Gunfight at the O.K. Corral 4K UHD - Burt Lancaster / Kirk Douglas

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

Directed by John Sturges
USA 1957

A gang of ruthless outlaws…a pair of larger-than-life heroes…a timeless tale of good versus evil. Blended together, the result is a sprawling, epic adventure bigger than the wild frontier—Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Screen legends Burt Lancaster (Vera Cruz) and Kirk Douglas (Lonely Are the Brave) team up to rid Tombstone, Arizona of the murderous Clanton gang in this all-star, action-packed classic. When lawman Wyatt Earp (Lancaster) and gunfighter John “Doc” Holliday (Douglas) ride into town, they find themselves pitted against one of the biggest foes ever encountered, in the form of Ike Clanton (Lyle Bettger) and his posse of cutthroats. It isn’t long before the confrontation explodes into a survival-at-all-costs battle, with Rhonda Fleming, Jo Van Fleet, John Ireland, Dennis Hopper, DeForest Kelley, Martin Milner and Lee Van Cleef among the screen luminaries swept into the drama and excitement of the Wild West’s most legendary six-gun showdown. Shot by Charles Lang (How the West Was Won), scored by Dimitri Tiomkin (High Noon), scripted by Leon Uris (Exodus) and staged magnificently by John Sturges, director of Bad Day at Black Rock, The Magnificent Seven and The Great Escape.

***

Of the many filmed versions of the October 26, 1881, O.K. Corral shootout in Tombstone, Arizona, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral was one of the most elaborate and star-studded. Burt Lancaster plays Wyatt Earp, the renowned lawman, while Kirk Douglas is consumptive gambler (and gunfighter) Doc Holliday -- the two meet in difficult circumstances, as Earp discovers that Holiday, for whom he initially feels little but loathing, is being held on a trumped up murder charge and being set up for a lynching, and intercedes on his behalf. The action shifts to Dodge City, Kansas, where Earp is marshal and Holiday, hardly grateful for the good turn, shows up right in the middle of all kinds of trouble, this time mostly on Earp's side of the ledger. And, finally, the two turn up in Tombstone, Arizona, where Wyatt's brother Virgil is city marshal, and where Wyatt finally gets to confront the Clanton/McLowery outlaw gang (led by Lyle Bettger as Ike Clanton). Since the time-span of the actual gunfight was at most 90 seconds, the bulk of the film concerns the tensions across many months leading up to the famous battle.

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Theatrical Release: October 21st, 1994

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Review: Kino - Region FREE - 4K UHD

Box Cover		CLICK to order from: Bonus Captures:
Distribution	Kino - Region FREE - 4K UHD
Runtime	2:02:51.197
Video	1.85:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 48,647,492,598 bytes Feature: 41,950,113,792 bytes Video Bitrate: 38.92 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video	1.85:1 2160P 4K Ultra HD Disc Size: 99,202,697,315 bytes Feature: 97,001,347,008 bytes Video Bitrate: 77.40 Mbps Codec: HEVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate Kino (2024) Blu-ray:
Bitrate 4K Ultra HD:
Audio	DTS-HD Master Audio English 2339 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 2339 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit) DTS-HD Master Audio English 1557 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1557 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit) Commentary: Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps
Subtitles	English (SDH), None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Kino 1.85:1 2160P 4K Ultra HD Disc Size: 99,202,697,315 bytes Feature: 97,001,347,008 bytes Video Bitrate: 77.40 Mbps Codec: HEVC Video Edition Details: 4K Ultra HD disc • NEW Audio Commentary by Author/Screenwriter C. Courtney Joyner and Film Historian Henry Parke (True West Magazine) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray • NEW Audio Commentary by Author/Screenwriter C. Courtney Joyner and Film Historian Henry Parke (True West Magazine) • Theatrical Trailer (2:13) 4K Ultra HD Release Date: February 27th, 2024 Black 4K Ultra HD Case inside slipcase Chapters 16

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray and 4K UHD captures were taken directly from the respective discs.

ADDITION: Kino 4K UHD (February 2024): Kino are releasing John Sturges' "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral" to 4K UHD. It is advertised as being from a "Brand New HDR/Dolby Vision Master by Paramount – From a 4K Scan of the 35mm Original Camera Negative." It comes with a second disc Blu-ray also from the same source. We reviewed the Paramount Blu-ray from 2014 HERE and have compared some captures below. Let's get this out of the way first - this transfer has some digitization - mostly in the form of low-frequency edge enhancement. It can look minor-ly waxy (soft) - lacking both depth (flat) and healthier grain. But the good thing is that it is not terribly egregious. It is a shame though. The 2160P has HDR which emboldens primary colors and black levels - for the most part. It is in the 1.85:1 aspect ratio losing shade of information in the frame (on all four edges) from Paramount's opened-up 1.78:1 2014 Blu-ray. On my system the colors and the Arizona vistas look impressive - I admit, just not perfectly film-like. This DNR-ish-ness continues to plague Paramount-derived sources.

