The word "feud" immediately conjures up thoughts of the Hatfields and the McCoys, two families which lived along the West Virginia-Kentucky border and became engaged in long-running, bloody dispute in the years following the Civil War. Indeed, the two families gained such iconic status that descendants were invited to appear on the television game show "Family Feud" in 1979. Based upon fact, this exceptionally well-made mini-series aired on The History Channel over Memorial Day weekend and became the highest-rated non-sports telecast in the history of ad-supported cable television. Hatfields & McCoys, which features an outstanding cast and high production values, has now come to home video with this beautiful Blu-ray release by Sony.
Hatfields & McCoys
Studio: Sony/The History Channel
Year: 2012
Rated: Not Rated
Program Length: 290 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 1080p
Languages: English 5.1 DTS-HD MA
Subtitles: English, English SDH
The Program
The word "feud" immediately conjures up thoughts of the Hatfields and the McCoys, two families which lived along the West Virginia-Kentucky border and became engaged in long-running, bloody dispute with each other in the years following the Civil War. Indeed, the two families gained such iconic status that descendants were invited to appear on the television game show "Family Feud" in 1979. Based upon fact, this exceptionally well-made mini-series aired on The History Channel over Memorial Day weekend and became the highest-rated non-sports telecast in the history of ad-supported cable television. Hatfields & McCoys, which features an outstanding cast and high production values, has now come to home video with this beautiful Blu-ray release by Sony.
"Devil" Anse Hatfield (Kevin Costner) of West Virginia and Randall McCoy (Bill Paxton) of Kentucky are fighting together for the Confederacy as the Civil War is inexorably turning in favor of the Union. Anse barely manages to save his company from a Union onslaught, and he concludes that the Confederate cause has become hopeless. When he rejoins his company in camp, he mounts up and informs Randall that he is heading home to West Virginia. Randall sticks it out and ends up a prisoner of war, a circumstance which sows in him the seeds of resentment toward Anse.
Tempers begin to flare when Harmon McCoy, who fought for the Union but was discharged because of a bad leg, gets into an argument with Anse Hatfield's uncle, Jim Vance (Tom Berenger) and is shot to death. This proves to be the spark which sets family against family. One violent act after another ensues. A possibility for peace arises when Anse's son Johnse (Matt Barr) falls in love with Randall McCoy's favorite daughter, Roseanna (Lindsay Pulsipher). Both fathers are livid about this and the situation only worsens when Roseanna becomes pregnant. Her father disowns her and Anse refuses to let her live in his house. A legal dispute between the two families over a stolen pig is brought to court in West Virginia, but the judge is Valentine "Wall" Hatfield (Powers Boothe) and he rules in favor of Anse after hearing the testimony of Bill Staton, a relative of both families. For his trouble, Staton is gunned down by the McCoys.
And so it goes. "Devil" Anse Hatfield is stubborn, taciturn and has no qualms about killing to protect his property and uphold his family's "honor." Randall McCoy is a religious zealot who has no capacity for forgiveness or compromise. Their wives (played, respectively, by Sarah Parish and Mare Winningham) can only watch and grieve as one family member after another dies. When Randall's efforts at revenge largely prove for naught, he employs a hired gun, "Bad" Frank Phillips (Andrew Howard) to organize a reign of terror against the Hatfields.
Hatfields & McCoys was directed by Kevin Reynolds, who previously worked with Kevin Costner on Waterworld and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Here he keeps the action moving along swiftly and there are some interesting set pieces, including a public execution. If this mini-series has a significant weakness it is the lack of a strong point of view. Although there are individual characters in each family who are likeable enough, it is impossible to root for either one because they could have put a halt to the feud at any time. However, neither Anse nor Randall could accept enduring the last casualty of the war. Their intransigence kept their families on a bloody path which threatened to ruin both. Both Costner and Paxton are very effective in the lead roles, and the supporting cast is fine.
Hatfields & McCoys has been nominated for 22 Primetime Emmy Awards.
The Video
The 1.78:1 1080p image is a typically outstanding effort from Sony. The exteriors were filmed on location in Romania, which seems to be a reasonable facsimile of the heavily wooded, mountainous terrain you would expect to find in West Virginia and northern Kentucky. The image is highly detailed and frequently is absolutely gorgeous. The color palette is deliberately and appropriately muted for some scenes, but at other times it positively shines as it shows off the spectacular landscapes. Black levels are solid and deep, and shadow detail is excellent. The image also is consistent from beginning to end, with no evidence of excessive digital manipulation or other anomalies.
The Audio
The 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack is the equal of the video. The surround channels come alive immediately with the opening battle scene, leaving the viewer with the feeling of being immersed in the middle of it. As befits the subject matter, there are realistic sounds of gunfire throughout the nearly five hours of running time. It is not all gunshots, however. There are wonderfully authentic sounds of rain, wind, fire, horses, wagons and insects. Dialogue is consistently clear and understandable. English subtitles are available but I found no need to activate them. There also is a lively and evocative musical soundtrack by composers John Debney and Tony Morales.
The Supplements
The press release for Hatfields & McCoys promised only a music video, "I Know These Hills," which features music by Kevin Costner and Modern West. However, the Blu-ray disc also includes a 31-minute "making of" featurette which takes a look at virtually every aspect of the production, from choosing the locations to horsemanship training to dialogue coaching.
The extras are in high definition and stereo sound.
Sony also has included previews of Meeting Evil, Salvation Boulevard, 6 Bullets, Tonight You're Mine, and Bel Ami.
The Packaging
The mini-series is spread out over two Blu-ray discs, which are packaged in a standard-sized Blu-ray keep case with one disc on each side.
The Final Analysis
Hatfields & McCoys is a well-made, sprawling mini-series which, for the most part, is a historically accurate telling of a violent family feud which most Americans have heard of but about which few know the details. As noted, it is difficult to root for either family as the corpses pile up, but that may simply be an unavoidable consequence of sticking to the facts. Nearly 14 million people viewed this when it aired on The History Channel, and it looks and sounds even better on Blu-ray.
Equipment used for this review:
Panasonic DMP-BD50 Blu-ray player
Panasonic Viera TC-P46G15 Plasma display, calibrated to THX specification by Gregg Loewen
Yamaha HTR-5890 THX Surround Receiver
BIC Acoustech speakers
Interconnects: Monster Cable
Release Date: July 31, 2012
