7 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Based on Patrick DeWitt's novel, The Sisters Brothers revolves around the colourfully named gold prospector Hermann Kermit Warm, who's being pursued across 1000 miles of 1850s Oregon desert to San Francisco by the notorious assassins Eli and Charlie Sisters. Except Eli is having a personal crisis and beginning to doubt the longevity of his chosen career. And Hermann might have a better offer.
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, John C. Reilly, Jake Gyllenhaal, Riz Ahmed, Jóhannes Haukur JóhannessonWestern | 100% |
Dark humor | 53% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English SDH, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
Digital copy
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
How can you not like a film that owes at least part of its genesis to a series of Time-Life Books? If you’re anything like me (which you understandably may not want to admit), it’s well nigh impossible. As I maybe only somewhat sheepishly disclosed in our Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Concerts Blu- ray review, I am a Time-Life junkie of sorts, having scooped up both books and recordings issued by the once venerable publishing firm since I was a kid, and admittedly being just a tad obsessive compulsive about managing to aggregate “complete collections” of any given set. I never did go for Time-Life’s Old West set of volumes, however, and it’s that set, or more accurately one of the volumes in that set, which evidently first gave author Patrick deWitt the idea for the source novel that in turn gave birth to The Sisters Brothers (you can read about deWitt’s garage sale find here). There’s another reason why some folks who either live in the Pacific Northwest (as I do), or are at least interested in its pioneer history, might like the film, and that’s due to The Sisters Brothers' kind of cool if fleeting references to a couple of arguably lesser known Oregon locations. These include Oregon City, a smallish burg a few miles south of Portland that was one of the state’s oldest encampments (it was reportedly the first city west of the Rocky Mountains to be incorporated) and which was in fact the capital of the Oregon Territory for a few years. It’s considerably less “prominent” now, though it has a certain "old school" charm, not to mention the scenic attraction of Willamette Falls, a cascading flow of water that was one major reason the town was so successful in its early years, becoming home to several paper mills. There's also action that takes place in Jacksonville, which is a good deal further south (by Medford) and which still offers a really quaint downtown area that harkens back to an earlier era, if perhaps not quite as early as the timeframe for The Sisters Brothers. Classical music fans may also know of Jacksonville courtesy of its annual Britt Festival.
The Sisters Brothers is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. The IMDb lists a couple of Arri models as having digitally captured the imagery, and I'm once again assuming things were finished at a 2K DI. This is a really interesting looking feature from director Audiard and cinematographer Benoît Debie. As stated above in the main body of the review, things are sometimes framed a bit unexpectedly with, for example, at least a couple of shootouts filmed from a considerable distance. There are also a number of "arty" shots with lens flare (either real or "manufactured") and the like intruding into the frame, and as such detail levels can vary at times. There's some grading going on as well, often to yellows and browns, but on the whole the palette pops extremely well, especially in some of the gorgeous outdoor locations. The exterior shots also often feature exceptional depth of field and rather surprising amount of fine detail on elements like foliage. Close-ups deliver some stomach churning views of injuries some of the characters sustain. There are a number of nighttime or dimly lit scenes where shadow detail is fairly minimal.
The Sisters Brothers features a nicely forceful sounding DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix. I'd bet that the sound design team had a blast (figuratively and literally) adding a bit of "oomph" to the recurrent gunshots that populate the film, because they really erupt with considerable energy almost all of the time. There's good directionality in the shootout scenes, and other crowd scenes, like the brothers' stop at the Mayfield inn and brothel, also provide excellent surround activity. Alexandre Desplat's fun score resides in the side and rear channels very winningly, and dialogue is always rendered cleanly and clearly throughout the presentation.
- Brothers Forever (1080p; 1:11)
- Wanted Dead or Alive (1080p; 00:45)
The Sisters Brothers takes a different tack than many recent "revisionist westerns". It's gritty as many of those entries are, but it also has a slightly comic subtext at times that may clash with content for some viewers. Reilly is wonderful as the often hapless Eli, attempting to keep his wayfaring brother on track, and the film is often incredibly scenic. Technical merits are first rate, and The Sisters Brothers comes Recommended.
2015
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Limited Edition to 3000
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