6.5 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Joe Baker has a dream. He wants to do 'something big.' When he needs a Gatling gun to accomplish this, he seeks out a black marketeer. The price he wants for the gun? A woman! So Baker kidnaps a woman off of the stagecoach, only to find that she is the wife of the commandant of the local Cavalry detachment. Things get further complicated when a girl named Dover McBride shows up. She has come to force Baker to marry her and return east.
Starring: Dean Martin, Brian Keith, Carol White, Honor Blackman, Ben JohnsonWestern | 100% |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
None
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Emerging from the success of 1969’s “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” 1971’s “Something Big” aims to sustain the freewheeling good times with another folksy western, this time pitting Dean Martin against Brian Keith. “Something Big” (which could inspire a drinking game, finding characters working the title into dialogue any chance they get) isn’t a dynamic production from director Andrew V. McLaglen (“The Wild Geese”), but it gets the job done thanks to the charms of the cast and its askew sense of frontier priority. The screenplay by James Lee Barrett isn’t always interested in Gatling gun action and chases, but pursues a lightly romantic tone as female characters become treasures to cowboys and military men, with the adventure straddling the border between America and Mexico.
The AVC encoded image (1.78:1 aspect ratio) presentation struggles with erratic cinematography. Outdoor adventures tend to register with the most power, finding passable detail as distances are explored and leathery characters are surveyed, achieving a modest level of clarity that frequently battles with softness. Interiors are intentionally hazy, aggressively so at times, delivering bloomy whites. Colors are a tad faded, but costuming preserves more vibrant hues, and skintones remain appealing. Delineation isn't problematic outside of a day-for-night sequence. Source is in decent shape, but scratches and speckling remain.
The 2.0 DTS-HD MA sound mix provides a clean listening experience that doesn't find much difficulty with dialogue exchanges, keeping voices detailed throughout. Scoring is also nicely balanced, supporting without disruption. Instrumentation remains appealing during the soundtrack cut as well. Atmospherics supply expanse, and action preserves snap, delivering heavier gunfire and explosions.
No supplementary material is included on this disc.
Substance isn't completely welcome here, and hilarity isn't achieved, but "Something Big" delivers a satisfying viewing experience that respects the essentials of western adventure while adding period-ready touches to help the effort compete in the marketplace, including a pop song written by Hal David and Burt Bacharach, meant to mirror "Butch Cassidy," or at least siphon a bit of the feature's success.
Sweet Vengeance
2013
1974
1971
Limited Edition to 3000
1966
1976
1968
1985
1967
2018
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1962
1970
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1972
Il mio nome è Nessuno | Mi Nombre es Ninguno | 40th Anniversary Edition
1973
2018
2017
1966
1948
2016