Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Far and Away 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Over a decade ago, my colleague Brian Orndorf covered Universal's US Blu-ray of Ron Howard's eighth big-screen feature, Far and Away (1992). For Brian's impressions of the film and his assessment of Universal's a/v presentations, please click here.

Shannon and Joseph.

Far and Away 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Shout Select's 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray + regular Blu-ray combo comes with a slipcover that features the same artwork that was used for La-La-Land Records' 2020 expanded score album. The film appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.39:1 with the Dolby Vision encode (HDR10 compatible) on the triple-layered disc. The source is a recent 4K transfer of the 35 mm interpositive approved by cinematographer Mikael Salomon. Far and Away was the first feature film to receive a 70 mm theatrical presentation since The Last Valley (1971). The production's 65 mm filming was heavily promoted in industry periodicals and Hollywood trade publications. For example, Eastman Kodak placed adverts in American Cinematographer (AC) with statements by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer endorsing the format. Howard wrote in one: "Clarity and definition are so much better. There's more intimacy. It's like add­ing a dimension that pulls the audi­ence into the story. They feel more engrossed. It's the way a film like this is meant to be seen." It is important to point out, though, that Far and Away was a "hybrid production" since 35 mm and VistaVision cameras were also used in the shoot. According to a cover story by Bob Fisher in the June 1992 issue of AC, which has been discussed in this title's forum thread on our site, Salomon and his crew utilized different cameras (nine in all) when recreating the Cherokee Strip Land Run of 1893. A helicopter captured the race with a VistaVision camera. These VistaVision shots were later blown up to 65 mm. More, several Eyemo 35 mm cameras with anamorphic lenses were placed at very low angles while horses and wagons traversed through the expansive rural spaces. Additionally, two Steadicams were mounted on a camera car. Salomon also employed the Arriflex 765 camera, which recorded images at the rate of 100 fps for this sequence. I have included some screen captures of the Oklahoma Land Rush of 1893. (See Screenshots 5 and 23-24.) Fisher reported that Far and Away opened in a minimum of 200 theaters in 70 mm format and another 1,500 in 35 mm format.

While I have not seen every home video release of Far and Away, I can still safely proclaim that the DV/HDR grade that Salomon approved does a very fine job of replicating the film's photographic qualities on the UHD disc. The image is very clean and clear throughout most of the presentation. Fisher's article on the picture's cinematography described the Ireland scenes as punctuated by "ver­dant green foliage and other deeply saturated colors" with backgrounds of "overcast skies." These visual attributes are seen, for instance, in a shot of Joseph Donnelly (Tom Cruise) working in the field (frame grab #2) and a high-angle shot of Joseph's father, Joe (Niall Toibin), atop a rocky cliff (#7). In a roadside tavern where Joseph stops, the HDR illuminates landlord Daniel Christie's (Robert Prosky) red coat and gives a shine to the visitors' cheeks (#6).

When the narrative shifts to Boston (this section's scenes were shot in Dublin), lighting for the exteriors and some of the interiors is darker. Fisher learned from Salomon that the crew used lanterns, kerosene, and gas street lights. (See frame grab #20.) The wintry scenes have a Dickensian quality and often demonstrate the penurious conditions immigrants and members of the lower strata were living under. For the Christmas House scene, Bob Dolman wrote that Salomon relied only on natural light outside to reflect from the snow which appeared through the windows to light Shannon and Joseph (source: FAR AND AWAY: The Illustrated Story of a Journey from Ireland to America in the 1890s, 1992, Newmarket Press). You can see this from downsampled 1080p images I retrieved from the 4K (#s 17 and 31), the remastered Blu-ray (#30), and MCA/Universal's LaserDisc (#29).

