6.9 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Based on the life of Woody Guthrie, Bound for Glory explores the social, economic, and political hardships that molded his beliefs. Beginning with his life in Texas and his horrific experiences in the Southwest Dust Bowl, the film follows Guthrie as he moves to California to begin his radio career. There he discovers the political power of music, which he harnesses by writing and singing his own songs about human suffering.
Starring: David Carradine, Ronny Cox, Melinda Dillon, Gail Strickland, John LehneMusic | 100% |
Drama | 79% |
Biography | 38% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
Music: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Chances are if you were to ask anyone born in the post-World War II era to name a famous Guthrie, most folks would probably default to Arlo, the “long haired hippie freak” who made Alice's Restaurant such a phenomenon in the late sixties. Some older Baby Boomers at least might ultimately get around to mentioning Woody, Arlo’s (once at least) famous father, an iconic musical rabble rouser who had already begun to fall by the wayside of mainstream American fame by the time Bound of Glory came out in 1976, not even a decade after Guthrie’s untimely death at the age of 55 in 1967. Sadly, Woody’s legacy seems to be perhaps even less well remembered today in an era of celebrity by lottery (i.e., contests like American Idol) and/or the reality television phenomenon which has catapulted otherwise unremarkable folks to the acme of fame and fortune. Hal Ashby’s cinematic exposition of Guthrie’s autobiography is an elegiac story that manages to sustain an unexpected emotional force despite indulging in the trappings of a traditional biographical film. What makes Bound for Glory finally untraditional is its very subject, a man who weathered storms (real and figurative), responding to a variety of both external and internal traumas with some of the most iconic folk songs ever written.
Bound for Glory is presented on Blu-ray with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. As sad as it was to see the less than spectacular accounting of Academy Award nominated cinematography in Twilight Time's recent (simultaneous to this one) release of Hawaii, some cineastes may find it even sadder that Bound for Glory's Oscar winning cinematography is offered here in a relatively lackluster way. This is another master coming from the auspices of MGM (by way of United Artists) that simply looks old, dated and pretty far removed from the original glories of the theatrical exhibition. Elements are in okay but hardly pristine condition, with higher than average amounts of (typical) age related wear and tear, including lots of positive and negative dirt, and as a result both black and white speckling in abundance. Small scratches and other nicks also pop up regularly. Colors are often quite dowdy looking (even removed from the dusty ambience that sometimes informs the film), with flesh tones often looking pretty brown. That said, some of the outdoor photography still offers some pretty resplendent blues when clear skies are shown. The grain field is quite coarse, often coating those blue skies with a swarthy masking layer. That tendency means detail levels are rarely above acceptable levels, and in fact a lot of this transfer looks pretty soft and ill defined. The good news is things look considerably better in motion than some of the screenshots accompanying this review may suggest. As a result, things are watchable, if never spectacularly impressive.
Bound for Glory features a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio Mono track which capably supports the film's dialogue, effects and ubiquitous use of both on screen musical sequences as well as a number of source cues which play as underscoring. Leonard Rosenman took home the film's other Academy Award for adapting the music, and if some purists may question a few of the adaptations, the film offers some authentic sounding recreations of Guthrie's immortal songs.
Bound for Glory was a gloriously visual experience when it first came out, and Haskell Wexler's cinematography was one of the prime reasons people even went to see the film, in a day when Guthrie had started to disappear into the mists of time and word of mouth had to suffice to build audience awareness (in lieu of our present 24/7 infotainment cable channels). Unfortunately, restoration and proper archiving of some of these gems in the deep(er) catalogs of the (former) majors seem destined to languish for the time being, and Bound for Glory is simply the latest example. Watchable? Sure. But fans of this film are almost certainly going to be experiencing a letdown when they see the quality of the master MGM provided to Twilight Time. With that caveat firmly in mind, and with a strong encouragement to parse the screenshots accompanying this review, Bound for Glory comes Recommended.
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