6.6 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Matt Fletcher, a Mexican-American buffalo hunter is constantly harassed and humiliated by bandit general Chuy Medina. When the bandit steals his horse - the appaloosa of the title - he sets out to even scores; at the climax, single-handedly, he takes on the whole gang.
Starring: Marlon Brando, Anjanette Comer, John Saxon, Frank Silvera, Emilio FernándezWestern | 100% |
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
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 1.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
It’s maybe just a little shocking to hear commentators Lee Pfeiffer and Paul Scrabo talk about some claims that 1966 was the last year for “great” westerns, at least within the context of that particular decade, as they discuss the frequently heard if also obviously debatable thesis that the American Western film basically “died” during the sixties. While it’s perhaps (perhaps) true that 1967 and 1968 didn’t have any real unmitigated classic westerns, there were certainly a number of rather interesting “oaters” (as industry rags have been known to call them) released, including such films as Hombre and Once Upon a Time in the West, even if the second film might understandably be thought of as an Italian western, rather than an American one. But in fact there’s even another 1968 opus that has a tangential link to “spaghetti westerns”, namely the film Clint Eastwood starred in in the wake of his enormous successes with Sergio Leone, Hang 'Em High. But 1969 certainly offered (at least) two films which radically altered the western film landscape, and both of which attained legendary status (not to mention huge box office returns), despite their obvious manifest differences: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Wild Bunch. So while it’s obviously questionable whether 1966 was indeed the “high water mark” for the decade in terms of this particular genre, in a way it hardly matters, since The Appaloosa is most likely not going to make any western fan’s “all time classic” list. It’s a kind of interesting film from a number of standpoints, offering that “reassessment” of what a western could be in at least somewhat the same way that any number of films from the 1950s on had already done (including, it should be added, The Appaloosa star Marlon Brando’s own directorial offering in the idiom, One-Eyed Jacks). The film combines a certain "arty" quality with some kind of odd performance choices, two things that certainly make it distinctive, if perhaps not always actually effective.
The Appaloosa is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. As Lee Pfeiffer and Paul Scrabo get into in their commentary track, The Appaloosa was shot in the ostensibly cheaper Techniscope widescreen process, a non-anamorphic technique which Pfeiffer and Scrabo mention can tend toward a slightly grainy look, something that is well represented on this transfer (for those who fear any of the "old school" Universal filtering). With a prevalence of extreme close-ups (as can perhaps be gleaned from some of the screenshots accompanying this review), detail levels are quite admirable throughout the presentation, with elements like textures on fabrics looking precise and facial pores being virtually countable. The palette is also generally very well suffused, if arguably just a tad on the brown side at times. The many wide vistas that provide backdrops to several sequences also offer appealing depth of field.
The Appaloosa features a fine sounding DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono track. Universal legend Frank Skinner provides a nicely energetic score which sounds full bodied, and the film's glut of outdoor material also features good ambient environmental effects. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly without any age related issues.
I couldn't help but think Brando "insisted" on the completely weird looking hat he dons at several junctures in this film, a "fashion statement" that seems to speak to the actor's penchant for outré little touches at this point in his career. His performance here is often overly mannered, though the entire film is such an exercise in style that some may actually find Brando's approach perfectly in line with other elements at hand. I personally found Saxon and Comer to be more viscerally involving, and Sidney J. Furie pulls out quite a few directorial stops along the way, but the story itself is kind of labored, with a number of sidebars that aren't properly developed and which tend to add to a sense of lethargy. Technical merits are solid for those considering a purchase.
1964
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1965
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1961
1966
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1953
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1968