Salomon and his crew made bolder visual contrasts with the scenes set in the Ozark Mountains and Oklahoma pastures. (These scenes were shot in and around Billings, Montana.) This section exposes a bit more wear on the 4K and Blu-ray image than the other sections. For example, I could clearly see dirt and other film-related artifacts in aerial shots of the Land Race. In fairness to the a/v authoring house that worked on this restoration, there was a lot photographed throughout the racing sequence and removing some artifacts could compromise or eliminate what was originally captured (e.g., things in the air). For example, Tom Cruise was interviewed for the making-of book I cited and recalled "a cloud of dust a mile high that hovered for at least five minutes" while riding a stallion in the great race. In a few shots (#s 25 and 36-37) preceding that elongated sequence, you will notice a wavy line towards the right side of the frame. I shared these screen captures with a cinematographer I know and he surmises it could be the film roll used on that particular day of shooting. He also tells me it may be due to improper loading, or it could be something that happened during development at the laboratory. If you look at an identical frame (#35) from the same shot I took from the LD, you don't really see the wavy line, though. The transfers are likely sourced from different prints.

Shout's 4K and Blu-ray offer more information on the left and right side of the image compared to the widescreen LD. For instance, you cannot see the face of a worker in the chicken factory behind Joseph in #26, but can see over half of his face on Shout's presentations (#s 27 and 28). Color balance is greatly improved. Highlights are blown out on the LD. For example, look how oversaturated the golden hue is while Joseph rides the donkey (#32) compared to frame enlargement #s 33 and 34 on the BD and UHD.

While the recent Blu-ray uses the same master as the UHD, compression affects the overall quality of the image. On the BD-50 (total size: 38.5 GB), the 140-minute feature uses 25.5 GB of space. This is because Shout has also included Enterprise or Love, the 107-minute legacy documentary about Far and Away, which utilizes 11.36 GB of space (video + audio). Compression-related artifacts aren't too conspicuous while watching Far and Away in motion, but I did notice them on some shots. I also spotted a ringing halo around Shannon late in the Land Race. (Brian also detected sporadic haloing on Universal's Blu-ray.) Apparently, Shout didn't want to include any additional discs in this set but a third disc with just the legacy doc (with lossless audio) and the feature film on its own platter would have given each more room to breath in the a/v departments. My video score for the Blu-ray is 3.75/5.00.

The video on the UHD averages a healthy bitrate of 77.3 Mbps while the whole disc boasts an overall bitrate of 90.5 Mbps.

Screenshot #s 1-25, 28, 31, 34, 37, & 40 = Shout Select 2024 4K Ultra HD BD-100 (downscaled to 1080p)
Screenshot #s 26, 29, 32, 35, & 38 = MCA/Universal Home Video 1992 LaserDisc Letterboxed Edition
Screenshot #s 27, 30, 33, 36, & 39 = Shout Select 2024 BD-50 (from a 4K restoration)

Far and Away 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Shout has supplied three audio track options to watch Far and Away with on UHD and the Blu-rays: a new Dolby Atmos mix (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 compatible) encoded at an average bitrate of 3645 kbps and a maximum bitrate of 5079 kbps; a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround track (3843 kbps, 24-bit); and a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo mix (2020 kbps, 24-bit). The audio bitrates are identical on both discs. I listened to all three mixes. While listening to the Atmos from the beginning through the tavern scene, I would recommend having your receiver up a good five decibels above your normal listening level or turning on the English SDH. I had some difficulty deciphering the late-nineteenth century Irish accents. When the action moves to the Christie mansion, I felt I could discern the words better. The Atmos does a terrific job of delivering some of the low-end sounds on the surrounds and height channels. For example, I could hear the wind swirling around the Donelly cottage (even when the characters are inside). The Atmos becomes enlivening when Joseph fights the Italian Boxer (Carl N. Ciarfalio) at a Boston club. One can hear the uppercuts to the faces and strong dynamic range emanating from John Williams's score. Other highlights include a couple explosions while Joseph is working around the Ozark Mountains, a cannonball signaling the start of the race, and the galloping movement of horses and carriages.

The 5.1 is likely based on the six-tracks on the 70 mm theatrical prints. It is similar to the Atmos in a lot of ways. Dialogue sounds a little more pronounced along the fronts than the Atmos. The original 2.0 Stereo is based on the original 35 mm anamorphic prints. It deploys the split surrounds frequently and to high effect. The 2.0 has wonderful balance. My audio score for the mixes in totality is 4.75/5.00.

