Red River (The Masters of Cinema) [Blu-ray]

Howard Hawks' masterful 1948 cattle drive epic 'Red River' stampedes its way onto a UK Blu ray courtesy of Eureka Entertainment as part of their much lauded Masters of Cinema collection. For whatever reason Eureka have only made the longer 133 minute pre release edit available on this disc despite Howard Hawks himself proclaiming to prefer the shorter 127 minute cut. Including both versions would have been preferable.Synopsis:In a quest to fullfill his dreams of being a cattle rancher Tom Dunson (John Wayne) ignores his wagon master who's train they had joined en route to California and heads off to Texas with his right hand man Groot Nadine (Walter Brennan) with one bull and two cows leaving his sweetheart Fen (Coleen Gray) in the protection of the wagon train on the promise that once the ranch is set up he will send for her. Only a night into their journey a distant plume of smoke indicates that the wagon train has been attcked by indians. When the same Indian scouts catch up with Dunsan and Goot the pair fight them off only to prove Dunsan's worst fears.......his girl has been killed indicated by one of the slain indians wearing her bracelet, the same bracelet Dunsan had given her which had been left to him by his late mother. The two continue their journey and eventually reach the Red River, the border between Texas and Oklahoma where they meet up with a delirious and fiesty young boy Matt Garth who has survived an indian attack that killed his family and whose sole possessions are a cow and a small pistol. Admiring his pluck and courage Dunsan takes the boy under his wing promising that if he works hard he will make him a partner in his planned ranch and add his initial to the cattle brand.Fast forward fourteen years and Dunsan has achieved his ambition and has now the largest cattle herd in the area. But thanks to the Civil War, the high price of beef and the lack of cattle markets in Texas he is basically bankrupt despite his huge animal stock. So with his still loyal friend Nadine and his unofficially adopted son Matt(Montgomery Clift) who has grown into a strapping cow hand with a draw as quick as his father's, Dunsan plans a cattle drive of 9000 strong to Missouri where he is guaranteed a fair price for his beef stock. Taking with them a group of experienced cowboys each being offered $200 for the monumentous drive the journey starts out promising but problems begin after a raging stampede that leaves one cowhand trampled, hundreds of cattle killed and their foodstocks destroyed. Tempers soon begin to rise as all the men including Matt begin to doubt the now agressive and tyrannical Dunsan who appears to be selfishly obsessed with driving the cattle his way despite suggestions of a safer, easier and shorter passage to an alternative destination of Abilene Kansas where there is rumoured to be a railroad. When two deserters from the group are caught and returned Dunsan threatens to hang them prompting Matt to take charge of the group with all men siding with him to overthrow his father. Assuring he will lead them to Abilene where they can collect their well earnt paychecks, Matt decides to leave his proud and now vengeful father behind provoking Dunsan to threaten his adopted son with death when he finally meets up with him again.Clocking in at well over two hours, Red River could be thought of as the original epic western, spanning decades and with themes that go far deeper than your average oater of the period. Often decribed as the western equivalent to Mutiny on the Bounty, this claim is immediately true with Dunsan being the Captain Bligh to Matt's Fletcher Christian and the cowboys the crew of The Bounty. Add to that elements of a classic Greek tragedy, a career changing performance from John Wayne, fast paced set pieces, a tight script and majestically epic cinematography whether it location or set bound and you have all the hallmarks that have made Red River an indisputable classic of American cinema.Picture:Its rough, its dark and its grainy but that doesent stop Eureka's HD transfer of Red River looking absolutely wonderful. Presented with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer framed at the correct aspect ratio of 1.34:1 this is a spectacularly solid interpretation of a 67 year old picture. The moody black & white photography benefits immensely with strong texturing and revealing levels of detail. The bright daytime scenes look fantastic from intricate close ups of trail worn faces and clothing through to dusty roads and livestock