The Film
Westerns are typically predictable, and the often-retold story involves gunslingers with hearts of gold who must save a town from a power hungry ranger, outlaw bandit or corrupt sheriff. Silverado uses the latter, and features the requisite buildup, power plays and final showdown. But it does so while breaking some notable conventions, including the fact that the central characters aren't the usual archetypes - who for example would cast Kevin Kline in the lead in a western! But more surprising is that British comedy star John Cleese is also cast, while he and Rosanna Arquette for their supporting roles, get top billing over Kevin Costner and Danny Glover! In fairness, it seems that after Kline and Scott Glenn, the rest of the cast was listed alphabetically, but it still makes for a "what the?" sort of moment.
Beyond now surreal casting, the story makes a few strange detours, leaves just a few unanswered questions and features so many stereotypes that you'd swear this is a remake. But despite all this, Silverado stands out as a romp roaring good film. Part of this is because it comes after the over-the-top westerns that culminated with the bloodbath in The Wild Bunch, and arrived prior to the era of more realistic westerns, such as Unforgiven and HBO's Deadwood. This one reminds us how the West was fun.
The Picture
Given that Sony has rolled out a slew of marginally remastered releases that ended up being little more than updates of equally lackluster DVD packages, our initial feelings were that Silverado would be equal to a western heist, where the studio just looked to cash in. Instead, this one mostly delivers much more than expected. The AVC/MPEG-4 transfer is generally free of any artifacts, and the 2.40:1 presents reasonably good colors, including fleshtones. The sweeping vistas and wide-open spaces really come alive - at least they do most of the time. Strangely some of the sequences, such as the final shot, are extremely grainy, and filled with noise that just seems like the original source material was left to degrade. Despite this, the picture is a noticeable step up from the DVD release.
The Sound
From the beginning sequence as Scott Glenn fires off his six shooters and repeating rifles at a slew of bandits, this one provides a solid punch thanks to the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround sound track. Unfortunately, the balance is a tad off - or maybe it is just too lifelike - as the sounds of gunfire are deafening at times, while the dialog comes through so faintly that you'll want to up the volume. The result is one of those movies where you might be reaching for the remote any time the action heats up. The same holds true for the score by Bruce Broughton, which seems to really get loud on the musical crescendos and actually overpowers the ambient noise a tad too much. And speaking of Broughton's scores, it is easily one of those that sounds strangely familiar while still being original - almost to the point that you'd think he composed it while listening to other westerns.
The Extras
Here is where Silverado really hits gold. First, hardcore fans will be pleased with the packaging, which is so much more than the blue keeper case. This one comes in a booklet style package complete with glossy reprints of theatrical posters, and information on the film's stars. It is akin to those old movie books that were available at theaters from the 1960s to the early 1980s, and this provides a nice retro feel to this release. The disc itself contains a commentary by a western historian, a making-of featurette as well as a second featurette with Kevin Costner that looks back at the film. Finally, this BD Live disc also offers a MovieIQ feature that provides information about the cast, crew, music and production.
Final Thoughts
They don't make westerns like they used to, but then again they never really made westerns like Silverado. This truly one of a kind western has gotten some nice tweaks on Blu-ray, and while the sound could have been improved this one will have you riding into the sunset for many years to come.
Product Details
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