The Williams score is a significant component to the three mixes and to the success of Far and Away. The Chieftains perform several cues throughout the film. Williams wrote the music in the same key and spirit as the Irish folk music group's score to the excellent TNT movie, Treasure Island (1990). The score sounds more Western when Joseph and Shannon travel to Boston but Williams blends in the Irish music so we don't forget their roots. Williams's scoring for the Land Race is epic and exhilarating. (In the middle of the "Land Race" track on the MCA Records album and in the film, you can hear a little of "The Raiders' March.")

Another key contributor to the movie's sound work is supervising adr editor Michael Jacobi. Christopher Connelly wrote a cover story on Far and Away for the June 1992 issue of Premiere magazine and spent time with Jacobi on a New York looping stage where 1,595 separate bits of dialogue were re­done! Dialect coach Tim Monich deserves a lot of credit for the accents sounding so convincing (at least to my ears). Connelly reported that Cruise spent eight hours rerecording his dialogue. (His character spoke with a West Kerry lilt.)

The optional English SDH display dialogue and sound f/x with thoroughness. The track misses (once or twice) inserting en dashes preceding lines of dialogue when two characters are speaking to each other (so we can distinguish that their voices are separate). It also doesn't identify the characters with brackets around their names (as SDH tracks often do).

Far and Away 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Shout has put the special features on a standard Blu-ray.

DISC TWO: Blu-ray

• Enterprise or Love: The Story of FAR AND AWAY (1:47:50, 1080p; Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo) - a feature-length legacy documentary about the making of the film directed by Brian Ward and co-produced by Shout! Studios and Slushpile Entertainment. The program includes recent interviews with actor Clint Howard (Flynn), producer/director Ron Howard, writer/co-producer Bob Dolman, producer Brian Grazer, executive producer/2nd unit director Todd Hallowell, stunt coordinator Walter Scott, editor Daniel Hanley, sound designer/foley editor Chic Ciccolini III, and cinematographer Mikael Salomon. The piece covers pre-production, the complete shoot, and post-production. The filmmakers discuss all of the major scenes in lengthy detail. Production stories and anecdotes in plenitude. The Land Race receives the most attention. One of the doc's last sections contains interviews with Maurizio Caschetto (editor of The Legacy of John Williams), Tim Burden (contributor to "The History of John Williams"), and soundtrack album producer Mike Matessino. They describe various aspects of Williams's score and example particular cues that are heard in the movie. The doc has eight chapter selections, which can only be accessed on the fly via remote control. All interviewees speak in English. The doc isn't subtitled.

• Photo Gallery (4:52, 1080p) - a slide show consisting of fifty-seven images, all of which were taken on the locations used for production of Far and Away. Best are aerial photos captured during filming of the Land Race. There are several snapshots of the leads and supporting performers. There are duplicate pictures of Ron Howard by the camera (one brighter than the other).

• Theatrical Trailer (3:00, upscaled to 1080p) - Universal's official trailer for Far and Away, which has been cropped to about 1.78:1 (16x9 widescreen). It hasn't been fully restored; it displays dirt as well as specs. Colors are decent. This is likely sourced from the R1 DVD.

Far and Away 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Far and Away shows how hard it was for Irish immigrants to adjust to a new country and culture, as well as the grit and strength they mustered to plow forward. The second Cruise/Kidman collaboration has aged well since I first saw the film on VHS. One weakness in Dolman's writing is that he doesn't make Stephen Chase (Thomas Gibson) at least a little more sympathetic or delve more into his backstory with the Christie clan (in addition to dialogue exposition in a couple scenes). Shout Select's 4K UHD does justice to Mikael Salomon's 65 mm photography with a pretty splendid transfer. Shout's authoring and encoding on the Blu-ray, however, is problematic because Howard's movie and a feature-length doc are crammed on to a BD-50. (The doc is the most informative program produced about the film, though.) The three lossless audio mixes sound terrific. This package would have been more complete had Shout included the extended TV cut. Still, a PRETTY STRONG RECOMMENDATION.