7.8 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
A gunfighting stranger comes to the small settlement of Lago and is hired to bring the townsfolk together in an attempt to hold off three outlaws who are on their way.
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Verna Bloom, Marianna Hill, Mitchell Ryan, Jack GingWestern | 100% |
Drama | 27% |
Period | 10% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Action | Insignificant |
Mystery | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: DTS 2.0 Mono
DTS: 448 Kbps
English SDH, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
UV digital copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 1.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Around the early 1970s, Clint Eastwood was a major actor looking to make a transition to directing. Cutting his teeth on actioners and westerns, it would’ve made perfect sense for Eastwood to select a project that played to his strengths, allowing him a chance to impress the industry by taking the easy career route. Instead, the star made “Play Misty for Me,” an itchy psychological thriller that showcased his gifts with modest staging, performance, and mood. Finally, in 1973, Eastwood was ready to saddle up again, with “High Plains Drifter” a return to form, assuming command of a flinty, violent western, finally able to craft his own take on a well-worn genre. Channeling the spirits of former collaborators Don Siegel and Sergio Leone, along with decades of experience on the backs of horses, Eastwood rose to the occasion, generating a refreshingly bizarre feature with an unexpected mean streak. Mysterious, sporadically comical, and classically Eastwood, “High Plains Drifter” is a wholly satisfying revenge saga that’s askew enough to surprise as it exercises known elements.
In a rare show of catalog interest, Universal has issued a fresh scan of this 1973 feature. The AVC encoded image (2.35:1 aspect ratio) presentation provides a crisp, clean HD appearance, with only a mild amount of filtering to manage the grain, not erase it. Detail is superb, isolating facial particulars in meaty, sweaty close-ups, while locations reveal naturalistic textures, adding to the remote mood of the film. Blacks are consistent and deep, with little lost to evening incidents, while period outfits retain their craftsmanship. Colors are balanced and purposeful, with Lago's transformation into a red-painted Hell a highlight of the viewing experience, while costuming allows for additional explorations into primaries. Skintones are natural and communicative. Print is clean, without damage. Overall, I wish all the studio's vault titles were treated this kindly, as a simple effort of preservation allows "Drifter" to ride confidently on BD.
The 5.1 DTS-HD MA sound mix finds a suitable equilibrium for what amounts to a spare soundtrack punctuated with blasts of violence. Dialogue exchanges are crisply defined, with group activity managed acceptably, while purred threats from Eastwood are never buried. Scoring cues retain character and instrumentation, supporting comfortably without intrusion, setting the eerie mood of the picture, dialed up in intensity when the moment calls for it. Atmospherics are satisfactory, preserving metal spurs and environmental influence. Sound effects are a real treat here, finding whip cracks and gunshots pronounced, while explosions add a little low-end hustle to the listening experience. Surrounds are eager during scenes of chaos and for musical leadership, but the majority of the track is enjoyably frontal. Possibly inherent distortion is detected in the finale, leaving behind a few crackly moments.
Ordering Lago painted red to greet the villains, "High Plains Drifter" morphs into a vision of Hell, with a corker of a finale that carries the movie's mysterious origin to the final frame. Although it's the first western Eastwood directed, "High Plains Drifter" remains one of his finest efforts, exuding such visual confidence (the California locations are a knockout) and atmosphere, collected in a complex package of revenge. It's Eastwood hungry to prove himself, but also laying the foundation for a sharp cinematic instinct that would come to bear incredible fruit in the years to come.
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