6.6 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
A prim schoolteacher turns outlaw queen when the railroad steals her land.
Starring: Jane Fonda, Lee Marvin, Michael Callan, Dwayne Hickman, Nat 'King' ColeWestern | 100% |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Music: DTS-HD Master Audio 3.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
One of the interesting if tangential tidbits meted out by Jane Fonda in her appealing commentary included on Twilight Time’s recent release of Julia is the fact that in a career generously populated by several modern classics (and even perhaps a masterpiece or two), one of the films she’s most asked about by the public at large is Cat Ballou. This seems perhaps just a little odd, at least on its surface, for as even the commentators on this release mention, the film kind of plays like a gussied up television entry, a swift and often undeniably entertaining send up of the Western genre, but one which few would probably think of as an exemplar of filmmaking brilliance. But something about Cat Ballou caught whatever zeitgeist was hanging around back in the “Dark Ages” of 1965, and the film became a huge success, ultimately propelling Lee Marvin to an Academy Award for Best Actor, a triumph which in itself was rather remarkable for at least a couple of reasons. First of all, as any student of awards season shenanigans knows, it’s often difficult for comedy performances to break through into the vaunted quintet of Oscar nominees, let alone to go “all the way” to the actual award. But 1965 was no slouch for some other nominated performances, including some by what were then three of the acting world’s most renowned and revered performers. Marvin’s competition that year included Richard Burton for The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, Laurence Olivier for Othello (still sadly missing on domestic Blu-ray), Rod Steiger for The Pawnbroker (a lot of the so-called “smart money” was on Steiger to win that year, though he’d have to wait until 1967 and In the Heat of the Night to take home the prize), and Oskar Werner for Ship of Fools (available on Blu-ray as a part of the double feature Ship of Fools / Lilith).
Cat Ballou is presented on Blu-ray with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Culled from the Sony-Columbia catalog, this is a beautiful looking transfer, one that may occasionally seem just a trifle on the brown side with regard to flesh tones, but which reproduces some of the stunning location photography with gorgeous looking blues and greens. Detail is routinely excellent, with everything from the crags on skin to fabrics in costumes rendered with extreme precision. Fine detail on elements like the straw hat Cat wears in the early scenes is also excellent, encountering no resolution issues. Densities are consistent, as are contrast and black levels. Grain is natural looking (there is one brief sequence beginning with Kaye and Cole singing at sunset where grain spikes just a bit unnaturally) and encounters no compression issues.
Cat Ballou features DTS-HD Master Audio mixes in 5.1 and 2.0. The 5.1 mix opens up the appealing score and interstitial song elements while also providing occasional discrete placement of effects like gunshots or galloping hooves. The low end on the surround track is quite fulsome, if perhaps not at the level younger viewers have come to expect from newer films. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly and there are no prioritization problems of any kind. The new commentary mentions how revelatory the 2.0 mix is, though my hunch is most ardent audiophiles will find it perfectly competent but probably not mind blowing.
- Michael Callan and Dwayne Hickman
- Eddy Friedfeld, Lee Pfeiffer, and Paul Scrabo
Cat Ballou is frequently laugh out loud hilarious and it benefits from both the hyperbolism of Marvin as well as the (relatively) more restrained Fonda and the rest of the supporting cast. While the film's verbal humor is kind of hit or miss, some of the sight gags are inspired. This release boasts great technical merits and a very winning supplemental package. Highly recommended.
2K Restoration
1977
Special Edition
1966
1969
2014
Limited Edition to 3000
1958
1948
2K Restoration
1965
2017
1948
2016
1953
1973
1966
1971
Sweet Vengeance
2013
1939
1976
1972
1972
1965