Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Lone Star 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 19, 2024

"John Sayles' "Lone Star" (1996) arrives on 4K Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the release include new program with John Sayles and filmmaker Gregory Nava; new program with cinematographer Stuart Dryburgh; and vintage trailer. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles. Region-Free.

The county where the skeleton with the badge is uncovered could be anywhere along the Texas borderline. It is a lonely, underdeveloped place where all kinds of different people have been learning to coexist for years. Some of these people were born and raised there, some arrived there from other places, like Mexico. No one knows how many of them are legal, and how many of them are illegal. But no one has been trying to find out because the status quo has been good for business -- the legal and the illegal.

When Sheriff Sam Deeds (Chris Cooper) is called to examine the skeleton and figure out its identity, the county slowly begins to leak some of its well-kept secrets. One of them is about an intense rivalry between two men who used to represent the law there. The first, Sheriff Charlie Wade (Kris Kristofferson), was a corrupt and cruel loner who was happy to use his gun whenever someone questioned his authority. He was not afraid of the consequences because he determined what the consequences would be. The second, Sheriff Buddy Deeds (Matthew McConaughey), the father of Sheriff Sam Deeds, treated the locals fairly, and they were happy to support him. Or, at least when Sheriff Charlie Wade was not around. The two men were not happy with each other, so everyone in the county knew that a head-on clash was inevitable.

Another secret is about the repeated failures of the people in the county to build a cohesive community. While out in public, they all pretended that they were living in one, but virtually all of them had good excuses to be suspicious of each other and stay in their niche. When their children started growing up, they taught them the importance of their excuses and how they defined who they were. The more people came to the county, legally and illegally, the more relevant the excuses became.

Another secret is about a couple of broken hearts. A long time ago, when Sheriff Sam Deeds (Chris Cooper) was still a boy, he fell in love with a girl (Elizabeth Pena) whom he could not keep. They both thought that they were meant for each other, but fate dispatched them in opposite ways and they grew older pondering what could have been. Some years later, Sheriff Sam Deeds returned to the county to be close to her, but she had moved on with her life, just like everyone else they once knew.

As Sheriff Sam Deeds gathers enough information to figure out the identity of the skeleton with the badge, the secrets -- and there are several more of them -- begin to overlap and eventually merge into a simple story. However, the more complete the story becomes, the less interested Sheriff Sam Deeds becomes in providing it with a proper closure.

Directed by John Sayles in 1996, Lone Star was conceived to be a cinematic mosaic like Nashville and Traffic, which means that it is essentially one giant character study. It is why the mystery surrounding the skeleton with the badge that is uncovered during the opening ten minutes is very quickly brushed aside.

Unfortunately, Sayles, who was born and raised in New York, places his character study in an environment that is very foreign to him and, rather predictably, defines it only by utilizing stereotypes and cliches that produce some seriously artificial relationships, too. On top of this, there is an obvious attempt to convince that the racially fractured community where the main characters reside is somehow representative of a very similarly fractured nation, which further damages the integrity of the film. (The classroom discussion and its political messaging features some of the most artificial material in the entire film).

When Sayles moves away from politics, some good material emerges that reveals what the film could have and probably should have been. For example, when Cooper and Pena rekindle their relationship, it is very easy to relate to their feelings, emotions, and what they are going through. The impromptu meeting between the aging father and his son, who has made him proud while serving in the Army without realizing it, is another example.

Kristofferson’s terrific transformation is a good enough reason to seek and see the film. He oozes evil that is instantly recognizable and genuinely intimidating.

Lone Star 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Criterion's release of Lone Star is a 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo pack. The 4K Blu-ray is Region-Free. However, the Blu-ray is Region-A "looked".

The following text appears inside the leaflet that is provided with this release:

"Supervised by director John Sayles and director of photography Stuart Dryburgh, this new digital master was created from the 35mm original camera negative, which was scanned in 4K resolution. The original 2.0 track was remastered from the 3mm magnetic track. Pleasebe sure to enable Dolby Pro Logic decoding on your receiver to properly play the Dolby 2.0 surround soundtrack.

Mastering supervisor: Lee Kline.
Colorist: Joe Gawler, Harbor Picture Company, New York."

Please note that some of the screencaptures that appear with this article are taken from the 4K Blu-ray and downscaled to 1080p. Therefore, they do not accurately reflect the quality of the 4K content on the 4K Blu-ray disc.

Screencaptures #1-30 are from the Blu-ray.
Screencaptures #32-37 are from 4K Blu-ray.

I viewed the entire 4K makeover with Dolby Vision and did not test the HDR grade. However, I spent quite a bit of time comparing the native 4K presentation and the 1080p presentation on the Blu-ray.

In native 4K, Lone Star is quite incredible. In fact, the 4K makeover is so convincing that there isn't a single aspect of it that I would change if I could. For example, delineation, clarity, and depth are all tremendously impressive, so there are 'reference quality' visuals practically everywhere. Fluidity is fantastic too, so on a large screen these visuals look even more impressive. Color balance is outstanding. The primaries are very nicely saturated but never appear boosted, while the supporting nuances are pitch-perfect. Maintaining this balance is not easy either because the outdoor panoramic footage, the indoor footage, and the flashbacks have completely different qualities. The Dolby Vision grade handles darker areas very well, too. I compared several areas on the 1080p presentation, and I have to say that the native 4K presentation very clearly excels. The wider color gamut also makes some of the outdoor visuals appear noticeable lusher. There are no traces of problematic digital corrections. The surface of the visuals is immaculate as well. All in all, there is no doubt in my mind that this combo pack will be the definitive home video release of Lone Star because the 4K makeover is flawless.

Lone Star 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

While Lone Star does not have any material that can produce the type of dynamic intensity big-budget action films can impress with, its variety of dynamic nuances is rather remarkable. Indeed, organic sounds and noises, music, and the occasional gunshots all come together and create a unique ambience that is wonderfully reproduced by the lossless track. Also, this ambience is the glue that unites the material from the present and the flashbacks. I did not encounter any encoding anomalies to report in our review.

Lone Star 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

4K BLU-RAY DISC

• Bonus Features - there are no bonus features on the 4K Blu-ray disc.

BLU-RAY DISC

• John Sayles with Gregory Nava - in this new program, John Sayles discusses the conception and production of Lone Star with filmmaker Gregory Nava. Sayles also addresses his work as a novelist and the evolution of his career over the years, as well as the concept of 'border'. The program was produced for Criterion in 2023. In English, not subtitled. (39 min).

• Stuart Dryburgh - in this new program, cinematographer Stuart Dryburgh discusses his collaboration with John Sayles on Lone Star. The program was produced for Criterion in 2023. In English, not subtitled. (19 min).

• Trailer - presented here is a vintage U.S. trailer for Lone Star from Sony Pictures Classics. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

• Leaflet - an illustrated leaflet featuring Domino Renee Perez's essay "Past is Present" and technical credits.

Lone Star 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

In Lone Star, a skeleton with a badge reveals several interconnected secrets in a border county in Texas, which then become the key pieces in an ambitious cinematic mosaic that supposedly reveals a lot more about America's social fabric. Unfortunately, Lone Star is not as good as similar projects like Nashville and Traffic because it operates with a lot of dated stereotypes and cliches that produce some seriously artificial relationships. It is still worth seeing because of several strong individual performances, but I think that with a better screenplay it could have been a vastly superior film. Criterion's 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo pack introduces an outstanding new 4K restoration. RECOMMENDED.