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  • Widescreen 1.78:1
  • 16:9 Enhanced
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  • English: Dolby Digital Surround
  • French: Dolby Digital Mono
  • Italian: Dolby Digital Mono
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    Bronco Billy

    Warner Bros./Warner Home Video . R4 . COLOR . 116 mins . M15+ . PAL

      Feature
    Contract

    If there’s one thing Hollywood has taught us, it’s that the filthy rich are all secretly miserable – living lonely and unfulfilled lives atop their great piles of cash. It goes without saying that this flight of fancy is immensely popular with we the great unwashed, to which a plethora of romantic comedies with this as their central premise attest. With examples such as Goldie Hawn’s atrocious Overboard and Tim Allen’s For Richer or Poorer the results are, more often than not, total dross. But every now and again, as with all formulae, we come across a diamond in the rough. Such it is with Clint Eastwood’s 1980 production Bronco Billy, an engaging, light-hearted rom-com that takes this standard formulae as its starting point and adds a large dollop of that intangible Eastwood magic.

    Clint plays the titular Bronco Billy McCoy - a former shoe salesman who, long ago, dropped out to follow his lifelong dream of becoming a cowboy. Now, headlining a travelling Wild West show, this self-professed ‘fastest shot in the West’ roams the American mid-West entertaining the "little pardners" and relishing life on the endless trail. His companions on the open road, lost souls that this well-meaning father-figure has gathered to his banner, are a bunch of similarly minded folks all seeking something extra from life.

    But Billy has a problem. No matter how hard he looks, he just can’t find himself a pretty, young and above all else capable assistant. That is until he picks up another stray - a snooty New York heiress Antoinette Lily (Sondra Locke), whose new husband has abandoned her, penniless and alone, in Idaho. With no choice but to become his unwilling adjutant (for the time being anyway), this caustic blonde joins the show; her general bad attitude and incessant whining bringing the team nothing but bad luck. But Billy has taken a shine to this petite New York lass and, slowly but surely, as Antoinette re-discovers her lust for life, she too falls for the bucolic showman...

    Rich meets salt-of-the-earth, eventual attraction between totally mismatched opposites, we’ve certainly seen it all before - and yet Clint takes these romantic comedy staples and makes them his own. Indeed, with his natural charisma it’s hard for Clint to make a bad film and, supported by lashings of wry humour and the film’s seductive and life-affirming theme that 'you can be whatever and whoever you desire', Bronco Billy is a surprisingly entertaining piece of cinematic fluff. The lead performances from Clint and former wife Sondra Locke are solid, with that all-important on screen chemistry to be found in abundance. Locke in particular sells her transformation from frigid ice queen to born-again romantic especially well. The supporting cast, while are a bunch of familiar faces from the '70s, are largely forgettable and Clint’s direction is at best serviceable, and yet the endearing performances from the two leads manage to shine through.

    Overall, while Bronco Billy is no cinematic classic like Unforgiven or even Pale Rider, it represents a light, surprisingly entertaining diversion; a warm, endearing romantic comedy that is sure to provide most with a few laughs, and a case a warm fuzzies. Not surprising really, this is Clint after all, and if the High Plains Drifter has ever made a bad film, whatever the genre, then I am yet to see it...

      Video
    Contract

    A DVD release seemingly from a bygone age, Warner’s dual-sided, single-layer release of Bronco Billy sports an anamorphic widescreen version of the film on one side and a pan and scan version on the other. And although I will exclusively discuss the widescreen version of the film, samples taken of the full frame version indicate the quality to be effectively identical in all respects.

    Despite being cropped from its original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1 down to 1.78:1, Warner’s anamorphic transfer of Bronco Billy is quite pleasing indeed. Taken from a remarkably clean print, the image is sharp without undue aliasing or moire and, whilst suffering from an almost constant wash of low-level film grain, the level of detail is high (although when the sun gets behind Sondra Locke’s thin summer dress the guys out there are going to wish it was a little better!). One of the most prominent aspects of the film is its vibrant array of colours, with deep red sunsets and autumn trees sitting side-by-side the party lights adorning Bronco Billy’s big-top and the glaring neon of fair grounds and bars. Whilst vibrant, the colours are well balanced, as evidenced by the perfect skin tones. Black level too is perfect, and whilst shadow detail is a tad on the low side, this remains a product of the film’s age more than anything else.

    Despite the constant low-level grain, the compression process has been handled well, with only a small amount of chroma noise and posterisation making its way into a number of out-of-focus backgrounds and uniformly coloured walls such as hotel rooms. But really these small compression issues aren’t distracting and can be easily forgiven. Indeed, given the age of the film, Warner’s presentation of Bronco Billy certainly exceeded my expectations and should be applauded. Fans of Eastwood and of the film (of which I now count myself) should be well pleased with the results.

      Audio
    Contract

    Given Bronco Billy’s age and genre, I wasn’t anticipating much in terms of audio, and the Dolby Digital 2.0 mix that accompanies the impressive visuals pretty much lives up to expectations. While the all important dialogue remains clear and distinct from the centre channel, your trusty Prologic decoder doesn’t have much else to do, directing a bunch of country-inspired tunes that make up the score and a collection of simple foley effects to the front channels with little or no separation. And while the surrounds are utilised in a limited way to add a little depth to the music, that is the limit of their contribution to proceedings. The subwoofer has nought to say for the duration. All in all an uninspiring yet serviceable audio presentation that does what it needs to do and not much else.

      Extras
    Contract

    A bare-bones release from Warner, the single-layers that adorn both sides of this disc have no room left for extras. More's the pity.

      Overall  
    Contract

    I must admit to grave reservations going into this review, with the thought of Clint performing under the big top conjuring up frightening images of the Electric Horseman. However, with its wry humour and joy for life, Bronco Billy is a warm, entertaining romantic comedy that draws you in and leaves you thoroughly satisfied. Those of you looking for a squinting Eastwood Western had better look elsewhere, but those who appreciate the warm, light-hearted Eastwood will find much here to like. Despite a decidedly bare-bones release from Warner, I recommend Bronco Billy for an easy and enjoyable night in.


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      And I quote...
    "...takes a couple of romantic comedy genre staples and adds a large dollop of that intangible Eastwood magic."
    - Gavin Turner
      Review Equipment
    • DVD Player:
          Toshiba SD-2108
    • TV:
          Panasonic TC-68P90A TAU (80cm)
    • Receiver:
          Yamaha RX-V795
    • Amplifier:
          Yamaha RX-V795
    • Speakers:
          B&W 602
    • Centre Speaker:
          B&W CC6 S2
    • Surrounds:
          JM Lab Cobalt SR20
    • Subwoofer:
          B&W ASW-500
    • Audio Cables:
          Standard Optical
    • Video Cables:
          Standard Component RCA
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