6.7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Rugged trail boss and reformed criminal Pike promises his honest wealthy employer Morgan that he will venture across the dessert to deliver $86,000 dollars in payroll money to a ranch in Sonora, Mexico. Pike makes an uneasy alliance with smooth, yet shifty gambler Tyree in order to successfully complete his dangerous mission. During their perilous trek Pike and Tyree encounter desperate prostitute Catherine and her loyal ace martial artist half-breed companion Kashtok. Meanwhile, ruthless bounty hunter Kiefer and numerous greedy others give dogged chase.
Starring: Jim Brown, Fred Williamson, Lee Van Cleef, Catherine Spaak, Barry SullivanWestern | 100% |
Drama | 40% |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono
None
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Note: This film is currently available only in this bundle: Movies 4 You: Timeless Westerns
The sixties and seventies were a time of transition for one of the hoariest genres in film, the western. What had once
been a reliable box office attraction through the early fifties at least had found its mojo with audiences seriously
depleted by the glut of small screen oaters which invaded television from the mid-fifties on, as well as perhaps just a
natural attrition of interest caused by so many westerns having been released for so long, and by the time the early
sixties rolled around, huge hit westerns were actually the exception rather than the norm. For every How the West Was Won
(which was actually marketed as much as an “event” movie as it was an actual western), there were scores of other
films, some with major stars and directors attached, which just fell by the wayside. Things seemed to be looking up
when 1969 produced two unlikely western hits that couldn’t have been more different, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
and The Wild Bunch. But
audiences can be fickle aggregations, and while a number of fascinating westerns were made in the wake of these two
hallmarks, few actually ended up connecting with audiences in any overwhelming way. The four films collected on this
perhaps odd seeming two Blu-ray set from Timeless Media Group (an imprint of Shout! Factory) all fall into that less than
stellar category, even if each of them has at least some redeeming characteristics (and sometimes much more than
that). All of these films failed to ignite at the box office, and in fact probably were seen in such venues as drive-ins and
then on various television broadcasts through the years. While they appear to be a fairly disparate bunch, spanning
the years from 1964’s Rio Conchos to 1979’s Butch & Sundance: The Early Years, there are at least a
couple of linking elements here, including three scores by the inestimable Jerry Goldsmith and two appearances by Jim
Brown (including his screen debut). The four together provide a rather interesting look both at what went right and
wrong with the western during this transitional era.
Take a Hard Ride is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Timeless Media Group with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. This is the least appealing looking feature of this set of four films, which doesn't necessarily means it's horrible, perhaps simply that it suffers by comparison. While the elements are in very good shape, colors are slightly anemic looking, rarely if ever really popping in any significant way. Fine detail is sometimes middling at best, though it tends to rise quite a bit above that range in some extreme close-ups. The film is quite grainy at times, especially noticeable in the desert shots, where grain swarms over the clear blue skies. Contrast is generally very good and while this never approaches pristine clarity, there's reasonable sharpness throughout this presentation.
Take a Hard Ride features a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio Mono mix delivered via DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. This is a trouble free track which ably supports the film's dialogue and effects, as well as its fun Jerry Goldsmith score. The film is surprisingly talky at times, so there's not a wealth of opportunity to exploit dynamic range, but fidelity is excellent and while the track is narrow and not especially full sounding, there's no actual damage of any kind to report.
Take a Hard Ride didn't fare nearly as well as Three the Hard Way did at the box office, and it's really not that hard to see why. First of all, audience members coming to this film expecting a sequel of sorts were probably at the very least slightly annoyed that this was a western (even if its marketing ploy trumpeted that fact). But even given that disconnect from the earlier film, Take a Hard Ride is too disjointed and multi-dimensional (for want of a better term) to ever really connect. It's obvious there was a fair amount of ambition involved in making this film, since it certainly has a lot of genres and ideas churning for attention, but it turns out to be a case of too much resulting in too little. Still, fans of the stars will most likely want to check out this release, despite the comparatively lackluster video quality.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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