John Wayne Westerns Collection Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

John Wayne Westerns Collection Blu-ray Movie Review

Some (but Far from All) of the Duke's Cowboy Classics

Reviewed by Michael Reuben May 31, 2015

Warner's latest Blu-ray collection combining the old and the new features the legendary John Wayne in three of his greatest Westerns (the old) and two lesser entries from his later career (the new). One important caveat, however, is that the version of Howard Hawks's Rio Bravo included with this collection is not identical to the disc previously released in 2007 (and now out of print). The video is the same, but the audio has been remastered in lossless DTS-HD Master Audio. The reissued disc is also missing the hour-long documentary, The Men Who Made the Movies: Howard Hawks, presumably due to rights issues.

The two titles new to Blu-ray, The Train Robbers and Cahill U.S. Marshal , are available separately, as is the reissued Rio Bravo .

For discussion of The Train Robbers, please see The Train Robbers Blu-ray review.

For discussion of Cahill U.S. Marshal, please the Cahill U.S. Marshal Blu-ray review.

For discussion of Rio Bravo, please see the 2007 Rio Bravo Blu-ray review by Martin Liebman.

For discussion of The Searchers, please The Searchers Blu-ray review by Martin Liebman.

For discussion of Fort Apache, please see the Fort Apache Blu-ray review by Jeffrey Kauffman.

John Wayne Westerns Collection Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Train Robbers (follow the link for screenshots):

The Train Robbers was the last feature film photographed by William H. Clothier, who was the cinematographer on many of Wayne's pictures, including The Alamo and his last major hit, Big Jake. Clothier had years of experience shooting the great outdoors in locations like Durango and Sonora, Mexico, which provide most of the scenic locations for The Train Robbers. Warner's 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray is a respectable catalog effort, with enough fine detail to bring out both the landscape in long shots and the cowboys' dusty faces (as compared to Mrs. Lowe's daintier features) in closeups. The image is sharp without ringing or other evidence of artificial enhancement, and the film's grain pattern appears to be undisturbed. The color palette is that of the classical Western, with rich earth tones predominant under a blue sky. Blacks are deep and solid, which is essential for the many nighttime sequences.

Although Warner has placed the film on a BD-25, The Train Robbers runs a trim 92 minutes, and the extras are scant, resulting in an average bitrate of 24.95 Mbps. It isn't generous but it's adequate, and I saw no problems with artifacts.


Cahill U.S. Marshal (follow the link for screenshots):

Cahill U.S. Marshal was shot by the respected and highly versatile cinematographer Joseph F. Biroc, whose credits range from It's a Wonderful Life to Airplane! and whom Mel Brooks has credited with teaching him essential skills of moviemaking. Unfortunately, Warner's 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray is only a fair reproduction of Biroc's anamorphic widescreen photography, with inconsistent and often weak detail, especially in long shots, and sharpness that is equally variable. Some scenes look better than others, and for many viewers, especially those with smaller screens, I suspect the disc will be deemed satisfactory on the ground that "this is the best it's ever looked". It is, however, less than it could be, and it is noticeably inferior to The Train Robbers, which is being released at the same time. As has often been the case with Warner's catalog titles, the culprit appears to be high frequency filtering for the purpose of fitting this 102-minute film onto a BD-25 (and Warner hasn't even used all of the available space on the disc). With an average bitrate of 18.96 Mbps, fine detail appears to have been sacrificed to conserve space.

There are compensatory strengths, however. The earth-toned color palette is vividly reproduced, and the nighttime blacks are dark and solid. Warner's catalog titles have frequently made a good impression on collectors with such qualities, and fans of the Duke should find this iteration of Cahill an improvement over any previous version.


Rio Bravo (reviewed by Martin Liebman in 2007; follow the link for screenshots):

Warner Brothers brings the classic Western Rio Bravo to Blu-ray with a handsome 1080p, 1.78:1-framed transfer. While not a sparkling sensation in the same way that something like Avatar lights up the screen, Rio Bravo looks marvelous in its own right. Colors appear slightly over-saturated at times, and there's something of a dusty tone to the picture that's understandable considering the rustic structures, wood and leather goods, and the main dirt road through town that are all constant companions throughout the film. Still, colors more often than not look rather good if not slightly unnatural in a 1950s sort of Technicolor way, whether Chance's red shirt as seen at the beginning of the film or the many shades of brown that often dominate the picture in the form of building façades, furnishings, leather goods, and rifle stocks. Unfortunately, flesh tones often veer heavily towards a red shade, and skin -- particularly in several shots of Dean Martin -- can look somewhat pasty and unnaturally smooth. Still, there's a fair amount grain retention throughout; it's heavier in some places than in others but is nevertheless an almost constant companion during the picture. Detailing ranges from average to borderline exceptional; brick walls enjoy a noticeably rough texture, and viewers will note the wear on leather canteens, the scratches and nicks in rifle stocks, and even some of the more intricate nitty-gritty details of the town's dirt road. Blacks hold up nicely, too, taking on a dark and inky shade without overpowering the image to a great extent. The image is also sharp; edges and backgrounds sometimes go a bit soft, though there are just as many instances where they stay crisp and natural all around. A slight bit of aliasing is visible on several checkerboard pattern garments, but the transfer is generally free of other unwanted anomalies. Rio Bravo looks great; it's certainly overshadowed by some of the other, more visually pristine classic films on Blu-ray, but all things considered -- particularly that the film has recently celebrated its 50th birthday -- it's impossible not to like what Warner Brothers has done with this cherished and deserving classic.


