6.6 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Ross Bodine and Frank Post are cowhands on Walt Buckman's R-Bar-R ranch. Bodine is older and broods about how he will get along when he's too old to cowboy. Post is young and ambitious for a better life and suggests they rob a bank.
Starring: William Holden, Ryan O'Neal, Karl Malden, Lynn Carlin, Tom SkerrittWestern | 100% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Adventure | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.35:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Blake Edwards' Western detour Wild Rovers marked the beginning of a messy fallout with MGM: soon after Edwards turned in his original near three-hour cut of the film, studio head James T. Aubrey and executive VP Douglas Netter -- no strangers to alienating directors during a rocky period in the studio's history -- hastily cut about one-third of Wild Rovers to appease preview audiences. (Edwards' next film The Carey Treatment was similarly tampered with, but to a much lesser extent.) Known mostly for Breakfast at Tiffany's and his numerous comedies -- including of course The Pink Panther and its sequel, A Shot in the Dark, as well as The Great Race -- Edwards' take on the material was a tonally choppy blend of pathos, humor, and gut-wrenching seriousness that rarely finds sure footing.
These are all sufficient ingredients for a good quality deconstructive Western, yet Wild Rovers often comes across as either too imitative of previous films (Ride the High Country, as well as other work by Sam Peckinpah) or more than a little self-indulgent, with a pace that's often punishingly slow and more than a little confusing. Some of these criticisms are, of course, almost unavoidable due to the iron fist of studio interference, but it would take more than a little spit and polish to wring a truly effective film out of this fitfully great but mostly lukewarm production.
Unfortunately it's impossible to separate what is from what could have been, but luckily a reasonably close facsimile has been available on home video on several different occasions, including Warner Archive's 2019 Blu-ray edition. Much of the excised footage has been re-inserted back into the film, with other elements -- such as its studio-enforced happy ending -- removed entirely. There's even low-res title cards for Goldsmith's original overture, intermission, entr'acte, and exit music, although its longer running time of 137 minutes -- hardly long enough to warrant a bathroom break -- suggests there's still footage missing. And if for some reason you have nostalgic memories of the butchered theatrical version, good luck: it's not included here but, under the circumstances, that's probably a good thing.
Although many non-boutique labels wouldn't even release Wild Rovers in today's cooler home video climate, there are clear positives and
negatives to Warner Archive's Blu-ray. This 1080p transfer, while admirable considering its source material, shows some room for improvement and
the lack of extras will gnaw at fans like portions of the main feature. But all things considered, it's a still a decent disc and obviously builds upon
the studio's own 2011 DVD.
Presented in its original Cinemascope aspect ratio, Warner Archive's Blu-ray presentation of Wild Rovers gives the film's cinematography its due with a largely polished restoration that, while often impressive, isn't exactly consistent at every turn. Of course the state of its rescued source material may be partly to blame but, even within those loose boundaries, most of Wild Rovers' dimly-lit and nighttime sequences are absolutely bathed in noise and excess grain that severely hamper image detail and depth. Of course I'd prefer too many speckles to a transfer riddled with digital noise reduction or other hasty post-processing and, if nothing else, the picture is still very clean. However, I feel that this grain or noise could have been better managed to arrive at a more comfortable middle ground. Still, there are ample standout scenes in other areas: those shot in midday and "the magic hour", of course, where fine detail and textures are clearly visible and skin tones, while obviously a bit sun-baked, look accurate. I've tried to capture a mixture of these moments with this review's screenshots, but bear in mind that certain noisier scenes look slightly better in-motion and some, believe it or not, actually look a little worse. Overall, though, Warner Archive's Blu-ray easily earns passing marks, if only due to its clear advancements upon the boutique label's older DVD. Bottom line: die-hard fans will approve.
The DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio is a more cut-and-dried, combining a mostly narrow sound field with much wider breadth for Jerry Goldsmith's rousing original score, which includes the excellent title theme with vocals by his daughter Ellen (credited as "Ellen Smith"). Despite the shifting width of these elements, Wild Rovers feels like a largely seamless sonic experience where only a few moments feel like they could have benefited from discrete or panning effects. Dialogue is clean and clear throughout, and no obvious sync issues or other defects could be heard along the way.
Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included during the main feature only, albeit in ALL CAPS like other Warner Archive Blu-rays released during that time period. I'm probably not alone in being grateful that period is behind us.
This one-disc release ships in a standard keepcase with poster-themed cover artwork. The minimal bonus features are ported over from previous releases, including Warner Archive's own 2011 DVD.
Blake Edwards' Wild Rovers is the only Western in his filmography and, while it's clearly not a total misfire, the film was crippled by last-minute studio interference that fatally affected its pacing, characters, and emotional scope. Even in this somewhat restored version, which has been available on home video before, Wild Rovers is still patchy and uneven but not without its share of shining moments. Warner Archive's welcome Blu-ray advances on those earlier releases with a decently polished 1080p transfer, although its disappointing lack of candid extras won't exactly win over anyone left a little cold by the main feature. Wild Rovers is still recommended, but for established fans only.
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