APPALOOSA
Starring Ed Harris, Viggo Mortensen and Rene Zellweger
(15)
I'd been so looking forward to the DVD release of this western starring and directed by Ed Harris. It only got a blink and you'll miss it cinema release and so I was first in the shop this morning for the film's UK release.
To be honest I was slightly disappointed - the period detail is superb and there' s some great acting and of course the Robert Parker source novel is brilliant. But the film fails to gell and the shoot outs, although realistic, just don't have any suspense to them.
It's an okay movie and I'll probably watch it again sometime, if only for Tim Spall's nutty American accent but it's got the feel of a telemovie to it.
The E.I.V DVD release is only average with several special features but these are slim making of pieces that don't add that much to the overall value. The commentary is far better and after listening one gets the feeling that this could have been an awesome movie if the budget had been bigger.
It's a pretty much run of the mill western.
9 comments:
Hmmm... I was getting ready to buy this one. Maybe I will just rent it instead.
That's a shame, they put together a hellva trailer and Viggo's turn in "Hildago" had me sold on this already.
Guys - maybe it's just me but it felt small to me. Like a tele-movie. There were some great sections, though. Give it a try.
I also missed this one at the movies, but with a cast like that, I'll still have to give it a try on DVD.
Hi Gary,
I have to respectfully disagree. I caught "Appaloosa" at the cinema and now on DVD and it holds up very well indeed. At no time did it remind me of a telemovie. It's a full-scale production of traditional proportions, and "traditional" is the key word. It will, I believe, be remembered as a strong and well-made Western reminiscent of classics such as "High Noon."
The gunplay, for instance, is more realistic and less influenced by contemporary Hollywood's penchant for slo-mo and "hey, let's blow something up now" silliness that we saw too often in the remake of "3:10 to Yuma." (I did like that one, too, but in comparison it's definitely a hyped Hollywood production. Not a bad thing, just a different beast.)
The acting in "Appaloosa" is top-shelf, the period detail is spot-on, and the script stuck to the solid book by Parker.
A traditional story very well presented is how I'd describe it.
Cheers,
Matt
I hope Matt's right because it's winging its way from netflix as we speak. And the British telemovies are often better than ours.
I've seen this too, and I really enjoyed it. Thought it had some excellent camera work and use of lighting - the scene in the blue bedroom being very effective.
I also thought there was some terrific dialouge delivered with perfect timing by all actors.
Timothy Spall definately stole each scene he was in though.
As for the gunplay, I thought it was great to see something more of how I'd imagine it to really be. Interesting to see that nearly eveytime pistols were in hand before the shooting began.
I'd not hesitate to recommend it to all western fans.
This movie is no relation to the one I saw years ago with Marlon Brando which did not follow the original story. I was so disappointed then. I'll watch this movie just for Viggo because he knows how to ride horses.
I certainly don't think Parker's novel was "brilliant," and haven't seen the movie yet,but I know many western writers who have and they have not liked it. One pet peeve that followed the bookto the movie was the 8 guage shotgun that Viggo carried. An 8 guage is almost like carrying a cannon, and just wouldn't be done when there was a 12 guage at hand.
I'll watch the movie because I like Ed Harris in almost anything he does, but theonly Parker I read anymore--or watchj--are the Jesse Stone stories.
RJR
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