DVD Review: Bumpy Ride to ‘Appaloosa’ is Worth the Trip

BrianTT — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 12:32:26 -0700

CHICAGO – I expect “Appaloosa” to be one of the more hard-to-get movies at your local video stores for the next few months. It’s the kind of movie - action-driven and widely missed in theaters - that does very well on the home market. Renters will find an old-fashioned Western that may not transcend its genre but will certainly provide more than enough entertainment on a snowy winter’s eve.

With “Appaloosa,” the great Ed Harris steps behind the camera to direct for the first time since “Pollock,” and the result is an old-fashioned Western in the mold of “3:10 to Yuma” or “Open Range”. Harris shoots for the timeless quality of the genre, the one that makes “Appaloosa” feel like it could have been made fifty years ago without much change to the production at all. On one hand, it’s refreshing to see an ensemble as talented as the one in “Appaloosa” play with classic character types and themes. On the other, it’s hard to shake the feeling that we’ve seen “Appaloosa” before.

Appaloosa is released by Warner Brothers Home Video on January 13th, 2009.
Photo credit: Warner Brothers Home Video

Nearly every element of the story of “Appaloosa” is been shot before from the overly flirtatious woman who breaks up the true partnership of our hero’s life to the unshakable moral ground of our hat-wearing hero. “Appaloosa” is a familiar story told well.

Harris and Viggo Mortensen may have played enemies in the brilliant “A History of Violence,” but they’re partners in “Appaloosa” as Marshal Virgil Cole and Deputy Everett Hitch (a pair of great Western named from the author of the source material, Robert B. Parker, a man who knows the genre well). They are a pair of for-hire lawkeepers, men who are brought into restore order when evil threatens to destroy it.

Appaloosa is released by Warner Brothers Home Video on January 13th, 2009.
Photo credit: Warner Brothers Home Video

The lives of the life-long partners and friends is thrown into disarray by two people - Randall Bragg (Jeremy Irons) and Allison French (Renee Zellweger). Bragg has basically held the town of Appaloosa hostage, refusing to obey any law and keeping everyone ina state of fear. Harris opens his film with Bragg shooting the town Marshall. Cole and Hitch are brought in with the blessing of the townspeople to take down the nefarious Bragg. It gets complicated when a woman fresh off the train, Allison French, catches Virgil’s lonely eye. It’s not on the DVD, but the tagline in theaters was “Feelings get you killed”.

“Appaloosa” is the rare film that gives renters or buyers of the DVD exactly what they should expect from it, no more and no less. How many DVDs can you say that about? Yes, it can be argued, that we’ve seen “Appaloosa” too many times before, making it hard for the film to justify its existence, but the film does hardly anything wrong. It’s merely a matter of asking yourself if “not doing anything wrong” is enough.

“Appaloosa” looks and sounds fantastic on DVD, courtesy of Warner Brothers Home Video, still the most technically impressive studio in the game. The standard DVD is presented with both a widescreen and full screen version on one disc, making the picture slightly less vibrant than it could have been with just the widescreen version, but it’s still a very good transfer. Why anyone would want to watch a film like “Appaloosa” in full screen is beyond me.

As for special features, Ed Harris has been in the game for long enough that he’s a perfect candidate for an audio commentary track. He does one with screenwriter/producer Robert Knott and the two also speak about a few interesting additional scenes and everyone pops up on a great collection of insightful featurettes - “Bringing the Characters of Appaloosa to Life,” “Historic Accuracy of Appaloosa,” “The Town of Appaloosa,” and “Dean Semler’s Return to the Western”.

“Appaloosa” is a well-crafted, well-made, well-acted Western that never strives for anything as artistic as films like “Unforgiven” or “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” but succeeds at what it does attempt to be. Rent “Appaloosa” if you’re a fan of the genre or as an acting exercise for the great Harris and Mortensen, but don’t be disappointed that you don’t get much more than that.

‘Appaloosa’ is released by Warner Brothers Home Video and stars Ed Harris, Viggo Mortensen, Renee Zellweger, Jeremy Irons, Timothy Spall, and Lance Henriksen. It was written by Robert Knott & Ed Harris and directed by Harris. It will be released on January 13th, 2009.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

Exclusive Portrait: Viggo Mortensen on Red Carpet For ‘Good’ at Chicago International Film Festival

HollywoodChicago.com — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 08:48:55 -0600

CHICAGO – Academy Award nominee Viggo Mortensen posed for a HollywoodChicago.com red-carpet portrait on Oct. 29, 2008 prior to receiving a career achievement award at the U.S. premiere of “Good” on the closing night of the 2008 Chicago International Film Festival.

Mortensen has appeared in “Appaloosa,” “Eastern Promises,” “A History of Violence,” “Hidalgo,” “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,” “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers,” “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,” “28 Days,” “Psycho,” “A Perfect Murder,” “G.I. Jane,” “Vanishing Point” and “Crimson Tide”. Our exclusive portrait of Mortensen is below.

Academy Award nominee Viggo Mortensen on Oct. 29, 2008 prior to receiving a career achievement award
at the U.S. premiere of his new film “Good” on the closing night of the 2008 Chicago International Film Festival.
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

7:01 p.m. update on Oct. 30, 2008: Joe Arce – the professional celebrity photographer for HollywoodChicago.com – has also captured a “Good” group shot with Jason Isaacs, director Vicente Amorim, Viggo Mortensen and Chicago International Film Festival founder Michael Kutza. It follows. Our exclusive portrait of Jason Isaacs on the red carpet for “Good” can be found here.

From left to right: “Good” actor Jason Isaacs, “Good” director Vicente Amorim, “Good” actor
Viggo Mortensen and Chicago International Film Festival founder Michael Kutza at the premiere
of “Good” on the closing night of the 2008 Chicago International Film Festival on Oct. 29, 2008.
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com