Back in July of 2010, I covered 50s Westerns on Blu-ray — which was a paltry two titles (given, they were The Searchers and Rio Bravo).
Not many have been added to that last, but the additions are substantial, pictures that are not only important titles in the genre and the decade, but films that were poorly represented in standard DVD.
We’ve got The Big Country (1958, above). A stunning transfer of the Technirama film started out as a $10 Walmart exclusive and is now available elsewhere.
There was nothing good you could say about The Horse Soldiers (1959) on DVD. The Blu-ray looks so good, however, it invites you to give the maligned John Ford film another chance. And guess what? It holds up well, especially this scene.
Robert Aldrich’s Vera Cruz (1954) has had problems with its presentation since SuperScope was thrust upon it after it had been shot. The Blu-ray recreates that 2:1 framing, but is careful enough to make it work. Rarely do you notice just how tight some shots are, and the overall transfer is miles ahead of what you’ll replace when you buy this one.
Just think, at this rate, by summer of 2012, we might have, say, eight or nine 50s Westerns to chose from when we want ride into the 1080 sunset.
“Man of the West” just came out on Blu Ray in Germany.
I think it is region free (not sure) and looks beautiful.
Find it at Amazon Germany under ” Der Mann aus dem Westen”.
Same label (Koch Media) published “Yellow Sky” and “The Ox Bow Incident” on Blu Ray (both region free) and will come up with “The Tall Men” on Blu ray next year. All their films have the original soundtrack.