7.2 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Tougher-than-nails landowner Jessica Drummond (Barbara Stanwyck) has ruled over her county in Arizona with such power that even the local sheriff (Dean Jagger) won't stand up to her. And when gunslinger-turned-U.S. Marshall Griff Bonnell (Barry Sullivan) and his brothers seek to restore law and order, they meet with harsh resistance — that is until Jessica falls in love with Bonnell. But when the man's brother is murdered and the two families become bitter enemies, Jessica's loyalty is divided, and Bonnell faces his biggest moral dilemma: how to avenge his brother's death and still maintain his vow of non-violence.
Starring: Barbara Stanwyck, Barry Sullivan, Gene Barry, Dean Jagger (I), Robert DixDrama | 100% |
Western | 27% |
Romance | 27% |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.35:1
English: LPCM Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Sam Fuller's "Forty Guns" (1957) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include Samantha Fuller's very good documentary "A Fuller Life"; archival recorded Q&A session with Sam Fuller; new video interview with critic Imogen Sara Smith; and more. The release also arrives with a 30-page illustrated booklet featuring an essay by film scholar Lisa Dombrowski and a chapter from Sam Fuller’s posthumously published autobiography, A Third Face, as well as technical credits. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Sam Fuller's Forty Guns arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.
The following text appears inside the booklet provided with this Blu-ray release:
"This new digital transfer was created in 4K resolution on a Golden Eye film scanner from the 35mm original camera negative and restored by Twentieth Century Fox. The original monaural soundtrack was remastered from the 35mm optical soundtrack positive by Audio Mechanics in Burbank, California.
Transfer supervisor: Michael MacKinnon/Twentieth Century Fox Film Preservation.
Film scanning: MTI Film, Hollywood.
Colorist: Steven Porter/MTI Film."
The new 4K remaster is on par with the one that Fox produced for Jack Clayton's chiller The Innocents. Indeed, even though they were given different stylistic qualities by their cinematographers, now these films look equally impressive in high-definition. In terms of clarity and especially depth the visuals truly are striking, while fluidity is of what I consider to be 'reference quality'. Furthermore, there are incredible ranges of nuances that have been preserved by the terrific grading (see examples in screencaptures #3 and 12). I am probably starting to repeat myself now, but on a larger screen these are the type of fine details that really make a serious difference. There are no traces of problematic sharpening adjustments. Image stability is terrific. All age-related imperfections have been removed as best as possible and the now the film looks spotless. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).
There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 1.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.
The audio is very clean, crisp, and stable. Depth is so good that at times it actually feels a bit unreal that the original soundtrack for Forty Guns was recorded in the late '50s. Fox really did a phenomenal job remastering the soundtrack and then creating the lossless audio track for the new 4K restoration. If there ever were any traces of deterioration and other conventional age-related imperfections, it is absolutely impossible to tell now.
Despite the strong cast and abundance of great visuals, I do not think that Sam Fuller's attempt to produce a nuanced and mature western can be considered a great film. The romantic sentimentality that Forty Guns promotes simply does not fit the iconic director's classic style and the adjustments that he had to make to hide that it is so clearly limited his ability to impress. Heading in the exact opposite direction and experimenting in the same or similar way that Nicholas Ray did in Johnny Guitar could have been an interesting alternative, but I don't think that Barbara Stanwyck would have been right for such a project. Criterion's new release of Forty Guns is sourced from an outstanding new 4K restoration that was prepared by Twentieth Century Fox. Also, the release contains Samantha Fuller's very good documentary "A Fuller Life", which makes it impossible not to recommend it. RECOMMENDED.
1946
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1946
1973
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Arrow Academy
1971
1959
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2003
Warner Archive Collection
1956
Per un Pugno di Dollari
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2015
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Warner Archive Collection
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1958