Slow pace? Try being an Elizabeth Taylor fan. We're finally seeing at least three of her films on Blu this year (Cleopatra, Giant and The Only Game in Town), but so far the only US release of her work has been the documentary, "That's Entertainment!" I look at the number of his fllms on Blu and think his fans must feel very lucky.MCCLOUD said:
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Some of the slowness might be the condition of source material that would be used for a Blu-ray transfer. As popular as John Wayne has been over the decades I would presume that the material has had a good work out. The best elements are probably the Batjac and Warner owned ones. Does anyone know the condition of the Paramount and Universal titles?MCCLOUD said:
I have the Region B 1080i 50Hz Danish release of Hellfighters Blu-ray and it looks very nice. Stereo sound too.ahollis said:
Excellent! I hope that Fox has put a lot of the correct type of effort into the restoration, since no original negatives or dye-transfer Technicolor materials exist on this title. A lot of work will have been needed to get it somewhere close to its original luster.Brandon Conway said:
Welcome to the world of Hollywood westerns. They are often historically inaccurate because that's just how most movies are. And I accept that. People went and still go to the movies largely for escapism; not a history lesson. If you don't mind me saying, Jesse James is a quality film with nice cinematography, good performances, and a decent if not historically accurate story. It is far from being the best western ever made, but it's also pretty far from being the worst. I do agree that most of the films you've listed are better than Jesse James, but I honestly don't understand how you can actually consider Wild Wild West better than Jesse James.davidHartzog said:
To each his own, but if it's a worthless costume drama to you then it's still an entertaining film to me.
As someone who has also been watching Westerns, and and all sorts of other subject matter on film and television for over five decades, I have to say that you seem to have a very narrow & shallow view on the "Hollywood Western." The 1939 Jesse James is indeed incredibly inaccurate. It is a romantic adventure and not a documentary or a realistic examination of the border wars and post Civil War Missouri, etc. And also, as someone who comes from Jesse James country, I can say that I have never seen an "accurate" portrayal of the James-Younger Gang on film. Walter Hill's The Long Riders comes the closest, and it is far from spot on. Anyway, "Hollywood Westerns" run the gamut the two-gun B-Westerns to Sam Peckinpah and The Wild Bunch and beyond. John Ford's The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is one of my favorite films; but I also love Raoul Walsh's They Died With Their Boots On, which is total horseshit historically, but still a great film. I suppose I am not making my point very clear, except to say that the "Hollywood Western" takes in a large range of film, a lot of it not particularly realistic, authentic or accurate. I am not a major fan of Henry King's Jesse James, but it is a Western, and a very good looking one too, I might add. I like King's The Gunfighter and The Bravados much better; but they were made in a somewhat different time. As far as "truth" goes--as has been said before "what is truth?"davidHartzog said:
Excellent post!
John Wayne fans indeed can feel very lucky, especially given the fact that so many great westerns have not been released on Blu-Ray so far with several of the Dukes lesser efforts comfortably making their way to Blu-Ray. Imagine for example the much lauded collaboration of Anthony Mann with Jimmy Stewart: 0 out of 5 movies released, The Scott/Boetticher Westerns: 0 out of 7 released. Westerns by Sam Peckinpah: One rather mediocre looking release. I could go on with actors often associated with the western that are missing with many of their best movies etc.... So the Duke fared very well on Blu-Ray which reflects his popularity that apparently also comes with larger than life success on classic catalog releases on BluAndrew Budgell said:Slow pace? Try being an Elizabeth Taylor fan. We're finally seeing at least three of her films on Blu this year (Cleopatra, Giant and The Only Game in Town), but so far the only US release of her work has been the documentary, "That's Entertainment!" I look at the number of his fllms on Blu and think his fans must feel very lucky.
