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Directed by |
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Starring |
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Specs |
- Widescreen 2.35:1
- 16:9 Enhanced
- Dual Sided
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Languages |
- English: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
- French: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
- Italian: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
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Subtitles |
English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Dutch, Arabic, English - Hearing Impaired, Italian - Hearing Impaired, Romanian, Bulgarian |
Extras |
- 6 Deleted scenes
- Theatrical trailer
- 2 Documentaries
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Wyatt Earp |
Warner Bros./Warner Home Video .
R4 . COLOR . 183 mins .
M . PAL |
Feature |
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Contract |
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This is a classic Western about one of the mythic figures of our time. One of my favourite directors, Lawrence Kasdan (The Big Chill, Accidental Tourist, French Kiss), co-wrote as well as directed this. And its quality shows throughout. This account of the life of Wyatt Earp spreads leisurely over three hours, tracing his life from young adolescence to settled middle-age, long after the tumultous events in Dodge City, Tombstone and Tucson that earned him fame. Kasdan chose Kevin Costner as his Wyatt. And it is a good choice. Costner is content to play Earp close to his chest, letting the story slowly reveal the character. False drama is eschewed; the violence, when it comes, is realistic, and the human motivation for feuding and gunfighting is treated as more important than the action. Interractions are treated far more seriously than in most movies of this genre. It starts off with Wyatt's father (Gene Hackman) inculcating in his young brood the importance of family allegiances -- of blood ties. This is a theme expressed throughout the movie, as Wyatt travels with his brothers, who join him as frontier lawmen and Faro dealers in Dodge City and Tombstone. This isn't a whiter-than-white Wyatt -- he has deep flaws, but there is much here to admire. And Dennis Quaid puts in a strong performance as one of Wyatt's closest but most tortured friends, the consumptive Doc Holliday. This is of course not the real Wyatt Earp, no more than was John Ford's Henry Fonda in another classic Earp biography, My Darling Clementine. Interesting to know that John Ford met the real Earp in the 1920s, when Earp was working as a technical advisor on Western movies in Hollywood. I guess we'll never know just what the real Earp was like.... but it doesn't really matter. The legend is the important thing, and Kasdan tells it exceptionally well.
Video |
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This widescreen anamorphic transfer is spread over two sides of a disc, with 86 minutes on the first side, and 97.26 minutes on the second. My review copy came spread over two discs instead, but I'm presuming the quality is identical. This is a stunning transfer. There seems to be no image degradation of any kind -- colours are rich and vibrant in the day and open country scenes, and suitably muddy and dull at night. The cinematography is served exceptionally well; it would be hard to imagine a more perfect transfer. The only flaw is the need to swap discs -- or flip it over -- halfway through the movie. It would have been far better to have had a dual-layer side for the movie, with extras housed alone on a second single-layer side, or on another disc.
Audio |
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The 5.1 Surround is employed well, without unecessary dramatics. Westerns need emphatic, ringing gunfire and we get that -- but the soundtrack and dialogue are also served well.
Extras |
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Overall |
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I think it's a classic movie, and should be owned by anyone who enjoys the Western genre. Don't be deterred by the length -- this one is directed by Lawrence Kasdan, not Kevin Costner, so every minute is important. Take a leisurely ride into the real Wild West, and buy it so at the end of the ride, it will slot into your shelves till the next time the prairie moon calls....
LINK: http://www.dvd.net.au/review.cgi?review_id=4328
Send to a friend.
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And I quote... |
"A classic Western about one of the mythic figures of our time." - Anthony Clarke |
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Review Equipment |
- DVD Player:
Pioneer DVD 655A
- TV:
Loewe Profil Plus 3272 68cm
- Receiver:
Denon AVR-3801
- Speakers:
Neat Acoustics PETITE
- Centre Speaker:
Neat Acoustics PETITE
- Surrounds:
Celestian (50W)
- Subwoofer:
B&W ASW-500
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