Major Dundee, starring Charlton Heston and Richard Harris, arrives on Blu-ray including both the Extended and Theatrical Versions, and a good selection of bonus features.
Major Dundee
(1965)
Genre(s): Western, War
Arrow Video | Unrated/PG13 – 122 min. / 136 min. – $59.95 | June 29, 2021
Date Published: 08/07/2021 | Author: The Movieman
|
|
|||||||||||
Arrow Film provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
The opinions I share are my own.
PLOT SYNOPSIS |
|
During the end of the Civil War, Major Dundee (CHARLTON HESTON) guards Confederate prisoners, Union deserters and ordinary hard-bitten criminals in a remote fort. When Apaches attack the fort and make off with three children, Dundee must set up a posse including Confederates, who face a choice between joining up or being shot. The feud between Dundee and Tyreen (RICHARD HARRIS) is also heated up by a sultry Mexican widow. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 4½/5 |
|
This two-disc set, each disc housed in a cardboard fold-out, comes in a side-sliding slip case and inside is a poster and nice booklet. Disc 1 (Extended Version):
Good selection of commentaries, the first was originally recorded for the Twilight Time release. Not entirely sure about the other two but since they weren’t listed as new, I assume they were part of the original DVD release. Moby Dick on Horseback (29:06) is a newly made visual essay by historian and critic David Cairns. Passion and Poetry: The Dundee Odyssey (1:15:25) — Feature-length documentary on the making of Major Dundee featuring interviews with James Coburn, Senta Berger, Mario Adorf, L.Q. Jones, R.G. Armstrong and Gordon Dawson. Passion and Poetry: Sam Peckinpah Anecdotes (25:43) — Nine actors talk about working with the legendary director including Kris Kristofferson, Ernest Borgnine, James Coburn and many others. Mike Siegel: About the Passion and Poetry (43:35) — Filmmaker Siegel talks about his beginnings and his ongoing historical project about director Sam Peckinpah. 2005 Re-Release Trailer (2:26) Animated Galleries for “Major Dundee on Set”, “Major Dundee Colour Stills”, “Major Dundee Portrait Stills” and “Promoting Major Dundee”. Disc 2 (Theatrical Version): Deleted/Extended Scenes (TRT 15:18) — Just a few scenes, one a compilation with commentary by Glenn Erickson. Last up are four Trailers. |
VIDEO – 4¾/5 |
| According to the booklet, this 1080p high-definition transfer was provided by Sony Pictures, so unless they did anything, this did not receive any sort of restoration, not that it really needed it. The picture here does look quite exquisite, detail is sharp throughout and colors have a nice balance. Not sure how this compares with the Twilight Time release but given both cuts are also on two separate discs, I have to assume they’re pretty similar. In any case, Major Dundee does look great in HD. |
AUDIO – 4½/5 |
| There are two choices for the audio. The first, and default, is a DTS-HD MA 5.1 with an updated score by Christopher Caliendo while the other is PCM 1.0, containing the original score. Either option is perfectly fine. I did switch back and forth and while the 5.1 is slightly more dynamic, the mono track still has decent depth while dialogue comes across with good clarity and no apparent bouts of hissing, pops or other aural ailments. |
Check out some more 1080p screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.