Silverado

thank you

Good western action.

Great

This is one of the best movies that I've ever had the pleasure of watching. Well worth the money for sure.

When "Silverado" came out 20 years ago, I recall quite a bit being made of the "revival of the Western" that it, and "Pale Rider," released at about the same time, supposedly entailed. Needless to say, that revival came neither in 1985, nor with the somewhat larger outpouring of Westerns in the early 1990's ("Unforgiven," "Dances with Wolves," etc.). In large part, the failure of the "western revival" is because none of these films, with the partial exception of "Unforgiven," found anything really new to say in the genre.That isn't to say that "Silverado" is a bad film, or one not worth watching; to the contrary, I probably enjoy it as much as I enjoy any post-"Wild Bunch" Western. To enjoy it, you have to accept it for what it is, and that's a B-Western. A very large, color B-Western with some big names in the cast, and some very well-done action scenes, but still a B-Western. That means, first of all, that the plot is pretty basic: four men--all very proficient gunmen, of course--are thrown together early in the film by circumstances, and become friends. They then team up to free the town of Silverado from the domination of a ruthless cattleman and the crooked sheriff who takes his orders. There are nods here and there in the direction of more subtlety and complexity, but they are only nods. The one storyline which offered something rather unorthodox, involving Rosanna Arquette's widowed homesteader, was cut almost entirely from the final version of the film.It's safe to say that in 1985, when "Silverado" came out, there weren't a lot of actors under about 50 who had much experience in Westerns; however, director Lawrence Kasdan succeeded in assembling a team of four strong leads. Scott Glenn took to the saddle like a natural--had he been born a generation earlier, he could, at the least, become a major Western star on the level of a Joel McCrea. He is superb as the tough gunfighter Emmett. As Jake, Emmett's younger brother, Kevin Costner gave a vigorous, zesty performance that will surprise anyone used to some of his more recent work. Danny Glover brought to the role of Mal much of the strength and solidity that he later showed in the "Lethal Weapon" series. Kevin Kline, as Paden, is the least successful of the leads--he isn't really a convincing six-gun artist--but he does provide some nice light moments in the intervals between the action.Brian Dennehy, as the aforementioned crooked sheriff, Cobb, is solid in the main villainous role, and Jeff Fahey is effective as his nastiest deputy, Tyree (one detects a faint homage to John Ford in the character's name). Ray Baker, as the cattleman McKendrick, has relatively little screen time. Many of the other supporting players seem oddly cast--John Cleese as the sheriff of a neighboring town, Jeff Goldblum as a gambler, Linda Hunt as a saloonkeeper--but they all work out more or less adequately. Rosanna Arquette's part, as noted, largely disappeared during editing, no doubt leaving viewers puzzled that she is billed third.Action scenes in a Western mean some mixture of gunfights and galloping horses, and "Silverado" has both in abundance. While none of these scenes are exceptionally original, they are generally well-executed. There is enough action that, even at a length of well over 2 hours, the pace never really lags long enough for viewers to notice. Bruce Broughton's score provides nice accompaniment for all the goings-on.The 2-disc DVD set contains some nice extras, chief among them being two featurettes, a "making-of" which centers on comments from Lawrence Kasdan (quite good), and a retrospective featuring Kevin Costner (OK, a bit chatty). Be warned, however, of a bit of slightly dishonest labelling regarding another extra--the "History of Western Shootouts, narrated by John Cleese" should really have been called "a promotional video for some mediocre Columbia Westerns, narrated by John Cleese."If you like Westerns, and can accept "Silverado" for what it is, this DVD is a very good buy.

Seems reviews here are mixed on various elements of this movie. Silverado does not aspire to be a great western, just a very entertaining one that doesn't ask too much of us. Despite some pretty ridiculous critiques here of the production design work, the attention to detail of sets, costumes, and props are meticulous. The New Mexico locations, much of it shot in winter, are gorgeously photographed by cinematographer John Bailey, often at optimum late day/low sun light. The performances definitely draw from theater a bit rather than deliver raw realism such as in some modern westerns, but it's no secret that this is intentional to keep it from being taken too seriously. Bruce Broughton's score is fabulous material and superbly recorded (also available as a re-mastered recording on CD, but pricey). Dolby TrueHD delivers wonderfully, limited only by the capabilities of your sound system. Great sound fidelity and mixing throughout. Some strong low frequency material is present in the score from low strings and percussion.There is some criticism of picture quality and attributed to a "poor transfer" and/or from a poor print. This is not accurate. Although I did not work on Silverado, I was a camera person on numerous westerns and many other movies you've all seen. Silverado was shot in Techniscope, a 35mm format that inherently delivers a more rustic appearance with more apparent film grain and somewhat less resolution. The picture characteristics pointed out as objectionable are quite intentional to give movies shot with this process a grittier look. The camera negative area is only half the size of the standard 35mm frame. 35mm anamorphic release prints of that era required an optical enlargement process which further enhances film grain. 70mm enlargements exacerbated this even further. Numerous older classic westerns (for instance the "spaghetti westerns") were shot with the same process. All share that gritty look. That said, color and contrasts are superb and resolution holds up quite well even if projected. The Blu-ray looks at least as good as any release print this movie ever had.Highly recommended for a good western romp with lots of eye candy and great sound quality.