Comanche Moon (Sony DVD) + Masada (Koch
Vision DVD)
Picture:
C+/C Sound: B-/C Extras: C+/D Episodes: C+
To make
sure PBS was not monopolizing “quality television” and to boost its position as
a network on the rise, ABC (and executive Barry Diller) launched a concept
called the mini-series. It would be
dubbed “a novel for television” and at a time when VHS & Beta was just
starting to find its way to the marketplace, offered long-form original TV entertainment
that was groundbreaking and raised the stakes for TV production in
general. In a few years, ABC would be
the #1 network.
As
Hollywood went into its blockbuster mode, the mini-series became larger until
it imploded. Among the last good,
memorable ones were Winds of War, War & Remembrance (reviewed
elsewhere on this site) and Masada,
directed by the late Boris Sagal. Though
I was never its biggest fan, this tale of how Israelites held off the Romans
(led by Peter O’Toole) hanging in there until they actually prevailed. First broadcast in 1981, the series has
pre-home video syndrome where the narrator recaps every chapter, but it is a
first-rate production and holds up well just the same. Barbara Carrera, Nigel Davenport, Anthony
Quayle, Denis Quilley. Patrick Macnee (somewhere in there) and David Warner are
among the exceptional cast in fine form making this one worth seeing again
despite its rough spots.
Comanche Moon is a current production and rare
mini-series since the mid-1980s to not be an overblown mess. A prequel to the hugely successful Lonesome Dove, which I also had
problems with at its peak, this is a surprisingly good production with Val
Kilmer, Steve Zahn, Karl Urban, Adam Beach, Rachel Griffiths, Wes Studi and a
better cast overall than expected. It
can be melodramatic, somewhat predictable and break no new ground, but is done
with some energy and ambition form the at-least competent Simon Wincer. As written by Larry McMurtry and Diana
Ossana, I wondered if some of the lack of attention it received was a backlash
from the success of Brokeback Mountain.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on Moon
is new, sharper and cleaner than it ever looked on TV, making us wonder how
much better it would look on Blu-ray, but still has its sharpness and detail
issues. Masada was filmed and you can still see the money in the
production, but the 1.33 X 1 image is even a bit softer coming from what is
apparently an older video master. The
Dolby Digital 5.1 mix on Moon is not
bad for a mini-series and does not overdue the sound, except for the music,
while the Dolby 2.0 Mono on Masada
is flatter than it should be for a pricey TV production. With Jerry Goldsmith’s score, it deserves a
5.1 upgrade, something to think about for Blu-ray.
Extras on
Moon include three featurettes: Riding
Into The Sunset: Cowboy & Riding Training, Comanche Heritage and a behind the scenes look at the
production. Shockingly, Masada has no extras, not even a CD of
the score.
- Nicholas Sheffo
