6.7 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Set in New Mexico in 1886, a father (Tommy Lee Jones) returns home to his daughter Maggie (Cate Blanchett) to try to make peace decades after abandoning her to go live with the Apaches, only to find that she has no forgiveness or affection to give him. When her daughter, Lily (Evan Rachel Wood), is kidnapped by a band of outlaw Army deserters (who also murdered Maggie's companion Brake, played by Aaron Eckhart) led by a mysterious Apache shaman (Eric Schweig), however, the estranged duo teams up to rescue Lily.
Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Cate Blanchett, Evan Rachel Wood, Jenna Boyd (I), Aaron EckhartWestern | 100% |
Supernatural | Insignificant |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Drama | Insignificant |
Adventure | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
5.1: 2751 kbps; 2.0: 1582 kbps (averages)
English SDH
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
I chose to attend The Missing (2003) on the last day my local cinema was screening it primarily because Ron Howard directed and James Horner
scored this revisionist Western. I recall it as a dark and harshly lit film with much of the action taking place at night and the estranged father/daughter
relationship of Tommy Lee Jones and Cate Blanchett at the narrative center. Revisiting it seventeen years later, the 137-minute cut intitally felt shorter to
me watching it in the theater and when I saw the 154-minute "Extended Cut," which is included on a second disc of this Shout Select edition, it felt much
too long and drawn out. And yet, it has much to recommend owing to the performances, cinematography, and yes, Horner's score.
Maggie Gilkeson (Cate Blanchett) is a healer/medicine woman living in the frontier in a remote house. She's a widow and mother with a daughter, Lily
(Evan Rachel Wood), on the brink of womanhood and a smart and spunky younger daughter named Dot (Jenna Boyd). Her live-in boyfriend, Brake (Aaron
Eckhart), has just returned from the wilderness with a crusty older fellow who could pass as a quasi-Indian. Maggie immediately recognizes and becomes
uncomfortable at the sight of Samuel Jones (Tommy Lee Jones), once her dad who she once took as dead. Maggie remains bitter over the death of her
mother and blames Samuel for it. Brake and a fellow traveler promise to take Samuel back with them on a little trek but Lily and Dot also want to tag
along. When no one comes home the following morning, Maggie jaunts into the woods to find carnage and a shell-shocked Dot. Maggie soon learns that
Apache scouts who've left their U.S. Army posts have joined forces with an Apache mystic named Chidin (Eric Schweig), who is capturing young ladies so
he can sell them to slave traders over the Mexican border. In a cell at the local sheriff's office, where the authorities are unhelpful, Maggie finds her
vagabond father, who agrees to help her track down Lily.
The Theatrical Cut and Extended Cut of The Missing are both presented in the movie's original theatrical exhibition ratio of 2.40:1 on these MPEG-4
AVC-encoded BD-50s. Color is largely drained, giving the film a bleak and stark appearance. Director of photography Salvatore Totino uses spare natural
light from candles or kerosene lamps to illuminate faces amid a black or dark background. This transfer doesn't have any of the edge enhancement that
plagued the original Columbia/Tri-Star DVD from 2004.
Shout supplies sixteen chapter selections for each cut.
For the Theatrical, Shout has provided a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround (2629 kbps, 24-bit) and a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo downmix (1582 kbps, 24-bit). On the Extended, we likewise get a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround (2873 kbps, 24-bit) and a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo downsample (1581 kbps, 24-bit). Dialogue is crisply presented. The movie is in English, the Apache languages, and Spanish. For the latter two, compulsory yellow English subtitles are displayed (see Screenshot #s 19 and 20). The Missing has frequent stretches where just the sounds of wind and nature are heard. James Horner blends ethnic and Western sounds into a sweeping melody that reminds me of his theme from Braveheart.
Shout has ported over all bonus materials from the Columbia/Sony DVDs. Not carried over are three photo galleries ("Cast," "Location," & "Production")
that were included on the Fullscreen/Widescreen Special Editions.
DISC ONE: THEATRICAL CUT (2:17:00; 2.40:1, 1080p; DTS-HD Master 5.1)
While The Missing is overlong and problematic in its (mis)representations of Apaches, it's also masterfully lit and occasionally beautiful to watch when it isn't so dark. Shout Select have done a splendid job of assembling two discs containing the theatrical version and the Extended Cut. The extras duplicate the DVDs. RECOMMENDED to fans of Cate Blanchett, Ron Howard, and Tommy Lee Jones.
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Limited Edition to 3000
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