7.3 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Arriving in Australia with nothing more than a saddle and his prized six-foot Sharps rifle, sharpshooter Matthew Quigley thinks he's been hired to kill off wild dogs. But when he realizes,instead, that his mission is murder - to "eliminate" the Aborigines from a wealthy cattle baron's land - Quigley refuses and quickly turns from hunter to hunted. Forced to wage a savage war against his former employer, Quigley proves that no one gets the best of a steely-eyed gunfighter - no one, that is, except the mysterious beauty who rides by his side.
Starring: Tom Selleck, Laura San Giacomo, Alan Rickman, Chris Haywood, Ron HaddrickWestern | 100% |
Romance | 6% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Adventure | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.34:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
French: Dolby Digital 2.0
Spanish: Dolby Digital Mono
English SDH, French, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Tom Selleck really should have been a major movie star. He had the looks, the presence, the voice, and his acting chops, while perhaps not Olivieresque, are at least respectable, making up in affability what they perhaps lack in depth. Like any number of major male superstars before him, Selleck hit it big in television and then tried to parlay that success into a big screen career, a career which while dotted with occasional successes (Three Men and a Baby) never really shot into the stratosphere. It’s all the more odd when one revisits some of his relatively early film work to find films that are certainly a lot better than much of the tripe being churned out nowadays, films which in their day were kind of grudgingly admired but never really acclaimed. Such a piece is Quigley Down Under, an often extremely effective neo-Western set in Australia that does everything Baz Luhrmann’s Australia set out to do without any of Luhrmann’s pretensions, grandiosity or manic-depressive directorial flourishes. Quigley Down Under manages to perfectly capture Australia in all its wildness and even savagery, giving us an apt history lesson in the process, without ever being didactic or dull. Selleck’s Matthew Quigley, a wild west sharpshooter who comes to Australia at the behest of ranch owner Elliott Marston (Alan Rickman), who is hoping Quigley can rid him of his “aboriginal problem.” Along the way Quigley interacts with a rather eclectic array of both Aussies and expats, including a perhaps insane Texas woman the locals have charmingly nicknamed Crazy Cora (Laura San Giacomo).
Fox's slew of recent releases of MGM catalog titles have been mostly exemplary, and Quigley Down Under is yet another winner, with an appealing AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.34:1. This is an often ruggedly gorgeous looking film, and the palette here is filled with sun drenched burnt umbers, siennas and rusts, all of which are splendidly saturated and brilliantly reproduced. Fine detail is often exceptional, offering everything from the slimy mucus emanating from an oxen's nostril to the bristly stubble on Selleck's face. Depth of field and dimensionality are both exceptional throughout the film. Colors ring true here and grain is apparent and natural looking without ever being overwhelming or leading to digital noise. There were a couple of minor moments of aliasing, mostly to do with parallel lines on things like the metal roof on one of Marston's outbuildings, but otherwise this is yet another very solid catalog release that proves that these things can be done well with a little time and effort.
Quigley Down Under probably could have benefited from a repurposed surround sound mix, considering its vast open spaces and sequences filled with ambient environmental effects and (of course) gunfire, but the lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mix that is provided here does quite well within its obviously narrow confines. Dialogue is cleanly presented, and there's really excellent dynamic range throughout the film which captures everything from that selfsame gunfire, to the stark sounds of the Australian outback to the haunting drone like chants of the Aborigines. Basil Poledouris' rip roaring score (which just barely quotes Ferde Grofe's Grand Canyon Suite) sounds beautiful and elevates the film substantially. The overall mix between dialogue, effects and score is also very artfully represented by the DTS track.
Quigley Down Under makes no bones about being an old fashioned entertainment, but it does so within a sort of neo-modern revisionist framework where we're also exposed to some rethinking about native peoples and the interplay between the supposedly "advanced" white man and more atavistic cultures. It's nothing new, but it's to Quigley's credit that the unusual location helps to offset any passing feeling of déjà vu. With excellent performances by Selleck, San Giacomo and especially Rickman (who's as fun as ever), Quigley Down Under is certainly a lot better than it was given credit for being upon its initial theatrical release. Fox has given us yet another excellent Blu-ray upgrade, and at this price point, it's hard not to say Quigley Down Under is Highly recommended.
2017
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