8.3 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.1 |
A New Englander arrives in the Old West, where he becomes embroiled in a feud between two families over a valuable patch of land. Filmed in Technirama.
Starring: Gregory Peck, Jean Simmons, Carroll Baker, Charlton Heston, Burl IvesWestern | 100% |
Romance | 37% |
Drama | 26% |
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 Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono (256 kbps)
French: DTS 2.0 Mono
Italian: DTS 2.0
German: DTS 2.0
Spanish: DTS 2.0 Mono
English SDH, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
There’s probably a sociological treatise waiting to be written (if it hasn’t already) about why the western enjoyed such a massive resurgence in the America of the 1950’s. While there had been notable “adult” westerns much earlier in American film (Stagecoach, Duel in the Sun), for the most part 1930’s and 1940’s western fare was pretty standard hero versus villain, cowboy versus Indian sort of stuff. Interestingly, with the advent of television in the 1950’s, that (literally) black and white ethos matriculated over onto the small screen, while films increasingly started to mine more mature themes in the western genre. Anthony Mann’s famous collaborations with James Stewart spring instantly to mind, but the 1950’s are full of interesting and often outré (Johnny Guitar) examples of pretty radical envelope pushing within the basic confines of the western. But why exactly did the western suddenly rear its dusty head with such a force in the 1950’s? Was it some subconscious attempt to come to terms with the increasing threat of the Cold War? In a world increasingly colored by shades of gray, did we need some sort of collectively “clear” world where it was easy to spot the good guys and the bad guys? Who knows? But the fact remains by 1958 the western had become the genre on television, seemingly gobbling up the prime time schedules of all three major broadcast networks, and it was also proving its mettle with very popular releases on the big screen. The wide open spaces of the American west seemed to be perfect fodder for the movies’ reliance on widescreen technology to lure viewers away from their living rooms, and one of the finest examples was the Technirama extravaganza The Big Country, a film notable not just for its expansive scenery, but for also featuring a glut of excellent performances (including an Oscar winning turn by Burl Ives), sharp direction by the iconic William Wyler, and one of the top five western scores of all time, courtesy of Jerome Moross.
The Big Country moseys onto Blu-ray with a mostly spectacular looking AVC eoncded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. The widescreen, large format Technirama image is perfect for the high definition medium, and for the most part, that's certainly the case here. Depth of field is nothing short of awesome throughout this film, with vistas that extend for scores of miles. Clarity and precision are first rate throughout the bulk of this film, and fine detail is excellent, with gorgeously saturated color. What occasionally hobbles this film is readily apparent registration issues, which pop up almost immediately on some of the outdoor footage, where you'll notice sky tones flickering and changing slightly in value. There are two brief but troubling close-ups of Peck which also show very strong flicker, one at around 2:24 and the other the last close-up of Peck at the end of the film. Black levels are good if not exceptional, with moderate crush in some of the darker scenes, and contrast overall is very good.
Update 7/7/11: Noted film archivist and restorer Robert Harris has been in touch with me and is investigating what appears to be a slight anamorphic stretching on this transfer due to incorrect digital manipulation to remove anamorphosis.
The Big Country unfortunately doesn't have a "big" mix, but it never did. The film's original mono track is presented here courtesy of a lossless DTS-HD Master 2.0 mix, and while it's perhaps lamentable that there's no surround ambience to match the overpowering imagery on display, what's here is certainly serviceable. There are some minor issues with dialogue levels, perhaps due to post-dubbing, but otherwise this is a solid, if obviously very narrow, soundtrack that boasts impressive fidelity and good dynamic range. Moross' iconic score sounds spectacular, though in the best of all possible worlds, it would have been wonderful had the original stems been repurposed for a surround mix.
William Wyler earned his reputation during Hollywood's Golden Era by eliciting uniformly fine performances from disparate casts in what were usually smaller scale dramatic films. That same proclivity is perfectly in evidence here, but Wyler now is painting on a gargantuan canvas, something he would favor again in Ben Hur, his next film and the one which would catapult Charlton Heston to superstardom. The Big Country is an amazing character study, especially with regard to the Ives and Connors characters, who are positively Freudian in their dysfunction. But each of the main characters is finely drawn and aptly portrayed here, and it's to Wyler's credit that despite the immensity of the setting, the personal story never gets lost. This is a long film, but rarely a slow one. This Blu-ray looks and sounds great, though it would have been nice to have had at least a stereo presentation of the iconic Moross score. Highly recommended.
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