Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.5

Valdez Is Coming Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 16, 2019

Edwin Sherin's "Valdez Is Coming" (1971) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the disc include vintage trailers and an exclusive new audio commentary by film historian Jim Hemphill. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Was Marlon Brando really willing to do Valdez is Coming? In the past different sources have claimed that Burt Lancaster was set to co-produce the film and do one of the smaller parts while Brando had committed to play Valdez. And Sidney Pollack was apparently chosen to direct the film, though Lancaster was ready to consider someone else if it turned out that he could not do it. But then production was delayed so that Lancaster can do Airport and everything fell apart, which is when he also changed his mind and decided to do the title role. But, is all this really true? Because if it is, it is definitely fair to speculate that the current film isn’t the one that was initially being discussed. Brando’s presence alone would have been enough to deliver a completely new identity to the story and appearance of this film, and with Pollack behind the camera the end product would have been something entirely different. (For what it’s worth, Lancaster reportedly discarded the script that was delivered to him after he changed his mind, and then began adding up to the story as production of the current film began).

In a distant corner of the West where the law usually serves the richest and most powerful of men, the aging sheriff Bob Valdez (Lancaster) is tricked by the mean-spirited rancher Frank Tanner (Jon Cypher) to kill a nameless fugitive and this instantly creates some serious static between the two men. Shortly after, Valdez demands that the dead man’s pregnant Indian widow is compensated for her loss with one hundred dollars, but instead of paying the money Tanner orders his goons to humiliate the sheriff and make him realize that it is in his best interest to disappear from the area. Carrying a huge wooden cross on his back Valdez nearly dies in the sweltering heat, but an old friend discovers him and then helps him recover at his farm. Valdez then vows to get the money for the widow and destroy Tanner and his gang.

For obvious reasons this classic western spends a great deal of time promoting Lancaster’s charisma, but it does it in a way that allows the rest of the actors around him to remain comfortable with their roles. Rather predictably, when the big character transformations begin occurring in the final third of the film it does not feel like they are trying to further enhance Lancaster’s image.

What feels somewhat awkward in this film is the employment of ethnic lingo which is supposed to make the obvious contrasts between the identities of the main characters even more obvious. The broken English that Lancaster and a few other characters use actually gives the film an unnecessary comedy edge of sorts that reminds of the many colorful war films that European producers funded during the late ‘60s and ‘70s in which native English speakers for instance would utter their lines in English but with fake German accents while in a setting where all of the characters are supposedly native German speakers. Authenticity is not exactly what made these types of westerns -- or the war films that are referenced above -- attractive, so the notion that a ‘proper’ lingo is crucial for these characters to establish and convincingly sell their identities to the audience seems completely random. Despite a few minor nuances, the main story is about as straightforward as it could be – it is about good and bad people clashing in a place where the law is weak.

Some of the wider panoramic footage looks lovely, but this isn’t a film that dazzles with the type of glorious vistas that Sergio Leone and Sergio Corbucci’s films are remembered for. However, it was lensed by a European cinematographer, Gabor Pogany, whose credits include such classics as Two Women, The Woman in the Painting, and 10:30 PM Summer.

Valdez Is Coming Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Edwin Sherin's Valdez is Coming arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The release is sourced from an older master that was licensed from MGM. Predictably, it is not that difficult to tell that the film could look fresher. However, for the most part the basic qualities of the remaster are actually pretty good. For example, there are a few spots where highlights could have been balanced better -- see an example in screencapture #1 -- but the rest of the film has plenty of native nuances that are quite easy to identify and appreciate. The density levels are also good, with only a few darker sequences revealing very small fluctuations that affect depth. There are no traces of digital anomalies, which is the primary reason why the entire film also has a pleasing organic appearance. The color grading is decent, but this is the one area where with some minor adjustments a proper new remaster will clearly produce better results. Image stability is good. A few tiny specks and a couple of dirt spots remain, but there are no large damage marks, torn frames, and other serious age-related imperfections to report. My score is 3.75/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Valdez Is Coming Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The only area where I thought there was some unevenness that a proper new remaster will easily eliminate is actually the footage with the opening credits where time has clearly left its mark. Clarity is also a bit shaky here. However, the rest of the film is free of age-related anomalies, and as far as I am concerned the audio is very solid. I am fairly confident that when this master was prepared it was actually cleaned up by MGM. It is solid.

Valdez Is Coming Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailers - a collection of trailers for different releases from Kino Lorber's catalog. a trailer for Valdez is Coming is included.

• Commentary - presented here is a new audio commentary by film historian Jim Hemphill with plenty of extensive factual information about the production history Valdez is Coming, as well as the careers of the people that made the film. The commentary was recorded exclusively for Kino Lorber.

• Booklet - a catalog with information about other releases from Kino Lorber's Blu-ray catalog.

Valdez Is Coming Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Excluding the pretty funny, at least in my opinion, broken English Burt Lancaster and a few other actors use, I think that everything else in Valdez is Coming works more or less exactly as intended. This is actually a film that I enjoy quite a lot and some years ago I frequently saw at my local theater. Kino Lorber's Blu-ray release is sourced from an older but pretty good master, so if you like the film and only have the old DVD release that MGM produced in your collection, consider an upgrade. RECOMMENDED.