6.5 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Written and directed by Hollywood Ten member Abraham Polonsky, this story is set in 1909, when young Paiute Indian Willie Boy (Robert Blake) returns to his California reservation to be with Lola, whose father disapproves of him, a killing in self defense takes place, triggering a massive man hunt for Willie.
Starring: Robert Redford, Katharine Ross, Robert Blake, Susan Clark (I), Barry SullivanWestern | 100% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.35:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 16-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 2.5 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Abraham Polonsky's "Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here" (1969) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the disc include an exclusive audio commentary by actor/filmmaker Pat Healy and film historian Jim Healy and original trailers. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
The posse
Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Abraham Polonsky's Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.
The release is sourced from a remaster that was prepared by Universal Pictures. Unfortunately, it has all of the classic flaws that the studio's vault remasters have become famous for. Indeed, there are traces of some quite obvious filtering corrections that give the film an overall flat and very digital appearance. During darker/indoor footage, in particular, there are entire ranges of crucial nuances that are lost, and in some cases there is even obvious smearing (see screencapture #9). But even during daylight footage the visuals never convey the proper organic depth that they are supposed to have, and occasionally the fine delineation we expect to see on Blu-ray releases is basically lost (see screencapture #13). There is even some sort of light sharpening that further enhances the digital appearance that is mentioned above. Colors are stable, but saturation should be better and some nuances expanded. Image stability is very good. All in all, the film simply does not have the solid organic appearance that it needs to look impressive on Blu-ray. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).
There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.
The audio must have been fully remastered because stability, clarity, and depth are very good. Dynamic balance is also excellent. To be honest, I don't think that there is much room for improvement, and if the future someone produces a new lossless track for this film, I don't think that there is will be a meaningful gap in quality.
It seems like Tell Them Willie Boy is Here instantly places people that see it in two different camps. There are those that praise its supposed courage to tell a tragic story that reveals a lot about an unjust era and admire the stars that made it, and then there are those that recognize in it yet another attempt by Hollywood to rewrite history in a very particular way. To be honest, I am not surprised, but I position myself somewhere in the middle. I actually like a lot of what Robert Blake does in the film, but it is almost completely out of sync with the many political overtones that its creator channels through it. On the other hand, it is pretty obvious that the film plays loose with all kinds of different facts while it very carefully introduces many suspicious and ultimately artificial contrasts. So, while the end product isn't a massive disaster, it is definitely not a good film either. Given the talent that contributed to it, I think that it is one big missed opportunity. Kino Lorber's recent release is sourced from a very shaky remaster that was provided by Universal Pictures.
Warner Archive Collection
1948
1962
Limited Edition to 3000
1966
1947
1955
2017
1974
Warner Archive Collection
1950
2019
1943
1939
1968
2019
1948
2016
1974
Warner Archive Collection
1956
1958
1971
Limited Edition to 3000 - SOLD OUT
1967