and depth is readily apparent. The same too can he said about the famous wide open vistas which appear clear and well defined and like "Shane" another western classic shot in the Academy Ratio give an enormous feeling of space despite the restrictions of the tight framing. Contrast can be slightly dark but is pleasing with a natural grey scale and deep inky blacks showcasing good shadow detail, perfect for the atmospheric studio shot night passages as well as the fast paced twilight stampede. The immensely thick grain field has been left intact and untampered with and although this often threatens to take over the image and on occasions looks extremely noisy especially on the huge Amerocan West skies I am sure this is all natural and organic making me kind of glad Eureka didn't try and soften it which would have resulted in less of those glorious filmic textures. As to be expected for a film of Red Rivers vintage there are some age related anomalies in the form of scratches, dirt specks and virtical lines not to mention some rather odd fading that affects dark objects set against a bright foreground. Fortunately none of these indiscrepancies really derail the image or the impact of this spectacular movie and if anything are inkeeping with the age of the production. Could it look better? Most probably but with a consistently high bitrate and no visable compression issues I am more than happy with Red Rivers transition to the world of high definition.Audio:Eureka have utilised Red Rivers original monaural soundtrack and have presented it in a single channel LPCM 1.0 mix. Obviously stemming from a dated source this sounds surprisingly robust and clear. The music gets a decent sonic upheaval in lossless sounding potent and boisterous with dynamic range befitting the age of the production. Dialogue is clear and precise with no apparent distortion or clipping and the foley effects carry some weight from the stampeding cattle through to gunshots. The very nature of this mix means it is straight down the middle front and centre and the recording level does seem slightly lower than other Blu ray soundtracks but with no pops or cracks and only a slight amount of background hiss this is more than acceptable.Extras:For a movie as influential as Red River this Masters of Cinema release does indeed feel a little light in the extras department. The most interesting supplement is a scholarly but fairly informal chat between filmmaker Dan Sallit and film critic Jaime N Christley. Shot exclusively for Eureka, this runs for around 45 minutes with the two men discussing Howard Hawks and what made Red River such a unique classic. The piece is presented in widescreen (1.78:1) and in full HD 1080p.Next up is an audio only segment featuring the Lux Radio adaption of Red River broadcast in 1949 which runs for 59 minutes and features the voices of John Wayne, Walter Brennan and Joanne Dru. The broadcast plays back over the static menu screen and is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0.Also included is the option to watch the film with an isolated music and sound effects track again presented in LPCM 1.0 the same as the main feature and as with most Masters of Cinema releases a well produced glossy booklet can also be found in the case.Conclusion:Beautifully made and exquisitely shot Howard Hawks' Red River is a true undeniable classic that has stood the test of time to become a highly influential genre favourite that any true lover of film should find the time to watch at least once even if they have no interest in any of the stars or westerns in general. Eureka's UK Blu ray release presents this black & white masterpiece in a superb high definition transfer which expertly showcases the timeless photography and wonderful performances on offer. The extras on this disc are pretty slim pickings and the packaging is a tad bland but the glossy booklet features plenty of information and photographs and as I picked this up for £6.99 I really cannot fault this release although it would have been advantageous to see the shorter, 127 minute director approved cut. Incidentally for the true fan of Red River the US based boutique label Criterion have released their own delux double disc Blu ray featuring both cuts of the movie, a slightly better and more thoroughly restored picture transfer and an exhaustive selection of special features. Very tempting for sure but as this luxurious import Blu ray release is region A locked and retails the wrong side of £25 I think it will have to remain a luxury that is tantalisingly out of reach.

