Hickok 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.0

Hickok 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Slightly less wild Bill.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 12, 2017

For anyone not particularly averse to disappearing down a YouTube rabbit hole of weirdly entrancing videos, a starting point of any of the numerous westerns produced for television in the fifties and (perhaps slightly less so) the sixties might be an object lesson in the general ambience of Hickok, which Cinedigm is using to jump into the 4K UHD fray, albeit evidently not with a separate standalone 1080p Blu-ray release (there is a Blu-ray disc included in this package that offers a 1080p presentation). While you might in fact stumble across Wild Bill Hickok, a long running if now largely forgotten western that starred Guy Madison in the title role, I’m actually talking more about a general quality of competent (and admittedly comfy feeling) mediocrity that attended a large number of series in this ever popular genre. Any of a handful of shows like Cisco Kid, The Roy Rogers Show, The Lone Ranger, Gunsmoke, Cheyenne, Maverick, Lawman , Sugarfoot, Have Gun - Will Travel, The Rifleman, Laramie and others too numerous to name offered what at times seemed to be the same plots on the same sets and with the same guest stars traipsing through whatever dusty burg that particular show was set in. Hickok tells that same type of familiar tale with a generic feeling presentation that will probably satisfy genre stalwarts without ever really exciting them.

Anyone expecting the gritty and violent demeanor of Deadwood: The Complete Series and its depiction of Wild Bill Hickok (essayed by Keith Carradine in that series and by Luke Hemsworth in this film) will probably find Hickok’s at least somewhat “kinder and gentler” portrayal a bit disconcerting. The film is loosely tethered to actual history, though it takes considerable liberties with the factual record along the way. The narrative here is focused on Hickok’s tenure as a marshal in the hardscrabble town of Abilene, Kansas in the early 1870s. Conflict aside from the ordinary lawman wrangling of bad guys arises when a local saloon owner Phil Poe (an enjoyable Trace Adkins) attempts to do in Hickok, albeit vicariously courtesy of subterfuge involving another western icon, John Wesley Hardin (Kaiwi Lyman Mersereau).

Kind of interestingly in terms of contemporary debates about Second Amendment rights, part of the plot hinges on Hickok’s attempts to neutralize violence in Abilene by banning firearms, a strategy that of course invites the disdain of local gunslingers. The film has a number of completely rote elements, like a band of renegades showing up to challenge the marshal, only to depart chagrined after he simply threatens them, but there’s perhaps more effectiveness in quieter if no less intense moments, especially some between Hickok and Mattie Lyles (Cameron Richardson), a woman with a romantic history with Hickok who is now under the thumb (literally and figuratively) of Poe. Mattie’s adorable little boy Joey (Hunter Fischer) also figures into the proceedings and provides a supposed surprise late in the film that anyone worth their predictive salts will have seen coming virtually from the get go.

If the film is resolutely predictable, as in all those weekly series of yore (or would yesteryear be a better term?), it does have some good, grizzled performances by Bruce Dern as the town doctor who perhaps wants there be to no gun ban for his own personal career reasons, and Kris Kristofferson as Abilene’s mayor, doing his best to crack down on the lawlessness pervading the region. Hemsworth brings an arguably too modern take on the character (even his hairstyle and lack of a handlebar mustache seem contemporary), but he does very well in what is a kind of Maverick-esque comedic bent that the film occasionally employs.

Hickok 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: The included screenshots are sourced from a 1080p Blu-ray disc. Watch for 4K screenshots at a later date.

Hickok is presented on 4K UHD and Blu-ray courtesy of Cinedigm with 1080p and 2160p transfers in 2.39:1. This is the first 4K UHD release I've personally reviewed that includes a Blu-ray disc but which does not have its own standalone Blu-ray release, so I'm going to concentrate a bit more on a compare and contrast than might otherwise be the case. There are some interesting differences between the two versions, though both feature the typically sleek and well detailed appearance that is a hallmark of Arri Alexa digital capture (I haven't been able to track down any definitive data, but I'm assuming this was probably finished at a 2K DI). Despite my player not showing HDR, the palette is quite a bit more suffused and vivid on the 4K UHD version, with elements like a red feather in a saloon worker's hair or a gorgeous blue dress Mattie wears in a scene with Joey looking considerably richer (there's a cross stitched pattern on this dress which is much more visible in the 4K UHD version as well). The 1080p Blu-ray version looks just a bit anemic in terms of color reproduction, at least when compared to the 4K UHD version, though some may actually prefer that since it tends to be a little grittier looking at times. There's an interesting almost sepia tone that is more prevalent in the 4K UHD version as well. The 4K UHD version does look just slightly noisy at times, oddly in some brightly lit outdoor sequences, something that isn't as noticeable in the 1080p Blu- ray version. There are quite a few nighttime or dimly lit scenes, and while there's occasional crush in the 1080p Blu-ray version, shadow detail is at least incrementally improved with a general absence of crush in the 4K UHD version. A couple of scenes which have been graded toward a deep cobalt blue also have better shadow definition in the 4K UHD version. Director Timothy Woodward, Jr. and director of photography Pable Diez favor a lot of close-ups, and those offer excellent fine detail, giving precise looks at elements like the crags in Dern's and Kristofferson's faces. Fine detail in the 4K UHD version can also be noticeable improved in minor details like the fabric texture on Hickok's wide brimmed hat. There are some kind of odd recurrent issues with focus that I'm frankly uncertain weren't intentional. Often at the sides of the frame objects are at least slightly out of focus, but in one sequence (at around the 45 minute mark), pay attention as the quartet of bad guys confront Hickok on the main drag and the whole left side of the frame looks a little out of whack.

Hickok 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Both the 4K UHD disc and the 1080p Blu-ray disc included in this package feature a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix. While there's nothing major to complain about here, I personally was a little underwhelmed at some of the immersion. Places where one would expect to hear a glut of discrete channelization and elements like panning effects, as in the Civil War prelude that begins the film, tend instead to lump effects together front and center at times. That said, there is good attention paid to ambient environmental effects, and there are certainly washes of sonic information entering from the side and rear channels, especially when the film ventures out of doors. Dialogue and score are both rendered very cleanly with no problems whatsoever.

Hickok 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Both the 4K UHD disc and the 1080p Blu-ray disc included in this package commendably sport the same supplements, in their respective highest resolutions and with progressive presentations:

• The Road to Abilene: The Making of Hickok (14:36) is an appealing enough EPK, with decent interviews, behind the scenes footage and snippets from the finished film.


• Deleted Scenes (2:50)


• Trailer (2:53)

Hickok 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Hickok has none of the revisionist fervor of other post-modern westerns like Unforgiven, but if it's taken on its own arguably unambitious merits, it provides decent entertainment value, even if its "history" is fanciful at best and downright misleading at worst. Performances are good across the board, even if Hemsworth comes off as a bit too contemporary for such an iconic 19th century character. The film is scenic in a kind of barren midwest way, and while never surprising or innovative, Hickok provides midlevel enjoyment that may sustain western fans until something more sensational comes along. Technical merits are strong, and with caveats noted, Hickok comes Recommended.