Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		5.0

The Searchers 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Gone With the West.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III December 24, 2024

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.

Now almost 70 years old, The Searchers has been analyzed and picked apart countless times during the last several decades, and as such a synopsis isn't really necessary. In any case, Martin Liebman already penned a short but succinct appreciation for the film in his 2006 Blu-ray review linked above (while even admitting "it's all been said before" back then), so any newcomers should start there first and then return here for the long-winded technical stuff.

The Searchers 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

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 Searchers 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

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.

The Searchers 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

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.

• Audio Commentary - An archival commentary with filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich.

• Original Theatrical Trailer (2:47) - Watch it here.

• 1996 Introduction by Patrick Wayne (1:52) - Brief comments from John Wayne's son.

• The Searchers: An Appreciation (31:01) - A DVD-era retrospective with filmmakers Martin Scorsese, Curtis Hanson, and John Milius, all of whom share their mutual love and appreciation for the film since childhood.

• A Turning of the Earth: John Ford, John Wayne, and The Searchers (33:10) - A mid-length retrospective about the film's adaptation from Alan Le May's 1954 novel, early development, and production.

• NEW! The Searchers World Premiere in Chicago: Newsreel Coverage (0:44) - A short but interesting black-and-white newsreel segment from its theatrical premiere with cast and crew appearances.

• NEW! Outtakes (11:42) - What a treasure! Here's about half a reel's worth of raw 1.37:1 footage from the film's shoot, most of which looks to be alternate unused takes from scenes that made the final cut. (Visually the color is faded and there's lots of dirt, but it's very watchable with lots of film grain.) Sadly there's no original sound, but it's at least paired with memorable cues from Max Steiner's original score.

• Behind the Cameras (21:49 total) - A quartet of short black-and-white promotional pieces.

• Meet Jeffrey Hunter
• Meet Natalie Wood
• Monument Valley
• Setting Up Productions

The Searchers 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

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.