Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Monte Walsh Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 15, 2025

William A. Fraker's "Monte Walsh" (1970) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the release include an exclusive new audio commentary recorded by Lee Marvin biographer Dwayne Epstein and vintage trailer. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Monte Walsh (Lee Marvin) has been a cowboy all his life, but he has realized that soon no one will need men like him. For a while, he has been lucky to find small jobs here and there that would pay enough so he does not starve, but lately, even the low-paying gigs have disappeared.

When Monte’s best friend, Chet (Jack Palance) marries a lonely widow in a small town, he begins thinking about having a family of his own too. Monte talks to Martine (Jeanne Moreau), the local whore, who has always had a soft spot for him. She is surprised to hear that he wants to settle down, but after making love to him and recalling the good times they shared when they were younger, she casually confesses that his idea is not bad.

Soon after, a traveling businessman comes around and offers Monte a job. If Monte agrees to do it, he will make more than he ever has and be able to save enough to buy a house. However, he will have to spend the next several years living on the road, too. Initially, Monte likes the offer, but right before agreeing to become part of the businessman’s crew changes his mind.

Meanwhile, two penniless cowboys who used to ride with Monte decide to rob the hardware store Chet has started operating with his new wife. When Chet attempts to change their mind, the more desperate of the two shoots him in the chest.

William A. Fraker’s directorial debut, Monte Walsh, sees the Old West without the glamour that is typically present in the big-budget westerns Hollywood produced during the years. It is a slow and unusually poetic film that attempts to tell the truth -- and the truth was that the Old West was a big, sad, and very dangerous place where being a good worker and great gunslinger was frequently not enough to survive.

Marvin’s character is also getting old. Initially, he spends time with other cowboys who, just like him, have begun taking odd jobs to make ends meet. Life is not easy, but they support and encourage each other, secretly hoping that the ‘good times’ will come back. When even the odd jobs begin disappearing, the men become seriously depressed. Some get married but not because they have discovered true love, some become outlaws, and some, like Marvin’s character, get stuck between the present and the past, constantly reevaluating their lives while worrying about the future.

Monte Walsh has a terrific atmosphere and frequently produces striking visuals. It has great stars, too. Marvin, Palance, and Moreau look extremely relaxed and slightly jaded, exactly like people who have realized they have no other option but to play the tough hands life has dealt them.

A couple of big, wonderfully choreographed shootouts could have been the highlights in various classic westerns. However, the most intense sequence features Marvin trying to tame a wild mustang and destroying half the town.

Monte Walsh was cinematographer David M. Walsh's first big project. After it, he collaborated with Leonard Hord on Corky (1972), Jack Starrett on Cleopatra Jones (1973), and Herbert Ross on The Sunshine Boys (1975), amongst others.

Fraker’s credits as a cinematographer include such cult films as Pater Yates’ Bullitt (1968), Roman Polanski’s Rosemary's Baby (1968), and Burt Reynolds’ Sharky's Machine (1981).

Monte Walsh Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Monte Walsh arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

In the United States, Monte Walsh made its high-definition debut with this release exactly a decade ago. This Special Edition is sourced from the same master that MGM supplied for the original release, but the technical presentation of the film is different.

On the previous release, the gamma levels are not set properly, and the entire film is placed on a single-layer disc. On this release, the gamma levels are set properly, and the entire film is placed on a dual-layer disc. Is there a meaningful difference in quality between the two presentations? And should you consider an upgrade if you already have the previous release? Before I answer these questions, I would like to mention a few things. If Monte Walsh is properly restored in 4K and properly graded, it will look fresher and boast more attractive visuals. On the current master, there are tiny nicks and even a few marks that occasionally pop up here and there. Also, while I like the current master a lot, in a few areas some highlights could be managed better. At the moment, they are not distracting, but they are not ideal. I think that in a few darker sequences grain exposure could be more even, and if it is, density levels will benefit. Color balance is convincing and very good. While some primaries and supporting nuances could be more vibrant, the current look of the film is the correct one, so a 4K master should replicate it. There are no traces of problematic digital corrections.

Back to the two questions now. Yes, on my system, various sequences, featuring indoor and outdoor footage, looked noticeably better. If you have a big screen, this release is definitely the one to own now. For what it's worth, I also spent a bit of time upscaling to 4K and thought that the overall quality of the visuals was very, very good. My score is 4.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Monte Walsh Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray 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.

The lossless track is very good. It has a solid dynamic range and its upper register is very healthy. Even if you turn up the volume of your system quite a bit more than usual, you will not notice any age-related anomalies. Does this mean that there is absolutely no room for improvement? At the moment, I would say that there is no room for meaningful improvements. There could be a bit of room for rebalancing work, but I do not think that it would affect the current strength of the existing lossless track.

Monte Walsh Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary - in this exclusive new audio commentary, Lee Marvin biographer Dwayne Epstein shares a tremendous amount of information about the conception of Monte Walsh and how it emerged as one of the best, if not the best, films from a trend in American cinema during the 1960s about the death of the Old West. Just as importantly, Epstein shares many personal stories about Marvin, some half-truth and lies about his working methods and legacy, and some of the people he worked with, including Jack Palance. It is a wonderful commentary, very much worth listening to in its entirety.

• Trailer - presented here is a vintage trailer for Monte Walsh. In English, not subtitled. (4 min).

Monte Walsh Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

At the end, the great cowboys and gunslingers that roamed the Old West faced two options. They could adapt, grow older, and die in peace, or self-destruct as they ran out of time. This is what Lee Marvin's character realizes in William A. Fraker's directorial debut, Monte Walsh, a tremendous film about the final days of a glorious era. If you do not yet have it in your collection, I strongly suggest picking it up together with David Miller's Lonely Are the Brave, which is an even bigger and better film about another old-timer wearing a cowboy hat and trying to figure out his future. This Special Edition offers a different, superior presentation of Monte Walsh with a fabulous, exclusive new audio commentary recorded by Marvin biographer Dwayne Epstein. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.