Westworld
- Season One: The Maze
(2017/HBO/Warner 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray set in Limited Edition
Tin)/Wild Bill
(1995/United Artists/MGM/Twilight Time Limited Edition Blu-ray)
4K
Ultra HD Picture: A- Picture: B/B+ Sound: B+ & B/B+
Extras: B Main Programs: B
PLEASE
NOTE:
The Wild
Bill
Blu-ray is now only available from our friends at Twilight Time, is
limited to only 3,000 copies and can be ordered while supplies last
from the links below, while the 4K
Westworld
tin case will only be in print so long as well, so get it while
supplies last.
Here
we have two very different visits to the Wild West...
Westworld
- Season One: The Maze
(2017) is, of course, not an actual Western, but about a
technologically advanced, expensive amusement park where human people
can visit among other human customers and robots (among other things)
made to be human and live out any fantasy they want to. When
writer/director Michael Crichton made the original film in 1973, the
Western as a film genre was still alive (albeit in its last, late
stage) and the hit film made sense in that a corporation (Delos in
this case) would spend hundreds of millions to billions of dollars to
create an amusement park for rich adults. Over 40 years later, you
would think they might pick a different narrative genre to start out
with that might be more lucrative. Still, this cable TV revival (on
HBO) starts at the beginning, but so far, this turns out to be a
clever extension of the previous two feature films and not an
outright remake. That's smart.
The
first episode (at TV movie length like the final episode) of ten
starts with a basic trip to this lively recreation of the Old West,
allowing for more nudity, foul language, blood and violence than the
1973 PG-rated film could have and (no pun intended) gone the whole
hog (or horse) in a recreation of the West that can more than compete
with most of the retreads we have suffered through since Unforgiven
(also on 4K Blu-ray elsewhere on this site) was a surprise hit.
There
is the young lady on the plain (Evan Rachel Wood) who keeps waking up
from various dreams, various visitors, a new mysterious Man in Black
(Ed Harris, who is not the Gunslinger character Yul Brynner played in
the two 1970s films; though he
shows up in the background of one of the later episodes), two men who
seem to be running the park overall (Anthony Hopkins and Jeffrey
Wright) and a great supporting cast (some unknowns of whom might
become stars off of this show) that include the great Thandie Newton,
Jeffrey Wright, James Marsden, Ben Wright, Clifton
Collins, Jr., Luke Hemsworth, Ingrid Bosol Berdal, Sidse Babett
Knudsen, Simon Quarterman, Rodrigo Santoro, Angela Sarafyan, Jimmi
Simpson, Tessa Thompson and Shannon Woodward. I loved the chemistry
of this cast and how it helped the sense of this fakeworld seem all
the more off-kilter.
Though
there are moments of humor, it is much less than the 1970s feature
films (including the underrated 1976 Futureworld
sequel), but as the Western is practically a dead genre you have to
reinvent all the way every time you make a new feature film of one
(most fail), the series not only has a slightly overcast look in its
artificial West often, but a lite sense of death is always permeating
it, so when you get into the closed confines of the electronic labs,
et al, they have a more natural color range in an odd contrast. This
is never overdone and not even consistent throughout, but it makes
its visual narrative points. If anything, one could argue the series
spends too much times in the fake outdoors and on its Western
narratives, but better to leave no stone unturned than build it and
not use it enough. After all, the series does need to live up to its
name.
So
how good is it? Really good, especially with payoffs by the end, as
it wants to be a full-fledged world worthy of predecessors like
McGoohan's The
Prisoner
or Lynch's Twin
Peaks,
yet as complex as it can be (thus the subtitle of the debut season),
it still is connected to the movies in the best way and after years
of rumors and false starts, the makers have proven that those films
were not flukes or merely time capsules of their time. Instead, they
were more ahead of their time than they have received credit for,
hold up far better than you would think today and that is why the
series had no choice but to be as massive, elaborate, rich and filled
with exposition as this season is. No, a few things might not work,
but it is one of the best debuts of a drama series in years and by
the final scene, the makers are promising something even more bold
and possibly spectacular. That is why if you have not seen it
already, catch up to this show ASAP!
HBO
knows what they have here and have issued this in several versions
for home video, including this 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray set, and
in a Limited Edition Tin. This is first rate, first class, high
quality television the likes of which we do not see as much as it
seems with so many being happy (maybe too easily) with TV shows these
days, but Westworld
is enough of a true event that may take off in its next season (not
unlike the original Dynasty,
oddly) now that things have been set up so thoroughly. I did not
know what to expect, fan of the first films or not, but this show has
an audience, but not as huge as it should be. This set should more
than help change that.
