6.4 | / 10 |
Users | 1.5 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 2.9 |
In the early 20th century, grizzled gunman Taylon Flynn (Lance Henriksen) is among the last outlaws of the Wild West. Suffering from an illness he can't outrun, outshoot, or outdrink, Flynn saddles up for one last shot at redemption when he travels to a dusty mining town in an effort to save the daughter he abandoned long ago from life in a seedy brothel.
Starring: Lance Henriksen, Tom Berenger, Billy Lush, Meg Steedle, Steve RailsbackWestern | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
UV digital copy
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Norma Desmond, the aged actress at the center of Sunset Boulevard, offers one of the most legendary lines in the entire annals of Hollywood screenwriting when, in thinking back to her “glory days” as a star in the Golden Age of La-La Land, she says with some authority, “We had faces then.” As delivered by Gloria Swanson, herself already a performer with a lifetime of memories when she took on the role of Desmond, the line has both a startling finality and a kind of wistfully nostalgic air. Though Desmond’s inimitable quote may at least subliminally seem to be about women, there were of course male “faces” galore during the halcyon days of American cinema, and in that regard some might argue that Lance Henriksen’s visage could have made him a matinee idol in his younger days, had he been around during that earlier time period. He's understandably pretty grizzled in Gone Are the Days, but Henriksen's face, a virtual topographical map of experiences, is a focal point of this slow moving but rather interesting western, one which offers a rare starring role for an actor more associated with character parts and supporting performances.
Gone Are the Days is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. The IMDb lists the Arri Alexa having been used (and you can clearly seem them in some of the supplements included on this release), and I'm once again presuming that the DI was finished at 2K. There are some intentional stylistic quirks at play in this presentation which definitely affect detail levels, especially fine detail. Taylon's use of heroin leads to whirly, swirly and askew framings a lot of the time, with "jiggly cam" and image degradation part of the mix. The palette tends to lurch back and forth between a nicely saturated "natural" look and a much more blanched appearance that almost verges on sepia tones at times. A bulk of backlit and/or dimly lit material can also lend murk to certain scenes. All of this said, detail levels are generally quite high, probably expectedly reaching their zenith in the most brightly lit outdoor scenes. The BD-25 would seem to provide more than enough real estate for consistent compression for a relatively short film and not many supplements, but there are a few isolated snippets of banding during some brightness changes.
Gone Are the Days features an expressive DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that attains a lot of its surround presence from ambient environmental sounds in the many outdoor sequences, as well as the kind of elegiac score from Kubilay Uner. This does offer occasional "traditional" Western elements like the clip clop of horse hooves, but things like shootouts are not a major component of the sound design. Dialogue is presented cleanly and clearly throughout this problem free track. Optional subtitles in either English SDH, English or Spanish are available.
This seems to be the sort of project designed almost willfully to garner a longtime habitue of Hollywood that long delayed Academy Award nomination. Ironically, my hunch is that had Henriksen been so feted (which he ended up not being), it could well have been in the Best Supporting Actor category even though he's front and center throughout this tale. Fans of the cast may find this a worthwhile viewing experience, but even they had best steel themselves for some relatively slow going. Technical merits are generally solid for those who are considering a purchase.
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