3:10 to Yuma 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.5

3:10 to Yuma 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 28, 2017

There’s a kind of fun parlor game that can be played in New York City (chiefly Manhattan), that is at least if you personally are not a “participant” in the game yourself. It can be downright amusing to just park yourself on one of the major avenues in the heart of Manhattan (the best place for this activity is typically midtown) and then watch and identify tourists who have never before walked the concrete alleys of one of the most impressive aggregations of skyscrapers on the planet. It’s easy (and often amusing) to spot these visitors: they’re typically taking up space in the middle of the sidewalk, heads seemingly stuck permanently in a heavenward position, gawking at the sights they’re taking in. The real fun to this “game” is observing longtime Big Apple residents who don’t take kindly to having their walkways blocked, and who will (at times at least) not exactly be welcoming hosts, telling these interlopers to get out of the (insert expletive here) way. Something at least somewhat similar if obviously opposite can take place out in the “wilds” of the west, where the sheer expanse of wide open spaces can lead those who have led lives only in highly populated areas to take a deep breath, not quite believing what they’re seeing. There’s a great scene early in 3:10 to Yuma which rather unexpectedly combines these two seemingly disparate phenomena, with a vista that seems endless suddenly filled with a whole host of ultimately connected people. A down on his luck rancher named Dan Evans (Christian Bale), already the victim of violence both in the Civil War (where he lost a foot) and courtesy of a local magnate named Glen Hollander (Lennie Loftin) who wants to sell Evans’ land out from under him and has already burned down Evans’ barn as warning, is out with his sons trying to recapture his herd of cattle, which has gone stray after Hollander’s men marauded through the Evans property the night before. Unfortunately for Evans and his boys, though, they stumble upon a pretty gruesome scene involving the attempted robbing of a stagecoach, one at the hands of notorious bandit Ben Wade (Russell Crowe). That begins a perilous relationship between the two men, one that is defined by both wariness and respect.

3:10 to Yuma first appeared as a short story by the legendary Elmore Leonard, which was first adapted into this 1957 film with Glenn Ford in the Crowe role and Van Heflin essaying the same character that Bale does in this version. Rather interestingly, at least for a 21st century “update” of a vaunted title (whether literary, cinematic, or both), the screenplay by Michael Brandt and Derek Haas actually sticks fairly close to the original screenplay by Hallsted Welles for the Delmer Daves film, with a couple of notable exceptions (not all of which will be mentioned in this review).

The 1957 version was already plying what had become known as “adult western” territory, with a plot that offered a somewhat bifurcated bad guy who didn’t hesitate to shoot various folks (including his own gang members) at the drop of a Stetson, but who could turn around and be positively courtly with the ladyfolk. Similarly, the hero’s course in this film was as much about dignity as it was supposed justice. That said, the 1957 version opted for a surprisingly cheery wrap up, including a late denouement that would have been just as home in another kinda sorta western from the year before, The Rainmaker.

Things are at least a little more dour in this reboot, including an early look at the war injury which has literally hobbled Evans, as well as some insight into his fractious relationships with his sons, especially older boy William (Logan Lerman), an element that wasn’t really exploited (at least to this degree) in the 1957 version. When an uneasy truce develops between Evans and Wade after Evans and his sons witness Wade robbing the coach (including several deaths), there’s more of a feeling of some kind of unspoken Code of the West at play in this version, as well. (Wade had used Evans' errant cattle to waylay the coach, and Evans simply tells Wade all he's out to do is retrieve what's rightfully his.)

As with Leonard’s original tale and the 1957 film, the bulk of this version actually deals with Evans “escorting” Wade to the wonderfully named town of Contention, where Wade will be put aboard the titular train to serve time at a penitentiary. There are a couple of interesting sidebars this version employs (one of which may seem familiar to fans of Hell on Wheels: The Complete Series), and a late intrusion by a supporting character is rejiggered here to help tie together the threads of family dysfunction in the Evans household and the general gist of Evans trying to regain his personal honor by delivering Wade to the hands of justice.

In a way certain elements of this story which are (perhaps intentionally?) reminsicent of High Noon are somewhat sidelined in this version, but surprisingly the film still builds an incredible amount of tension, probably more so than the 1957 version. This outing is elevated by uniformly excellent performances, and director James Mangold delivers an often breathless pace which helps the film elide a few clunky clichés.

3:10 to Yuma 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: The included screenshots are sourced from a 1080p Blu-ray disc. Watch for 4K screenshots at a later date.

3:10 to Yuma is presented on 4K UHD courtesy of Lionsgate Films with a 2160p transfer in 2.40:1. It's kind of fun going back to read Martin Liebman's 3:10 to Yuma Blu-ray review from rather early in the Blu-ray format, where Marty was seemingly giddy with excitement over the quality of the original Blu-ray's video and audio technical merits. I'm not quite so enamored of the video presentation in 1080p as Marty was (which may be due as much to the passage of time and experience as anything), hence my somewhat lower score for the 1080p version, but one way or the other, the 4K UHD presentation is often quite striking, with a somewhat warmer overall color temperature and some agreeable upticks in fine detail in any number of elements from facial pores to the texture of the wood paneling in the Evans' cabin. Several darker scenes, including the opening, and the really interesting kind of orange drenched scene where Wade is brought back to the Evans home for a while, have noticeable if subtle new information in shadow detail and definition. Grain resolves naturally for the most part, but can look just a trifle noisy at times against some of the vast vistas, especially the more brightly blue skies that are on display throughout the film.

3:10 to Yuma 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Marty was pretty delighted with the Blu-ray LPCM 7.1 track, and my reaction to this 4K UHD disc's DTS:X audio is just as over the top. This is one of the more enjoyable immersive listening experiences I've had recently, starting the rustle of winds and, ultimately, fire in the opening scenes, and then of course the repeated use of gunfire throughout the film, often quite dramatically placed in the soundfield to the point that you might feel like ducking once or twice. Everything from cattle stampeding to the clatter of a stagecoach madly bouncing across the prairie to (later in the film) the huff and puff of a locomotive is presented with startling clarity and really wonderfully done discrete channelization. Dialogue is always clear as a bell and well prioritized, and the film's kind of jangly score is also rendered beautifully.

3:10 to Yuma 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Commendably, if rather interestingly given the complete lack of supplements on the two other 4K UHD discs Lionsgate is releasing on May 2 (The Expendables 4K and The Expendables 2 4K), 3:10 to Yuma ports over all of the supplements detailed by Martin Liebman in his 3:10 to Yuma Blu-ray review, with the exception of the trailer.

3:10 to Yuma 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

3:10 to Yuma is one of the better remakes in modern cinema history, revisiting some of the original's "adult western" themes without tarting them up too much, as so often seems to be the case when someone comes along decades later and thinks some things need improving. Bolstered by some really effective performances and a brisk pace by James Mangold, the film looks and sounds fantastic in 4K UHD. Highly recommended.