The
2160p HEVC/H.265, HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced 1.78 X 1 Ultra
High Definition image seen on the 4K Blu-ray discs was shot on 35mm
film (the great Kodak Vision 3 negative stocks) and looks great, up
there with the best 4K feature films we've seen and has some demo
shots that will impress. Some of the digital CGI work, as good as it
can be, has it slight shortcomings here and there, but even the CGI
is better here than most feature films. The 1080p 1.78 X 1 digital
High Definition image may not be as good as the 4K presentation, but
it is as good as it can get in the format.
The
4K version offers Dolby Atmos 11.1 lossless tracks (Dolby TrueHD 7.1
on older systems) making it the first 4K TV release, first original
release TV series and second-ever TV series in any format to offer
the new soundtrack (Game
Of Thrones,
also an HBO series, was reissued with Atmos on regular Blu-ray in
some of its seasons recently, reviewed elsewhere on this site) and it
has impressive sonics, recording, mixing and mastering throughout.
The original film was in stereo when most films had stepped backwards
to mono sound, so this keeps the idea going that Westworld
should always be associated with doing things differently, better and
with a cutting edge to it. The regular 1080p Blu-ray offer DTS-HD MA
(Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix that is also fine for what it is, but
it is not as thorough as the Atmos.
Extras
in our great tin packaging include a faux illustrated booklet that
sells us why we should pay a ton of money daily to visit the
Westworld amusement park, Digital HD Ultraviolet Copy for PC, PC
portable and other cyber iTunes capable devices, then the discs
add an Inside
Look with Jonah Nolan and Lisa Joy - Season One
(New Featurette), Imagining
the Main Title
(New Featurette), The
Key to The Chords
(New Featurette), 2017 Comic Con Panel (New), Gag Reel (New), Welcome
to Westworld,
Crafting
the Narrative,
An
Invitation to The Set,
Welcome
to Westworld: About the Series,
Reality
of A.I.: Westworld
and 'The
Big Moment'
Featurette.
For
more on
Westworld,
try this link to our coverage of the really excellent new Blu-ray of
the original 1973 film...
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/12069/The+Blob+(1958/Criterion+Blu-ray)/The+Brood+(1
Jeff
Bridges (in one of his best roles!) stars in this epic western Wild
Bill (1995)
from Walter Hill (The
Warriors)
that is getting justice in HD courtesy of Twilight Time. The film
has a fantastic cast which includes Ellen Barkin, John Hurt, Diane
Lane, Keith Carradine, David Arquette, Christina Applegate, Bruce
Dern, and James Gammon and centers around the last days of the
gunslinger Wild Bill (played by Bridges). If you're a fan of
Westerns, then you'll want to pick up this gem that's worth
revisiting in high definition!
Wild
Bill Hickok (Bridges), famed lawman and gunman of the Old West but is
haunted by his violent past... which is the culmination of his
infamous reputation. He is loved by, but cannot love, Calamity Jane
(Barkin) and has to deal with young Jack McCall (Arquette), who
blames him for abandoning his mother and destroying her life. McCall
has sworn to kill Bill (no Tarantino related puns intended).
However, with Bill's failing eyesight, and his fondness for opium is
getting the best of him... still, Bill ain't going out without a
bang!
Presented
in 1080p high definition with a 1.85:1 widescreen aspect ratio and
audio tracks in both English 5.1 DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) and English
2.0 Stereo DTS-HD MA lossless tracks (MGM/UA wanted this to be a
sonic showcase when they were strictly supporting DTS in theaters
when it was new and you can definitely hear that here), the cinematic
presentation here is top notch. For a western shot on 35mm (full
color and black & white stocks), the film has beautiful
photography and highly saturated colors that reflect the time period
well by Director of Photography Lloyd Ahern II.
Special
Features include...
Isolated
score by Van Dyke Parks
Original
Theatrical Trailer
Reversible
Cover
and
an Exclusive Collectible Insert Booklet with yet
another excellent, underrated essay by the great film scholar Julie
Kirgo.
This
great film is a lot of fun and really is presented nicely on disc by
Twilight Time.
To
order the Wild
Bill
limited edition Blu-ray, buy it and other great releases while
supplies last at these links:
www.screenarchives.com
and
http://www.twilighttimemovies.com/
-
Nicholas Sheffo (Westworld)
and James
Lockhart
https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/
