the movie's bonus features do little to support its case as anything more than a missed opportunity given the talent involved. Try before you buy, surely.