8.2 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 5.0 | |
Overall | 5.0 |
An American Civil War veteran swears revenge after his brother's family is butchered by Comanches and his niece is kidnapped. Filmed in VistaVision
Starring: John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles, Ward Bond, Natalie WoodDrama | 100% |
Western | 45% |
Adventure | Insignificant |
Video codec: HEVC / H.265
Video resolution: 4K (2160p)
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
4K Ultra HD
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 5.0 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 5.0 |
John Ford's The Searchers is a landmark Western; it's the personal favorite of many legendary filmmakers, historically significant, and has the distinction of marking Warner Archive's long-awaited first venture into UHD. This one's been in the works for quite a long time, replacing Warner Bros.' then-heralded 2006 Blu-ray with a high-resolution scan of the VistaVision camera negative, extensive manual cleanup, and careful color correction for a truly authentic presentation. It's been a hotly anticipated boutique label release since the surprise announcement back in early November, and with it comes extremely high expectations from die-hard fans. Does Warner Archive deliver? Absolutely.
NOTE: These screenshots are sourced from the included remastered Blu-ray, also sold separately and reviewed here.
This new 2160p/HDR10 (Dolby Vision capable) transfer of The Searchers can best be described as a labor of love, one in which absolutely no corners were cut to produce one of the most authentic film presentations of a catalog title from this era that you're likely to see on disc. Its extensive restoration was handled at Warner Bros. Motion Picture Imaging with involvement from The Film Foundation and began with a new ultra high-resolution scan of the original VistaVision camera negative, which was carefully color corrected using the blue separation master and a 1956 original release dye-transfer Technicolor print as accuracy guides and when re-introducing cooler tones that had long since faded away. In short: all of those impossibly blue skies are now, well, blue again, and the handful of filtered day-for-night sequences (which, let's face it, have never looked very convincing due to unnatural hues being baked into the original negative) appear to be as accurate to that original release print as possible, according to a very reliable source.
Not surprisingly, fine detail and textures on specific objects of interest are handled perfectly, sporting smoothly-refined film grain but with an overall appearance that's clean and razor-sharp to the point where rocky terrain, costume fibers, thirsty desert plants, and weathered wood display an appropriately lived-in appearance, even if by contrast many of the house-dwellers still look suspiciously as if they were able to shower daily, floss, and launder their clothes at least once a week. When everything's working in tandem, this restoration makes The Searchers look damn near three-dimensional in its finest moments, almost as if I was watching it being filmed right in front of me. The abundance of pause-worthy moments makes one fully appreciate the level of care and consideration that went into Warner Archive's restoration; it doesn't just look great, it looks absolutely authentic to its source material. Fundamentally, there's a lot in common with WB's recent 4K treatment of Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest, another carefully-treated 1.85:1 VistaVision title running neck-and-neck with The Searchers for top honors on my forthcoming end-of-year "Best Of" list.
One other item of note is the transfer's tighter but still roomy 1.85:1 framing which, unlike WB's open-matte 2006 Blu-ray, finally presents The Searchers in its original aspect ratio. (Side note: in a quick and dirty comparison with the older Blu-ray, it also looks as if that early HD presentation was ever-so-slightly stretched horizontally.) Either way, from every fundamental perspective this 4K restoration is a major upgrade... and that's not even counting the benefits of its HDR pass, which not only bolster the color palette -- again, while continuing to stay accurate to that original release print -- but sporadically allows for brighter whites, more controlled blacks, and stronger mid-range detail. Perhaps the only side effect, though an unavoidable one, is that varying light levels between specific shots -- which obviously extends more broadly to those day-for-night sequences -- is even more noticeable than other presentations I've seen (which also means the included remastered Blu-ray), but this is simply part of The Searchers' specific visual identity.
On the encoding side of things, both this 4K disc and the remastered Blu-ray were handled by the reliable authoring house Fidelity in Motion; they've established quite a name through work for other boutique labels like Second Sight and Arrow Films. Unsurprisingly, The Searchers runs at an extremely high bit rate on this 100GB disc, peaking well into triple-digit Mbps territory with no signs of posterization, macro blocking, or other eyesores. All things considered, like North by Northwest this is an absolutely game-changing 4K catalog release that sets a high bar indeed.
The DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio mix keeps it real with a split-channel presentation of the original mono; there's no attempted Atmos remix like North by Northwest, which is perfectly fine by me. Quite simply this "quaint" soundstage somehow suits the source material despite its wide-open cinematography, with dialogue and front-field sound effects given top priority but plenty of room is left over for sporadic ambient noise and Max Steiner's terrific original score. Trace amounts of hiss and light distortion can be heard during a few brief exchanges, but overall it's an exceptionally clean and crisp presentation that's finally lossless unlike the 2006 Blu-ray's low-bitrate Dolby Digital track.
Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included during the main feature, not the extras listed below.
This two-disc release ships in a standard keepcase with striking poster-themed cover artwork and a handsome matte-finish slipcover. Most of the extras are ported over from Warner Bros.' 2006 Blu-ray, although a pair of newcomers has been unearthed. (Incidentally, a lot of care went into the HD upscaling of these extras and, for the most part, they play flawlessly.) All of them can be found on the Blu-ray disc, although the audio commentary appears on both.
For many fans, John Ford's The Searchers belongs on the Mount Rushmore of Westerns and was reportedly a personal favorite of star John Wayne, who even named one of his sons after the main character. Warner Archive was the perfect candidate to make it their very first 4K effort, as the film's rough cultural undertones likely didn't make it a natural fit for parent company WB's typical lineup. (See also Gone With the Wind, which has yet to reach UHD.) Simply put, this must-own release is one of the finest of the year with an outstanding new restoration, a remastered Blu-ray, flawless disc encoding, lossless audio, and a nice assortment of extras too. Very, very Highly Recommended.
1962
1972
Standard Edition | C'era una volta il West 4K
1968
Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo
1966
1992
1969
1965
1946
1959
2005
Per un Pugno di Dollari
1964
1939
1948
2-Disc Collector's Edition
1989
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Warner Archive Collection
1972
1960
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1961
2010