I always liked this great classic and recently I was pleased to see that it didn't age a bit. It was and still is one of the greatest westerns ever made and it remains a GREAT WATCH! Below, more of my impressions, with some LIMITED SPOILERS.PRECISION: this is the review of the 2000 Region 2 DVD, not the recent Masters of Cinema Blu-ray.The film begins in 1851 with Thomas Dunson (John Wayne) and his trail companion/hired hand, Nadine Groot (Walter Brennan) travelling to Texas. They are dirt poor and other than their clothes and guns they own only one wagon and one head of cattle, a healthy bull. Quite quickly in the film they meet a boy, Matthew Garth, who lost his family and all his belongings, except for one cow. Then we go all the way to 1865, when Matthew is already all grown (he is from that moment played by Montgomery Clift). Together, he and Dunson own a gigantic herd of cattle but Texas is so ruined by the war and so oppressed by war profiteering carpetbaggers that there is no buyer for all this beef.Completely broke, Dunson decides at that moment to do something unprecedented and in fact quite desperate, namely drive his gigantic herd north, all the way to Missouri. That means a thousand miles trek, which will take a minimum of two months and a half – if they are very lucky… And on the way there will be "dry country, dry wells when we get to 'em. There'll be wind, rain. There's gonna be Indian Territory - how bad I don't know. When we get to Missouri, there'll be border gangs. It's gonna be a fight all the way."… And once this speech made, the film really begins…The scenario of this film is actually greatly inspired by the Bible, mostly the Exodus but also the Book of Joshua, some New Testament and of course there is the Snake – always present… The Book of Joshua (the conquest of Canaan) came immediately to my mind when we are told how Dunson acquired his ranch and his land. The great cattle drive is a modern re-telling of Exodus, as Dunson and his companions suffer misery and hardship in their land and making this deadly trip to the north is the only way for them to recover their freedom and dignity. The Red River which they must cross on their way is quite obviously the equivalent of the Red Sea. On the way Dunson becomes more and more a Moise-like patriarch, an authoritarian man driven by certitude and showing no mercy to himself or others. Another similarity with Exodus is the dissension appearing amongst his followers, exactly like during Hebrews wanderings in the desert.There is however also New Testament included in this story and in fact the film ultimately becomes a debate between the Old and New Alliance. Dunson is an Old Testament patriarch, who believes that when people enter a covenant of their free will, they must respect the terms to the end and the price for openly breaking it is death – this terrible, merciless justice he is ready to apply indifferently to companions, loved ones and himself. Matthew Garth, a tough and rough frontier man himself, is nevertheless a more Christian character – he admits that when people break the covenant not for profit or lack of honour but only because their suffering is unbearable, forgiveness rather than punishment must be the solution. Still in accordance with the New Testament, his vision of leadership is to hear the suffering of his people and answer with flexibility of charity, rather than with merciless sternness. The film doesn't openly take sides in the debate – both visions are honourable and they are in fact ultimately shown as complementary rather than antagonistic, exactly like the Old and New Testament complete one another.Another Biblical element is the presence of the Snake, the great facilitator of all kind of mischief, conflict and violence, who appears quite early in the film as Cherry Valance, a hired hand with a shady past and a terrific reputation of gunfighter. This secondary but important character is played very well by John Ireland, a man gifted with a very masculine handsomeness mixed with a little bit of danger – which is a perfect mix to play a somehow devilish character and also to get the best girls (he married in 1949 Joanne Dru, the main female star of this film). On the surface of the things Cherry Valance is always obedient, does his job well, obeys orders and is loyal to his friends – but in the same time he always ends by making things worse…The initial scenario of "Red River" was even darker and more tragic, and especially Cherry Valance's character was more significant and the evil he caused was greater, but ultimately both Howard Hawks and the producers took fear and decided at the last minute to smooth the things a little. This is the reason why the very ending of this film is the only moment slightly weaker than the rest. The scenario is however still very, very good.This is one of the films in which John Wayne shined the most, as his role is definitely different from anything else he ever played – and he aced it! After seeing John Wayne's performance in "Red River" John Ford famously said: "I never knew the big son of a (-----) could act."…))) Montgomery Clift, for whom it was the FIRST ROLE, shows here one of the most impressive debuts EVER! Veteran actor Walter Brennan provides great fun in every single scene in which he appears, and there is also a short appearance by Harry Carey, the legend of old westerns, for whom it was the penultimate role in an amazing career, began in 1909 (!)…On another hand, the only significant female character, Tess Millay (Joanne Dru), is ultimately not so great. I almost had the impression that Howard Hawks couldn't quite make his mind about Tess and as result she is a patchwork of different ideas rather than one character. In one scene she is proud and courageous, in another she is begging and whining. In one scene she cannot shoot straight, immediately after she is Annie Oakley. Etc., etc. But as her role is ultimately secondary (she appears late) it doesn't damage this film too much.Even with the small weakness at the very ending and with a rather unsatisfying main female character, this film is still AMAZINGLY GOOD, extremely powerful, in many moments very moving, frequently tragic but also containing wonderful humour – and it is worth reminding here, that is was Howard Hawks FIRST WESTERN! The beauty of the film is greatly increased by the music composed by great Dimitri Tiomkin in person and one of the themes was later transformed into the legendary "My rifle, my pony and me" song from "Rio Bravo".I love this film, I am certainly going to watch it again and I am so keeping my DVD. A recommended viewing! ENJOY!