Blu-ray Movie Reviews

The spirited Western stars Kevin Kline, Scott Glenn, Kevin Costner, and Danny Glover as four unwitting heroes who cross paths on their journey to the sleepy town of Silverado. Little do they know the town where their family and friends reside has been taken over by a corrupt sheriff and a murderous posse. It's up to the sharp-shooting foursome to save the day, but first they have to break each other out of jail and learn who their real friends are.

One of my favorite westerns finds its way to Blu-ray earlier than I expected. Kassdan did a great job with this one delivering a more “popcorn” western than most try to be. The cast is spectacular and the balance of action and humor always makes for a great time. With a literal dearth of great westerns on the format, this is a welcome addition to the collection.

The HD presentation for this one is good, but falls a bit short of the mark I was hoping for. The print is showing a bit of its age and consistency throughout the film wavers. At times detail is excellent with a nice sense of dimension. Other scenes look washed out and flat, almost like they were scanned from a different master print. Skin tones look a bit pushed early on but nothing too distracting. Overall this still looks better than the previous DVD release, but not quite as good as I was hoping for from Sony.

The Dolby TrueHD mix is also a nice improvement over the previous DVD release. The film’s score really opens up the mix but can sound a bit thin at the upper end. Dynamic range is decent but the canned sound effects show their age. Surround use is pretty good and offers up a convincing sound stage throughout most of the film and the dialogue doesn’t show any signs of strain.

Sony includes their MovieIQ feature with facts and info on the movie while it plays. This is also one of Sony’s digibook offerings with pictures, facts and bios included. Some production features and an interview with Kevin Costner is also included.

It was great to see this gem released to Blu-ray. There just aren’t enough great westerns on the format yet. While I was hoping for a bit more in the A/V department, this is still a worthy addition to the collection. Recommended.