7.4 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Four unlikely cowboys band together to defeat a corrupt frontier sheriff.
Starring: Kevin Kline, Scott Glenn, Kevin Costner, Danny Glover, John CleeseWestern | 100% |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1
French: Dolby TrueHD 5.1
Spanish: Dolby TrueHD 5.1
Portuguese: Dolby TrueHD 5.1
English, English SDH, French, German, Portuguese, Spanish, Arabic, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Hindi, Norwegian, Swedish, Turkish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Lawrence Kasdan almost seems to have had a checklist of various genres he wanted to revisit in his early career, putting his own spin on things. Science fiction? Star Wars--check. Saturday morning action adventure serials? Indiana Jones--check. Film noir? Body Heat--check. And of course, the western, which Kasdan brought his typically postmodern edge to in 1985’s fun and frothy Silverado, a film whose cult has only grown since its initial release, lending it a patina that, depending on your point of view, it never really deserved in the first place, or, alternatively, cements its reputation as one of the last of the old fashioned westerns, one without the angst and hyperbolic sturm und drang of such opuses as Unforgiven. If an objective eye looks at the film now more than twenty years after its release, it’s clear that, yes, the film has flaws. But those flaws can’t ultimately defeat the overarching enjoyment the film brings, one full of Fordian visions of the expanses of the west (mostly New Mexico, as opposed to Ford’s Utah) mixed with some fine character writing with a moral edge that is almost redolent of Frank Capra at times.
Kasdan has always managed to reinvent the wheel with his various projects, uncommonly adept at offering up clichés that don’t really seem trite and true (pun intended) due to the often uncharacteristic environments in which they’re placed or personalities who are bringing them to life. With his brother Mark, Kasdan in Silverado fashions a screenplay that is one part Magnificent Seven (minus three, more or less) and several parts every range war western you’ve ever seen. The Kurosawa-Sturges connection comes by way of the outlaw as hero element, coming to the rescue of a town threatened by bandits of a sort (though here they wear badges). These outlaws cum heroes are here personified by at least three of the lead quartet, Emmett (Scott Glenn), his brother Jake (Kevin Costner), and tagalong Paden (Kevin Kline), all of whom have had brushes with the law and at various times have been incarcerated.
The beautiful vista that opens Silverado after the exciting pre-credits gunfight sequence.
Silverado arrives on Blu-ray with a largely excellent 1080p AVC encoded image with an aspect ratio of 2.40:1. This is a film that shows its age from time to time, with a not unpleasant softness in some of the wide vista shots, and some very natural, if verging on overpowering at times, grain in the outdoor footage especially. Some of the faces (Dennehy's especially in his opening scenes) have an oddly smooth quality to them that hints at some at least minor DNR, but the presence of the grain in the bulk of the film argues against anything too egregious. There's also some fairly minor, though noticeable for the eagle eyed, edge enhancement around such items as tree branches. This is a film that revels in the dirty, dusty ambience of the old west, so colors are purposefully not especially strong, staying resolutely in the beige to brown spectrum. Fleshtones often have a ruddy appearance, though the New Mexico winter could have had something to do with that. When we do get some vibrancy in the palette, this Blu-ray supports it extremely well. Sharpness is very impressive in mid-range to close up shots, with clarity so precise you can virtually make out the seams in costumes. Black levels are nicely inky with contrast strong throughout. Overall this is a quite impressive looking Blu-ray if the film's original look is taken into consideration.
Silverado's Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack elevates the overall fun of this film to an exciting new level for home theater enthusiasts. This is not only a sterling track from a clarity perspective, it's one of the most directional in recent memory, with consistently smart use of surround channels, especially in the many gunfight sequences. Fans of the film know Silverado starts out with a literal "bang," as Glenn shoots down a host of unseen nemeses, and listeners are in for an aural treat from the first seconds of the movie. LFE is used quite well not only in gunshots, but the thundering sound of horses' hooves. Dialogue is clear and always smartly placed in the soundfield. But the best part of this soundtrack is the marvelous reproduction of the absolutely glorious Broughton score. Broughton's gorgeous use of brass spills over the soundfield with thrilling brilliance and any lover of fine Americana in film music is going to have a heyday listening to this perfect music so perfectly reproduced.
I received a "check disc" for this review, and so cannot speak to whether its UK release matched the US digibook release. The on disc supplements include a generally decent, if at times meandering, commentary by three historians, a commentary which often veers from the film itself and might annoy some listeners as a result of that fact. The video supplements include two SD featurettes, a 27 minute interview with Kevin Costner (who needs to learn how to correctly pronounce "taciturn," if he doesn't mind me saying so) and a 37 minute Making of 'Silverado' opus that offers the typical talking head scenarios with the Kasdan brothers as well as other cast and crew. There is also BD Live functionality which had virtually nothing online yet when I checked.
Silverado may not be the perfect postmodern western, but it sure comes close, managing to graft equal parts humor and pathos onto an admittedly generic framework. Overlook its passing flaws and revel in Kasdan's excellent visual sense as well as the generally intelligently drawn characters. And most of all relish that unbelievably wonderful Broughton score.
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