Ride Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Ride Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 22, 2024

As vaunted and even legendary as the Western is in the annals of American genre film (and television), for some strange reason contemporary Westerns, especially those with a certain "bucking bronco" emphasis, seem to have more trouble attracting attention. Case in point: Stoney Burke. What's that, you ask? Well, a few years before he started yelling "Book 'em, Dan-o" on Hawaii Five-O, Jack Lord essayed the title role of Mr. Burke in a one season "wonder" about an itinerant rodeo guy who specialized in riding bucking broncos, in what was kind of a "horsey" version of the then very hot Route 66, allowing Stoney to travel from place to place an interact with that week's guest star, typically someone experiencing some kind of trouble. Wiser sensibilities might have realized that a horse is probably no real competition for a Corvette convertible, but it may have been the general context of a rodeo rider that ended up sinking Stoney Burke. Multi-hyphenate Jake Allyn, who wrote, directed and co- stars in this feature, may well have been aware of Stoney Burke, since Ride also focuses on bucking bronco riders, albeit within a general outline of modern day rural types struggling to come up with the cash to pay for some needed health care for a child, which leads to criminal activity. It's an uneasy mix at times, but Allyn has a feel for frustrated lives and a way of life that is, like a character in this very film, on life support.

The Hawkins family is one of those stalwart Texan clans that has seen their fair share of challenges, but who manage somehow to keep pushing through. Paterfamilias John (C. Thomas Howell) is estranged from his sheriff wife Monica (Annabeth Gish), and neither really want to have much if anything to do with their ex-con son Peter (Jake Allyn), who has just gotten out of stir after a good, long stretch. The family has been further traumatized by the reoccurrence of cancer in daughter Virginia (Zia Carlock), and it's here that the plot machinations begin to flirt with soap operatic tendencies combined with a kind of hinted at gritty crime caper underpinning.

There are competing interests at play in the screenplay by Allyn and Josh Plasse (who also co-stars as another member of the Hawkins family). One of those is the emphasis on a lifestyle that is seriously endangered, combined with what might be called a generational attempt to keep that lifestyle, well, alive. The other is the whole situation with Virginia's healthcare, which repeatedly points out the horrifying absurdity of the nooks and crannies of the United States' way of dealing with huge medical expenses. Perhaps weirdly, it's in this latter element that the film really manages to deliver its most salient "message". But Ride might have been better without its relentless speechifyin', especially in a third act exposition dump that is kind of oddly combined with a near music video sensibility.

Ride Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Ride is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Well Go USA with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. As of the writing of this review, the IMDb doesn't offer any technical specs and I haven't been able to dredge up any salient information online, but this is a nice looking digital capture that I'm assuming had a 2K DI. The story kind of ping pongs between the day to day lives of various Hawkins members with interstitial rodeo sequences, and there are some distinct ebbs and flows of fine detail in particular between these two elements, with the rodeo material perhaps unavoidably coming off as slightly less detailed at times, due at least in part to rapidly moving objects (and cameras). The palette is very nicely suffused and contrast is generally strong, though there are some curious flashes of brightness a couple of times that didn't seem to be related to any actual lighting changes. Very slight banding can be discerned in some of the rodeo sequences in particular where generally dark backgrounds are suddenly suffused with light.

Ride Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

An emphasis on music and sound effects in the rodeo sequences in particular help to elevate this disc's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. There's good attention paid to surround channel engagement in those rodeo scenes in particular, but even some of the relatively "quieter" moments offer lifelike ambient environmental sounds dotting the side and rear speakers. Music is full bodied and is rather enjoyable, over all. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English and French subtitles are available.

Ride Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Interviews with the Cast

  Annabeth Gish (HD; 11:27)

  
  

  C. Thomas Howell (HD; 10:13)

  
  

  Forrie J. Smith (HD; 9:06)

  
  

  Jake Allyn (HD; 6:38)

  
  

  Josh Plasse (HD; 6:05)

  
  

  Laci Kaye Booth (HD; 4:15)

  
  

  Zia Carlock (HD; 3:32)

• Trailer (HD; 2:19)

Note: As tends to be the case with Well Go USA Blu-ray releases, the disc has been authored so that supplements follow one another automatically, so that clicking on the Annabeth Gish interview is essentially a Play All button. The disc is also authored to automatically move on to trailers for other Well Go USA releases after the Trailer for this film plays. Those trailers for other Well Go USA releases also play automatically at disc boot up.

Packaging features a slipcover.

Ride Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There are some excellent performances and a suitably elegiac tone suffusing Ride, but this may be a case where Allyn's reach exceeds his grasp, with a story that is probably a bit too stuffed full of competing elements. That said, this at least has an unusual setting and technical merits on the disc are generally strong. This is also the rare Well Go USA release with a few supplements beyond a trailer, for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.