The Searchers (reviewed by Martin Liebman in 2006; follow the link for screenshots):

Warner Brothers has recently remastered The Searchers, and the result is extraordinary. This print looks absolutely beautiful and pristine. The film is presented in luscious, vibrant technicolor in 1080p high definition and in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. I really love the look of technicolor. There is nary a speck of dirt on this print. Black levels are good, flesh tones looks great, and detail is high. Watching The Searchers on Blu-ray was a marvel and a revelation. I simply cannot wait to see more classic films on Blu-ray. If they look as good as The Searchers, we are going to be in for some mighty fine treats in the coming years. A long distance shot with snow on the ground and buffalo in the background is one of the most lifelike I have ever seen. A few other long distance shots, sometimes the type of shots that look the worst on home video, look as natural and lifelike as anything I have ever seen on a television set, and this is coming from a 50 year old movie. Who would have thought combining a 50 year old film with modern entertainment mediums could result in an image as stunningly beautiful as this one? I'm simply astonished at just how wonderful The Searchers looks on Blu-ray.


Fort Apache (reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman in 2012; follow the link for screenshots):

Fort Apache is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Warner Brothers with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.37:1. While this transfer isn't up to the incredible standards of some of the other Warner classics of this era, it holds its own, especially since it appears to have been sourced from a print and not a fine grain master positive or original negative. The print is largely damage free, though there are occasional very minor emulsion issues (the opening few seconds are the worst), occasional white flecks and scratches, and some slight variations in contrast. Generally, though, the image is decently sharp and well detailed, though I personally would have liked richer blacks. Oddly, a few scenes are noticeably softer than the bulk of the film, and there doesn't seem to be any logical reason for it; some of these are location shots (which would be understandable), while others are obvious from the studio bound segments. Grain is natural looking, perhaps a bit on the unexpectedly minimal side (considering the film's age and this transfer having evidently been sourced from a print), but does not appear to have been artificially reduced. The location photography in Ford's beloved Monument Valley offers some spectacular depth of field and remains one of the stronger visual elements of both the film and this high definition presentation.

John Wayne Westerns Collection Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Train Robbers:

The Train Robbers was released in mono, which has been encoded here in lossless DTS-HD MA 1.0. The sound mix is sufficiently robust to make gun shots register forcefully, along with several major explosions that punctuate a key scene. The sounds of frontier transportation, both animal and mechanical, are vivid and varied. Dialogue is always clear and, for the most part, blends with the environment in which it is being spoken. The score by Dominic Frontiere (Chisum) both sounds good and contributes an important comic element to the film; Frontiere wrote calm, easygoing cues for Lane's group and fast-paced, frenetic cues for the criminal gang following them, so that cutting rapidly back and forth between them made the gang seem clownish.


Cahill U.S. Marshal:

Cahill's original mono track has been encoded in lossless DTS-HD MA 1.0, and the quality is first rate. The blaze that serves as a diversion for the bank robbery is appropriately loud and aggressive, as is the bucket brigade that attempts to extinguish it. Gunshots, rain storms, hoofbeats and other sound effects register with appropriate impact. The dialogue is always clear, and Elmer Bernstein's spirited score plays with impressive fidelity.


Rio Bravo: Follow the link for Martin Liebman's review of the 2007 release, which had lossy audio. The disc in the Collection offers the same track in lossless format. Because the audio is the only change in the presentation, the new Blu-ray of Rio Bravo is not being separately reviewed.


The Searchers (reviewed by by Martin Liebman):

Warner Brothers presents The Searchers with a Dolby Digital Mono audio track running at 48KHz, 192 kbps. Ah, good old mono. It's really refreshing now and then. I'm thrilled they left something as good as this track as-is and didn't try and remix it to something that would have sounded unnatural. Music, dialogue, and gun shots all sound wonderful. Of course, there is nothing coming from any speaker but the center channel, and that's great, for this title. As an older film, this is what was originally heard, and as a major proponent of leaving things as they are and originally were, I loved the way The Searchers sounded. I cannot fault a track for faithfully reproducing its original source, and the track on The Searchers does this admirably.


Fort Apache (reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman):

Fort Apache's original mono soundtrack is presented in a decent sounding lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 mix. The soundtrack is obviously a relic of a bygone age, and has not aged particularly well, with an overall boxy sound that is especially noticeable in the film's many music cues. Higher frequencies are slightly clipped, and the low end, while certainly present (and perhaps even a bit surprisingly so), still remains a bit muddled. Midrange frequencies sound the best here, which means the dialogue comes across cleanly and clearly, if again slightly boxy sounding. Fidelity is certainly fine given an understanding of the age of the track, and dynamic range is rather good, again taken in the proper context.

John Wayne Westerns Collection Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Extras for each disc are listed in the separate reviews, except that, as noted in the introduction, the version of Rio Bravo included in this collection is missing the hour-long documentary, The Men Who Made the Movies: Howard Hawks. It also contains only the trailer for Rio Bravo, omitting the trailers for additional John Wayne films.

John Wayne Westerns Collection Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Both Rio Bravo and The Searchers were early Blu-ray releases, and many fans are hoping to see those titles remastered in superior versions, a prospect that is certainly possible, given the stature of both films. Nevertheless, for anyone new to Blu-ray, the Collection may be a reasonable investment at its current street price. Otherwise, the individual titles are the way to go.