Cowgirls 'N Angels 2: Dakota's Summer Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.0

Cowgirls 'N Angels 2: Dakota's Summer Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 23, 2014

Kids and their horses have been an entertainment staple since at least the days of National Velvet and My Friend Flicka, but like much else in the contemporary gaping maw that is today’s film industry, everything needs to be a franchise. Cowgirls 'N Angels arrived on Blu-ray in 2012 and actually (perhaps surprisingly) caught the fancy of my colleague Casey Broadwater, even if he also more or less admitted that the film played like a very special episode of Hallmark Hall of Fame. Cowgirls ‘N Angels 2: Dakota’s Summer traffics in much the same homespun wisdom, native grit and paying one’s dues that the first film had, although in perhaps slightly less charming amounts.

There’s a paint by numbers approach to the screenplay of this second Cowgirls film, one where a seeming laundry list of heart tugging elements are ticked off, one by one, in order to insure maximum emotional heft. The titular Dakota Rose (Haley Ramm) finds out early in the film that her family history is not exactly how she had been told, a revelation which sends her off to her good ol’ country folk grandparents (played by Keith Carradine and Anne Lockhart). Dakota’s expert equine skills of course play an important part in the story, especially when she’s surrounded by a coterie of horse- centric adventures at her grandparents’ place, with a variety of "human interest" stories providing color courtesy of a glut of supporting characters. This is a slight, predictable, but ultimately enjoyable ode to self discovery and, ultimately, self determination. Yes, it is almost exactly like a “very special episode” of Hallmark Hall of Fame, but there are worse things in the world.

Cowgirls 'N Angels 2: Dakota's Summer Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Cowgirls 'N Angels 2: Dakota's Summer is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. This appears to be a digitally shot feature, one which boasts excellent sharpness and clarity but also overblown contrast which hampers some of the outdoor footage. Colors are accurate looking and at times quite nicely vivid, and there's abundant fine detail in midrange and close-ups.

Cowgirls 'N Angels 2: Dakota's Summer Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Cowgirls 'N Angels 2: Dakota's Summer's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 really only springs fully to life when there's source music or underscore, but the good news is, that's most of the time in this film. Dialogue and effects tend to be fairly front heavy, but are clearly presented with no dropouts or other issues to report.

Cowgirls 'N Angels 2: Dakota's Summer Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Behind the Scenes of Dakota's Summer (1080p; 12:43)

Cowgirls 'N Angels 2: Dakota's Summer Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Little girls who love horses are sure to get a kick (sorry) out of Cowgirls 'N Angels 2: Dakota's Summer. This is resolutely predictable fare, but it's sweet and unaffected, with decent performances and nice location work. The Blu-ray offers solid technical merits but a dearth of supplemental material.