6.5 | / 10 |
Users | 3.8 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
A scout leading a wagon train through hostile Indian country unwittingly gets involved with a Sioux Chief's daughter.
Starring: Kirk Douglas, Elsa Martinelli, Walter Matthau, Walter Abel, Lon Chaney Jr.Western | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.36:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.35:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 3.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
1955’s “The Indian Fighter” is one offering in a wave of Hollywood westerns where the concept wasn’t to vilify Native American characters, but try to understand the concerns of the First Nation as it dealt with the terror of settlers. With star Kirk Douglas around, deeply felt sympathies aren’t readily available, but the production at least makes an attempt to be gentle around cultural divides, delivering a story that’s big on action and debate, but also wrestling with a love story that doesn’t belong in the mix.
The AVC encoded image (2.36:1 aspect ratio) presentation of "The Indian Fighter" has some life to it. There are period cinematography limitations, and this isn't the sharpest looking feature, but it does fine with CinemaScope expanse and thespian presence, encouraging texture on location shooting and costuming. Rare use of close-ups is also appealing. Colors are subjected to fade and remain interesting, offering bolder reds and deeper greenery that brings out the essentials of the Oregon shoot. Delineation is acceptable. Source is in decent shape, without overt points of damage.
While dealing with a thundering premise of war and travel, the 2.0 DTS-HD MA mix is merely functional, never remarkable. Hiss is present throughout the listening experience, and volume is lower than normal, requiring some dial riding to bring it back to life. Scoring is acceptable, without pristine instrumentation. Sound effects are snappier, and atmospherics emerge as intended.
Gun fights and CinemaScope sweep charge the viewing experience, and a message of tolerance, however small it ends up being, is worth savoring, with the productions doing what it can to play kindly and roughhouse with cowboys, often at the same time. "The Indian Hunter" doesn't add up to much, but it's entertaining at times, periodically exciting. And when all else fails the feature, it does carry itself with real genre presence, filling the frame with gunslingers, wagon-bound settlers, and Native American issues, trying to be as big as possible with a limited imagination.
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2K Restoration
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