Review: Broken Lance BD + Screen Caps

Broken Lance is a well made studio Western from the 1950s that features, no surprise, top notch performances most notably Spencer Tracy. The shooting locales and production design is commendable to go along with Leigh Harline’s score, which is available as an isolated track.

 

 

Broken Lance
(1954)

REVIEW NAVIGATION
The Movie | Special Features | Video Quality | Audio Quality | Overall

Genre(s): Western, Drama, Adventure
Twilight Time | NR – 96 min. – $29.95 | November 10, 2015

Date Published: 11/18/2015 | Author: The Movieman

MOVIE INFO: Directed by: Edward Dmytryk Writer(s): Philip Yordan (story), Richard Murphy (screenplay) Cast: Spencer Tracy, Robert Wagner, Jean Peters, Richard Widmark, Katy Jurado, Hugh O’Brian, E.G. Marshall DISC INFO: Features: Commentary, Newsreel, Theatrical Trailer Digital Copy: No Formats Included: Blu-ray Number of Discs: 1 Audio: English (DTS-HD MA 5.1), English (DTS-HD MA 2.0) Video: 1080p/Widescreen 2.55 Subtitles: English SDH Disc Size: 27.4 GB Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Region(s): A, B, C

PLOT SYNOPSIS

The one and only Spencer Tracy stars in Broken Lance as a fierce rancher who has raised his sons (RICHARD WIDMARK, ROBERT WAGNER, EARL HOLLIMAN, and HUGH O’BRIAN) with a potent work ethic but little paternal affection. Before long, the brothers are at each other’s throats, with dramatic results for the whole family.

 

SPECIAL FEATURES – 1.5/5

The release comes with the usual 8-page essay booklet. Features-wise, it’s nothing great but we do get an Audio Commentary with Actor Earl Holliman and Film Historian Nick Redman; a Movie Newsreel (0:52; HD); and the Theatrical Trailers (2:59; HD).

 

VIDEO – 4.25/5

Broken Lance rides onto Blu-ray courtesy of Twilight Time, presented in its original 2.55 widescreen aspect ratio and a 1080p high-definition transfer (MPEG-4 AVC codec). The movie looks quite good especially considering it is 60+ years old and although it doesn’t exactly have that pop of color, it is in keeping with the genre going more toward natural colors than anything vibrant. Detail, though, looks sharp and well defined and there were no major instances of artifacts, dust marks or other flaws.

 

AUDIO – 4.5/5

The disc includes the option of 2.0 and 5.1 tracks with the latter being the default option. The DTS-HD Master Audio track offers great dialogue levels throughout but where it does come to life is with Leigh Harline’s sweeping Western score. The 2 channel option also works with, of course, the majority of the sounds coming from the center speakers.

 

OVERALL – 3.0/5

Overall, Broken Lance is a well made studio Western from the 1950s that features, no surprise, top notch performances most notably Spencer Tracy. The shooting locales and production design is commendable to go along with Leigh Harline’s score, which is available as an isolated track. The Blu-ray released through Twilight Time has an informative commentary track though the other features are basically non-existent.

 

 

 

 

Check out some more screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.