It is likely that the monitor you are seeing this review is not an HDR-compatible display (High Dynamic Range) or Dolby Vision, where each pixel can be assigned with a wider and notably granular range of color and light. Our capture software if simulating the HDR (in a uniform manner) for standard monitors. This should make it easier for us to review more 4K UHD titles in the future and give you a decent idea of its attributes on your system. So our captures may not support the exact same colors (coolness of skin tones, brighter or darker hues etc.) as the 4K system at your home. But the framing, detail, grain texture support etc. are, generally, not effected by this simulation representation.

NOTE: 60 more more full resolution (3840 X 2160) 4K UHD captures, in lossless PNG format, for Patrons are available HERE

We have reviewed the following 4K UHD packages recently: The Wages of Fear (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Roaring Twenties (software uniformly simulated HDR), Universal Classic Monsters Limited Edition Collection (software uniformly simulated HDR), Scarlet Street (software uniformly simulated HDR), eXistenZ (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Horrible Dr. Hichcock (software uniformly simulated HDR), Conan the Barbarian (software uniformly simulated HDR), Django (no HDR), Lone Star (software uniformly simulated HDR), Suspect Zero (software uniformly simulated HDR), Count Dracula (software uniformly simulated HDR), Full Circle - The Haunting of Julia (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Warriors (software uniformly simulated HDR), Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (software uniformly simulated HDR), Blackhat (software uniformly simulated HDR), Mark of the Devil (software uniformly simulated HDR), Barbarella (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Last Picture Show (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Man Who Knew Too Much (software uniformly simulated HDR), Rope (software uniformly simulated HDR), Frenzy (software uniformly simulated HDR), American Graffiti (software uniformly simulated HDR), East End Hustle (software uniformly simulated HDR), Three Days of the Condor (software uniformly simulated HDR), Witness (software uniformly simulated HDR), Fascination (software uniformly simulated HDR), Lips of Blood (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Others (no HDR), It Came From Outer Space (software uniformly simulated HDR).

On their 4K UHD and Blu-ray, Kino give the option of strong DTS-HD Master tracks in either 5.1 surround or dual-mono (24-bit) in the original English language. "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral" is filled with various types of gun violence with some crisp separations in the surround. They remain authentically flat in the 2.0 channel. The score was by Dimitri Tiomkin (High Noon, Angel Face, Strangers on a Train, The Men, Dial M For Murder, The Thing From Another World, Undercover Girl etc. etc.) supporting the film adeptly. The film opens and closes to Frankie Laine singing Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (voted as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time - eyebrows raised), has the Barroom Piano from Cherokee Strip by John Leipold, Buffalo Gals, Leo Shuken's Varsovienne (Varsoviana) from The Furies (1950), and Claude Debussy's The Girl with the Flaxen Hair (La fille aux cheveux de lin) whistled and echoed in the score. Both discs offer optional English subtitles - and the 4K UHD is region FREE, playable worldwide. The second disc Blu-ray is Region 'A'-locked.

The only extra on the 4K UHD disc - is an audio commentary by C. Courtney Joyner (author of The Westerners: Interviews with Actors, Directors, Writers and Producers) and Henry C. Parke (Henry's Western Round-up, The Greatest Westerns Never Made.) They discuss many comparative films made in the era, Sturges, producer Hal Wallis, screenwriter Leon Uris, bartender Bing Russell (Kurt Russell's father!,) Stuart Lake's biography Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal published two years after Earp's death - the great Jo Van Fleet (Cool Hand Luke's mom,) Lancaster (why his "Wyatt Earp" didn't have a mustache,) Kirk Douglas, Earl Holliman, Lee Van Cleef, brilliant DoP Charles Lang, Edith Head costumes, the history vs. the myth etc. etc. It's a great discussion - so detailed. The Blu-ray also has the commentary and a handful of western, and other, trailers - one for "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.

John Sturges' "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral" is loosely based on the actual event in 1881. There are obvious historical inaccuracies taking liberties. 10-years later John Sturges made a more historically authentic film version; Hour of the Gun with James Garner as Wyatt Earp, Jason Robards as Doc Holliday and Robert Ryan as Ike Clanton. The most notable version was, my favorite, John Ford's My Darling Clementine with Henry Fonda as Wyatt Earp, Victor Mature as Doc Holliday, and it had John Ireland (who plays Johnny Ringo in "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral") as Billy Clanton in the iconic 1946 western. Holliday's tuberculosis is referenced - the classic story expressed with Burt and Kirk plus a wonderful supporting cast - including DeForest Kelley (ToS Dr. McCoy) as Morgan Earp, Martin Milner as James 'Jimmy' Earp, Lee Van Cleef as Ed Bailey, Jack Elam as Tom McLaury, Earl Holliman as the Deputy, Dennis Hopper as Billy Clanton and gals Rhonda Fleming as Laura Denbow and Jo Van Fleet as Kate Fisher - longtime companion and common-law wife of Old West gambler, gunfighter and tuberculosis-infected Doc Holliday. Kino's 4K UHD release of John Sturges' "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral" is probably at the mercy of the Dolby Vision Master by Paramount but many will appreciate the improvement over the old Blu-ray. It has a new excellent commentary. Difficult for die-hard western fans to say 'no' to this one.

Gary Tooze

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Kino - Region FREE - 4K UHD