8 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 5.0 | |
Overall | 4.7 |
A young cowhand rebels against his rancher stepfather during a perilous cattle drive.
Starring: John Wayne, Montgomery Clift, Joanne Dru, Walter Brennan, Coleen GrayWestern | 100% |
Romance | 77% |
Adventure | Insignificant |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.37:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
English: LPCM Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Four-disc set (2 BDs, 2 DVDs)
DVD copy
Region A (locked)
Movie | 5.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 5.0 | |
Overall | 5.0 |
Howard Hawks' "Red River" (1948) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; new video interview with filmmaker and critic Peter Bogdanovich; clips from an archival interview with the legendary American director; new video interview with critic Molly Haskell; clips from an archival interview with novelist and screenwriter Borden Chase; Lux Radio Theatre adaptation of Red River featuring John Wayne, Walter Brennan, and Joanne Dru; and more. The release also arrives with an illustrated booklet featuring an essay by critic Geoffrey O'Brien and a 1991 interview with Howard Hawks' longtime editor Christian Nyby, as well as a new paperback edition of Borden Chase's original novel, previously out of print. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
"He'll do..."
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.37:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Howard Hawks' Red River arrives on
Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.
The following text appears inside the booklet provided with this Blu-ray release:
"Because of the film's complicated postproduction schedule and logistics -- as partially detailed on page 16, in the interview with editor Christian Nyby -
- film elements for the director's preferred version of the film, the final 127-minute theatrical release from 1948, proved rarer than those for the now
more common 133-minute prerelease version, a cut of the film assembled sometime before its official premiere. This new digital transfer of the
prerelease version of Red River was created in 2K resolution on a Scanity film scanner from a 35mm duplicate negative. To reconstruct the
theatrical cut, we used a 35mm print from MGM's archives as a visual reference; this was not viable as a master source, however, because of film
frame damage. With that print as a guide, we assembled the majority of the theatrical version from the 2K scans made for the prerelease cut. There
are a number of sections in the theatrical version, though, that do not exist in the prerelease one, such as the different optical sequences that
accompany the voice-over narration. After much searching, a French 35mm composite print was located at Cinematheque francaise. Digital transfers of
remaining sections of the theatrical version were created in 2K resolution on a Scanity film scanner from the preserved print. Thousands of instances of
debris, splices, and warps were manually removed using MTI's DRS, while Digital Vision's Phoenix was used for small flicker, scratches, and grain
management and Pixel Farm's PFClean for jitter. Because of the difficulty of acquiring complete source material for the opening and closing credits of
the theatrical version, which differ from those of the prerelease one, we used a standard-definition PAL DigiBeta provided by MGM for those two
segments. The original film used for that transfer could not be located.
Assembling the soundtrack for the theatrical version presented similar problems. For the prerelease version, the original monaural soundtrack was
remastered at 24-bit from a 35mm optical soundtrack. This was then used as the primary source for the reconstruction of the theatrical soundtrack.
While the two versions diverged -- for example, in the theatrical version's inclusion of voice-over and somewhat different music my Dimitri Tiomkin --
an alternate 35mm optical element was used. Whenever possible, minute audio dropouts in the theatrical soundtrack were corrected through careful
mixing with isolated prerelease sections. Clicks, thumps, hiss, and hum were manually removed using Pro Tools HD. Crackle was attenuated using
AudioCube's integrated workstation.
Transfer supervisors: Lee Kline, Russell Smith.
Colorist: Lee Kline.
Theatrical version reconstruction: Gabriel Chavez.
Scanning: Colorworks, Culver City, CA.
Scanning and film preparation: Alex Hernandez/Colorworks, Culver City, CA."
Please note that the screencaptures included with this review appear in the following order:
1. Screencaptures #1-19 are from the Theatrical Version (Disc One).
2. Screencaptures #21-36 are from the Prerelease Version/Longer Version (Disc Two).
The basic characteristics of the shorter and longer versions of the film are fairly similar to those of the longer version which Eureka Entertainment released on Blu-ray last year. Indeed, image depth, detail,
and clarity are just as pleasing. However, there are minor discrepancies between the contrast and brightness settings -- there are select areas of the
film where Criterion's transfers look slightly brighter (compare screencapture #21 with screencapture #7 from our review of the Eureka Entertainment
release), while contrast is slightly elevated on the Eureka Entertainment transfer. Furthermore, there is extra digital work done on Criterion's transfers
and as a result the film has a better balanced look. To be perfectly clear, many debris scratches, flecks, and tiny vertical lines that are visible on the
Region-B release have been carefully removed (compare screencapture #19 with screencapture #15 from our review of the Region-B release). This
being said, I would like to make it perfectly clear that the same minor image fluctuations -- which can be traced back to the existing elements -- are
present on both releases (longer version). In other words, there are portions of the film where minor sharpness and clarity fluctuations can be seen,
but they are not a byproduct of poor digital corrections. Grain has been retained and it is very easy to see throughout the entire film, though because
of age-related issues, such as natural deterioration and fading, it isn't always evenly distributed. Edge-enhancement is not an issue of concern. Lastly,
the compression and encoding here are better and this becomes clear during select daylight sequences, but I doubt most viewers would be able to tell.
(Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its
content).
The two versions of Red River come with LPCM 1.0 tracks. For the record, Criterion have provided optional English SDH subtitles for each
version.
Depth and clarity are very pleasing. Minor fluctuations exist, but there are no sudden spikes or drops in dynamic activity. The dialog is stable and easy
to follow. Also, it appears that some additional work has been done to attenuate background hiss on the two versions of the film. Crackle, pops, and
clicks have also been removed as best as possible. There are no problematic high-frequency distortions.
Disc One
There is nothing that I can say about Red River that hasn't already been said before. It is a timeless American masterpiece which will be revisited and rediscovered for as long as there are people who appreciate great films. Criterion's upcoming Blu-ray release of Red River will likely remain the film's definitive home video release. It features two versions of the film: the shorter and preferred by director Howard Hawks version and the longer prerelease version. In addition to a great selection of supplemental features, including a terrific new video interview with filmmaker and critic Peter Bogdanovich, Criterion have included with the Blu-ray release a new paperback edition of Borden Chase's original novel. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
1926
1948
1932
1962
1951
1939
1948
1969
Roadshow Edition
1946
Limited Edition to 3000
1924
Warner Archive Collection
1956
1956
1957
1946
1961
1954
1917
1969
1958
1939