James Coburn Collection (Trailers)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+     Extras: D     Trailers: B

 

 

James Coburn is the kind of movie star that you will never see again.  He was a great supporting actor, character actor, lead actor, and could play character good, bad or ambiguous.  The current generation of filmgoers and especially filmmakers seem clueless about who he was or what he really achieved.  Even the much earned and deserved Academy Award for Paul Schrader’s Affliction (1998) as Nick Nolte’s destroyed and destroying alcoholic father.  That is why the new trailers collection The James Coburn Collection (2003) is so welcome.

 

The clips are in chronological order up to the early 1980s, as follows:

 

Ride Lonesome

Face Of A Fugitive

The Magnificent Seven

The Great Escape

Charade

Americanization Of Emily

Major Dundee

The Loved One

Our Man Flint

Dead Heat On A Merry-Go-Round

In Like Flint

Waterhole #3

The President’s Analyst

Candy

Hard Contract

Last Of The Mobile Hot-Shots

A Fistful Of Dynamite (aka Duck, You Sucker)

Honkers

A Reason To Live, A Reason To Die (aka Massacre At Fort Holman)

Pat Garrett and Billy The Kid

The Last Of Sheila

Bite The Bullet

Hard Times

The Last Hard Men

Midway

Cross Of Iron

Firepower

Loving Couples

Looker

 

For Charade fans, the question of the trailer is key because the one on the first Criterion DVD of the film was missing the sides, when compared to the 1.78 X 1 letterboxed trailer on the letterboxed VCI DVD of the film.  Both DVDs are now out of print and the re-issue of the Criterion version is near.  However, though it is not in the condition of the Criterion of especially VCI copy of the original theatrical trailer, the one here is the most complete frame-wise of all.  It turns out VCI has a letterboxed version of what is here, so fans will want to check this out.  For more on previous versions of Charade, look it up in “DVD Comparisons” section of one of the movie websites up to our standards: www.DVDBeaver.com for that and many other goodies.

 

The trailers missing besides Affliction include Hell Is For Heroes, Internecine Project, and even some alternate versions of what was already there.  There must be some other promo footage for Charade.  Either way, this is a very well-rounded collection that fans of Coburn and great movies, many of which are inexplicably not available on video at all.  In many cases, the versions have been inadequate, so it makes a great guide for films to see alone.

 

The picture image is above average, with some footage better than others, while the Dolby Digital 2.0 sound is pretty much monophonic throughout.  There are no extras, but this is a must-see set for anyone who considers themselves a real film fan.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo