7.1 | / 10 |
Users | 3.2 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.3 |
The origins, exploits and the ultimate fate of the Jesse James gang is told in a sympathetic portrayal of the bank robbers made up of brothers who begin their legendary bank raids because of revenge.
Starring: David Carradine, Keith Carradine, Robert Carradine, James Keach, Stacy KeachWestern | 100% |
History | 10% |
Crime | Insignificant |
Biography | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
German: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Italian: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Spanish: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
English SDH, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, Catalan, Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Talk about stunt casting. For his 1980 retelling of the near-mythical Jesse James story, The Long Riders, filmmaker Walter Hill (The Warriors, Wild Bill) hired several pairs—and, in one case, a trio—of actual siblings to play the many sets of brothers who take part in the tale. James Keach and Stacy Keach, who helped co-write the script, play Jesse and Frank James, while three sons of the John Carradine clan— David, Keith, and Robert—stand in for Cole, Jim, and Bob Younger, respectively. Finally, we have Dennis Quaid and his kooky brother Randy taking on the roles of Ed and Clell Miller, as well as Christopher and Nicholas Guest co-conspiring as Charley and Robert Ford, the brothers who orchestrated Jesse James’ death. Feeling overrun with names yet? If not, you will. One of the film’s main problems is that it tries to do too much with too many characters, short-shrifting them all in the process. Of course, the other difficulty facing The Long Riders is that it now faces inevitable comparisons to a far-better film about the James-Younger gang, Andrew Dominik’s The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Still, you have to at least give Walter Hill credit for helping to reinvigorate the western in a time when it was long-considered out of style. The Long Riders may not be the best of the Jesse James films, but it’s well-made and worth revisiting if you’re a fan of the outlaw genre.
Jesse James
With a 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer framed in the film's original 1.85:1 aspect ratio, The Long Riders makes for a pleasing viewing experience on Blu-ray, providing you don't expect the film to look pristine. While MGM usually takes the time to clean up the bigger, tent-pole films in their back catalog, releases of "smaller" films like this often get the no-frills transfer treatment. In a perfect world, every movie from the past would get a loving frame-by-frame restoration, but let's be realistic. Besides, this hands-off approach does have its benefits. Yes, black/white specks and other bits of debris frequently pop up in the frame, but the image itself hasn't been unnaturally tampered with or boosted. Grain is entirely natural—I warn you, it's a bit thick at times—and edge enhancement isn't a concern. Clarity is inconsistent, but this seems entirely source-related. There are close-ups that look sharp and crisp, with plenty of visible fine detail—like individual whiskers of Jesse James' Just For Men-style beard—but much of the film has a soft, slightly spongy quality. The dusty, muted color palette gives the picture a lightly antiqued appearance, and while blacks can be hazy and splotchy in low light situations, contrast tends to be good. Aside from some clipped highlights—leading to some blotchy bright spots on the actors' foreheads—I didn't spot any compression or exposure problems. As a whole, the film looks better here than it did on DVD, but you certainly won't be bowled over by the picture quality.
Those expecting beefed-up 5.1 surround sound may be disappointed by the film's DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono mix, but there's really nothing wrong with this track. Although real speaker involvement could've bolstered the shoot-out sequences, making them even more brutal, the front-and-center sound design works fine. Perhaps "sound design" is too gracious a phrase. In many ways, this mix is curiously—and effectively, I think—old fashioned, with a flattened dynamic range and sound effects that have a somewhat canned quality. Basically, the film sounds like a western from the 1950s or '60s. Maybe this is what Hill was going for, I dunno. Regardless, the track does what it needs to do with little flourish and it gets all the essentials right. Dialogue is clear and intelligible throughout, and Ry Cooder's old-timey score is nicely reproduced. The disc also includes a number mono foreign-language dubs in Dolby Digital, plus several subtitle options.
The sole, lonely bonus feature on this disc is the film's theatrical trailer (1080p, 2:25).
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford has since surpassed The Long Riders as the best film about the legendary bandit, but Walter Hill's take on the story has its merits. Although it's not a perfect film—the novelty casting doesn't quite work, for one—this is still a solidly entertaining western with some gruesome shootouts and some great scenes of the outlaws being outlaws, plundering, whoring, and carousing. MGM's Blu-ray shows no signs of restoration work, but the transfer is true to source and a definite upgrade from DVD. Recommended.
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