The Shootist Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.5

The Shootist Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 5, 2024

Many diehard fans are familiar with the term "montage theory", but even some of those aficionados may not know that Golden Age Hollywood studios actually had montage departments. In one of the typically excellent supplements Arrow has aggregated for this release of The Shootist, Warner Brothers' Montage Department is overtly referenced, since it was the work home for director Don Siegel for over a decade, where he was tasked with creating the traditionally dissolve ridden vignettes that tended to offer cinematic "elisions" of a sort for a huge array of films, montages that quite often offered a lot of information in a very short span of time. Siegel's expertise with montages is put to short but effective use in the opening minutes of The Shootist, where Siegel culled snippets from a number of old John Wayne films in order to craft a "biography" of the character Wayne plays in the film, a former lawman and more or less bounty hunter named J.B. Books. Siegel deftly lifted seconds from Red River, Hondo, Rio Bravo and El Dorado (with the film originally shot in color re-graded to black and white) to quickly establish some supposed "history" for Books, who evidently did not suffer bad guys gladly, and who was quite adept at taking them out in various gunfights. Those relatively early looks at a strapping Wayne (even if El Dorado came out in 1966) then contrast almost viscerally with the aged man who suddenly appears on screen as the story segues to its main 1901 setting in Carson City, Nevada.

While some of the evidently quite pronounced backstage friction between Don Siegel and John Wayne is covered in a number of the supplements included on this disc, Siegel at least surrounded Wayne with a veritable Who's Who of acting greats in supporting roles for what would turn out to be Wayne's final film. The first of these guest stars is James Stewart as Doc Hostetler, an old friend of Books who has the sad assignment of confirming Books' earlier diagnosis from another doctor that Books is dying from terminal cancer. Knowing what awaits him, Books attempts to quietly matriculate into Carson City by renting a room from local widow Bond Rogers (Lauren Bacall), whose impressionable son Gillom (Ron Howard) has already had one interchange with Books, and who quickly figures out that Books, who has been attempting to remain incognito, is actually a renowned gunfighter.

Kind of interestingly, one might naturally expect romantic sparks to fly between Books and the widow Rogers, and if there are admittedly at least some embers that are hinted at, the real potential partner for Books actually shows up relatively late in the story, when Books' erstwhile lover Serepta (Sherree North) shows up to try to convince Books to finally marry her. There's a kind of wry revelation about this seemingly sweet plot turn that plays into Books' notoriety, which unsurprisingly soon catches the interest of several Carson City folks, including an enterprising journalist named Dan Dobkins (Rick Lenz), who senses there may be some gold in them thar hills, so to speak, if he can fashion some "pulp fiction" stories out of Books' adventures.

There are a number of standout cameos inserted into this kind of unusual tale, including John Carradine as the local undertaker, who, kind of ironically like Dobkins, senses some potential employment possible from Books. Harry Morgan is on hand as the local marshal who isn't quite sure how to handle a "celebrity" like Books, and both Richard Boone and (perhaps a bit unexpectedly) Hugh O'Brian appear as perceived nemeses who need to be brought to justice by Books. That part of the screenplay probably plays it as close to a "traditional" western as you can get, but what gives The Shootist its elegiac tone is not just the now known facts about Wayne's own imminent mortality (hastened by the very affliction Books is), but a kind of fascinating allusion to a quasi-pacificist angle that finds its most pronounced import vis a vis a mentoring relationship that develops between Books and Gillom. That "peaceable" perspective is ironically almost diametrically opposed to some of the graphic violence depicted throughout the tale.

The Shootist Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Shootist is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Arrow's insert booklet contains the following information on the restoration:

The Shootist is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 with original mono audio, and has been exclusively restored by Arrow Films.

The original 35mm camera negative was scanned in 4K resolution at Paramount. The film was restored and graded at R3Store Studios, London.

The English mono soundtrack was sourced from the optical sound negatives by Paramount and was remastered by Bad Princess Productions, London.

All materials sourced for this restoration were made available by Paramount.

Interestingly, the back cover of this release further states that this is a 2K remaster, which Arrow has clarified was shorthand to indicate the 4K scan was conformed to the 2K Blu-ray standard. The opening montage may give videophiles momentary pause, but it's important to pay attention to when optical titles are part of the presentation as they are here (which they are repeatedly and arguably unnecessarily, notating various days and dates in the story), because there can be a noticeable downgrade in image quality and palette saturation during such moments. The bulk of this presentation, though, offers some commendable detail levels and a nicely vivid palette, boosted by a glut of brightly lit outdoor material. There are some curious if passing and intermittent variances on display, including some frankly weird color timing issues that can suddenly (to cite just one example) make flesh tones skew noticeably toward purple just for a second, without any seeming cause (like those aforementioned opticals). Grain is mostly tightly resolved, but there are a number of scenes, or even shots within scenes, where things get considerably grittier and more textured looking.

The Shootist Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Shootist has a nicely robust LPCM Mono track that may leave some audiophiles wanting a bit more immersion since there's such a great Elmer Bernstein score and glut of sound effects (including the whistling wind that sounds behind the Paramount logo at the film's start). That said, the track actually offers some impressive prioritization despite its unavoidable narrowness, and the climactic shootout scene is a great example. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout.

The Shootist Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary is by Howard S. Berger.


• The Last Day (HD; 28:26) is an engaging visual essay by David Cairns which gets into some of the backstage drama during the shoot.


• A Man Making Moment (HD; 40:27) is a wide ranging piece with C. Courtney Joyner with information about the film, John Wayne, and Glendon Swarthout, author of the source novel.


• Laments of the West (HD; 26:30) features Neil Brand discussing Elmer Bernstein's great score.


• Contemplating John Wayne (HD; 22:32) is a visual essay by Scout Tafoya focusing on Duke.


• The Shootist: The Legend Lives On (HD; 18:26) appears to be an archival EPK.


• Theatrical Trailer (HD; 3:19)


• Image Gallery (HD)

This Limited Edition also features a reversible slevve, a double side fold out poster, six postcard sized lobby card reproductions, and an illustrated collector's booklet featuring an essay by Philip Kemp. Packaging features a slipcover.

The Shootist Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Shootist makes for a near perfect "exit strategy" for John Wayne's legendary career in film. Stuffed to the brim with great performances, and featuring evocative production design (Academy Award nominated), cinematography and score, the film is arguably a kind of proto anti-western in its own way. Technical merits are solid and this disc sports one of the most outstanding slates of supplements that the typically reliable Arrow Video has assembled. Highly recommended.