Hang 'Em High Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Hang 'Em High Blu-ray Movie Review

Casey Broadwater critiqued the MGM combo release of Ted Post's Hang 'Em High (1968) a decade ago. To read Casey's analysis of the film, please click here.

Hang 'Em High Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Hang 'Em High appears in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on this MPEG-4 AVC-encoded BD-50. Shout Select has sourced the same transfer that was used on MGM's 2010 Blu-ray. The Eastman color photography still holds up pretty well, although a frame-by-frame restoration would definitely clean up extant anomalies on the image. It's far superior to MGM's 2000 DVD which has washed-up colors, brightness boosting, and aliasing. Casey noted the color fluctuations on the 1080p transfer and I likewise spot them occurring during reel changes and scenic transitions. Warmer tones get cooler at the end of a scene or before a long dissolve. The first reel sports the most artifacts which include some staining. Grain patterns are a little inconsistent, too. The red velvet walls (see Screenshot #s 20-21 from both transfers), hot pink, lavender, and green are the most positively accented hues. Shout has a higher average bitrate than MGM's transfer (31997 kbps to 22048 kbps) but the authoring and encode on the MGM is as good if not better. Note: I wasn't able get to the exact frame match for #s 16 and 17 but in watching each in-motion, a thin white vertical tramline is visible in both.

Screenshots 1-15, 17, 19, 21, & 23 = Shout Select 2018 BD-50
Screenshots 16, 18, 20, & 22 = MGM 2011 BD-25

Hang 'Em High Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Shout supplies an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround remix (3338 kbps, 24-bit) and an English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo track (1752 kbps, 24-bit). The former is similar to MGM's English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround track (3415 kbps, 24-bit). It's front heavy with relatively clean dialogue. I didn't hear any major anomalies in the master. As far as I know, none of the actors were dubbed in post before theatrical prints were made. Shout has tried to open up the original monaural with a 2.0 stereo mix. I like that MGM included a Dolby Digital Dual Mono (224 kbps) on an alternate track and if the film's released again (hopefully one day on UHD), I'd prefer a PCM mono mix.

Composer Dominic Frontiere's (Giant) music has a punchy presence along the front channels. The Western score has a very catchy and hummable main theme performed by Tommy Tedesco on guitar and Tommy Morgan on harmonica. Frontiere either slows down or speeds up its rhythm for different cues in the film. (Hugo Montenegro is credited for the brilliant rearrangement of the theme for the single 45RPM releases and became a hit.) Frontiere also employs a dour-sounding piano melody for Rachel's theme as well as French horns and snare drum for the attempted hanging of Jed Cooper. According to film historian Bruce Eder in the liner notes for Sony Music's 1991 CD presentation of Hang 'Em High (which is paired with Ennio Morricone's score for Guns for San Sebastian, also released in 1968), Frontiere had an orchestra of 60 to 80 pieces. He wrote the score in 6-8 days while getting only 2 or 3 hours a sleep at night. The full album recordings all feature 10 cues and about a half hour of the score. Sound quality on the Sony disc ranges from good to very good but the 2007 CD distributed by La-La Land Records (and co-produced by Frontiere) boasts superior fidelity and clarity. It sounds warm on Blu-ray and has grown on me in my repeat listens.

Hang 'Em High Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• NEW Audio Commentary with Western Film Historians Lem Dobbs and Nick Redman - Screenwriter Dobbs is joined by (the unfortunately late) Redman. Dobbs unpacks the narrative structure and plotting of Hang 'Em High while Redman gives more of an impressionistic discussion of Eastwood and the film's other performers. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW Audio Commentary with Film Historian Jim Hemphill - Hemphill delivers an outstanding and informative commentary on this feature-length track. In addition to discussing how Hang 'Em High fits into Eastwood's career as actor/director, Hemphill also delves into the filmmaking contributions of director Ted Post, producer/writer Leonard Freeman, and cinematographers Richard H. Kline and Leonard J. South (they both worked on the film but separately; one was fired and replaced by the other). Hemphill also offers plenty of biographical nuggets on Inger Stevens, Pat Hingle, Ben Johnson, Bruce Dern, Dennis Hopper, and several others. I would have liked to hear more about Ed Begley's career in TV and on the silver screen, though. Hemphill also makes a conspicuous omission about Hopper's performances in 1986. While he justly praises his acting in the Oscar-nominated Hoosiers and his also unforgettable work in Blue Velvet, he never mentions his portrayal of Feck in River's Edge! While the track has a few gaps, Hemphill has so much information prepared that he lags behind after an actor's scenes (such as Hopper's) are finished that he has to catch up to the next scene. He probably could have used another half hour. In English, not subtitled.

• Theatrical Trailer (2:31, 1080p) - a restored 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen trailer of Hang 'Em High that's a bit cartoonish but fairly creative too.

Hang 'Em High Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Hang 'Em High was scorned by some critics on its theatrical release as a pale imitation of Sergio Leone's Spaghetti Westerns and it admittedly lacks the superb artistry and masterful compositions of the Italian master. (According to film historian Randall D. Larson, Leone was approached to direct Hang 'Em High but had to decline because he was in the middle of shooting Once Upon a Time in the West.) While Hang 'Em High is a more "talkie" Western than Leone's films (inhabited by the same laconic Man with No Name), it's a compelling indictment against capital punishment in the Old West where it was ironically celebrated as glorified spectacle. It's inspired by Eastwood's favorite film, The Ox-Bow Incident (1942).

Shout Select rehashes the same master MGM struck for its BD edition from ten years ago. It still looks relatively solid today but would improve significantly from a fresh 4K scan. The two commentaries Shout recorded augment the value of this 50th Anniversary Edition. Jim Hemphill's audio essay is comprehensive and worth a couple listens. While certainly not the definitive home video release of Hang 'Em High, Shout's package (which still comes with a slipcover) earns a SOLID RECOMMENDATION.