The Claim Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		2.5

The Claim Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov April 22, 2025

Michael Winterbottom's "The Claim" (2000) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the release include new audio commentary by critic Scout Tafoya and vintage trailer. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The Promised Land

The year is 1867. The location is the town of Kingdom Come, Sierra Nevada, California. Daniel Dillon (Peter Mullan) is the richest and most powerful man in town. Twenty years ago, Dillon found a mountain of gold, built the town, and now runs it like a king. But Dillon is not a happy man. Deep inside, his soul hurts because his wealth came at a hefty price. When he arrived in the area as a young man, he was married to a beautiful girl who had given him a beautiful daughter. While on the verge of giving up, Dillon traded his wife and daughter for the gold stake that transformed his life.

As the railroad continues expanding West, Donald Dalglish (Wes Bentley) arrives in town to scout the area and recommend to his employer the most suitable terrain to build more of it. Elena (Nastassja Kinski) and her daughter Hope (Sarah Polley) have just arrived in town, too, but for a different reason. They are looking for the man who, twenty years ago, sold Elena and her little girl to another miner. Elena is sick and dying, so Hope constantly must look after her.

When Dillon and Elena secretly meet, they agree to marry again. It’s a deal that works for both of them -- the marriage would help Dillon overcome some or most of the guilt he has been eating him alive, while Elena will secure her daughter’s financial future. Immediately after that, Dillon abandons his Portuguese mistress (Milla Jovovich), but Hope begins falling in love with Dalglish, who has already made it clear that he does not like the town’s king. While Hope is kept in the dark about the true nature of the deal and that Dillon is her father, Elena’s condition rapidly deteriorates.

Michael Winterbottom’s The Claim borrows some material from Thomas Hardy’s excellent novel “The Mayor of Casterbridge”, but it is much easier to link to Robert Altman’s film McCabe & Mrs. Miller and Michael Cimino’s film Heaven's Gate. It is not only because thematically, stylistically, and structurally The Claim emulates a lot of what makes McCabe & Mrs. Miller and Heaven’s Gate terrific films. The Claim intentionally alters a lot of crucial developments from “The Mayor of Casterbridge”, effectively moving away from the story it tells and establishing new character arcs that change the complexion of the drama. (The biggest and most consequential of these developments targets Dillon, who remains the biological father of Elena’s daughter. At the end of the novel, the town’s king learns that he is not the biological father of his wife’s daughter.)

Unfortunately, The Claim is not in the same category as McCabe & Mrs. Miller and Heaven’s Gate. It remains an oddly introverted, too arty film whose grasp on authenticity is quite problematic, making it awfully difficult for the main characters to draw the audience into their harsh reality. Several of these characters, and most notably Kinski’s Elena, are not treated right by the screenplay, which constantly veers off in random directions. Kinski’s Elena is the catalyst for all the serious and meaningful drama, but the screenplay insists that Polley’s Hope and her experiences in the town provide better educational and thought-provoking material for the audience.

The Claim Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.34:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, The Claim arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The overall quality of the visuals is quite underwhelming. Most look disappointingly soft and anemic, and a few even resemble upscaled material. Interestingly, the most problematic material comes from outdoor panoramic footage, not from darker footage where shadow nuances are pretty decent. Colors are muted and weak, often missing crucial nuances that would have helped the dynamic range of the visuals appear proper. Image stability is good. Also, the surface of the visuals is not plagued by any age-related anomalies. However, even though the master that was used to produce this Blu-ray release is disappointing, if you like The Claim you should probably consider an upgrade. I have an old DVD release of this film that is seriously disappointing even by DVD standards. My score is 2.75/5.00. (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).

The Claim Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and 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.

I viewed the entire film with the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. I would describe it as good. However, it definitely feels like in certain areas of the film its range of dynamics should be quite a bit better. I thought that the audio was often a bit too restrained, lacking the type of depth and potency you would expect a contemporary western to deliver. All exchanges were clear and easy to follow.

The Claim Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary - this exclusive new audio commentary was recorded by critic Scout Tafoya.

• Trailer - presented here is a vintage trailer for The Claim. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

The Claim Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Claim follows the steps of McCabe & Mrs. Miller and Heaven's Gate, trying to see the Old West through the same unconventional lens and as effectively as they did, and this is the only legitimate connection it has to them. There is a lot that does not work well in The Claim. Most of it is easy to trace back to the screenplay that was used to shoot it, but Michael Winterbottom's direction is quite disappointing, too. This recent Blu-ray release is sourced from an old and, unfortunately, pretty weak master.