Westbound - Randolph Scott Virginia Mayo Budd Boetticher

directed by Budd Boetticher
USA 1959

As the Civil War spills our nation’s blood, Capt. John Hayes (Randolph Scott) fights on a vital but little-known battlefront. He aims to ship gold to Union banks through a small Colorado town, defying Southern sympathizers who aim to stop him. At any cost. As chiseled and bone-lean as its star, Westbound is the sixth of seven Westerns Scott made with director Budd Boetticher, films that – along with the James Stewart-Anthony Mann Westerns – helped remake the genre in the 50s, substituting grit and veracity for white-hat heroics.

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Theatrical Release: 25 April 1959 (USA)

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DVD Review: Warner Home Video (Archive Collection - DVD-R) - Region 0 - NTSC

Big thanks to Gregory Meshman for the Review!

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	Warner Home Video Region 0 - NTSC
Runtime	1:08:45
Video	1.78:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 6.48 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate
Audio	Dolby Digital 2.0 (English)
Subtitles	None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Warner Home Video Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.78:1 Edition Details: • Warner Archives Promo DVD Release Date: March 22, 2009 Keep Case Chapters 7

Comments

Available for purchase or download HERE - but only if you reside in the continental United States.

This is a review of a Warner Archives disc - a new made-on-demand service available from Warner that currently only being sold at their Online store. There are a few drawbacks to this service:

1. The discs are being burned on DVD-R instead of being pressed at the plant, but Warner is using the best possible DVD-R media and is standing behind their product.

2. Most of the transfers being sold at this time are interlaced and not progressive. It's unfortunate, but hopefully they will correct this for later releases.

3. High price point. Current price for each disc is $19.95, which is too steep for a non-progressive DVD-R. So far they've been having multiple coupons and sales that can bring the price for each disc lower. You still have an option to download the movie, but for $14.95 each title that may have some compatibility issues - it's even less attractive than DVD-R for $5 more.

A very nice transfer for the last Boetticher/Scott western to appear on DVD. Sony released a nice box set, but this film being owned by Warner could not appear in it. But this transfer compares well to the films in that set and the sound likewise is decent. The only drawback, like to all other Archive releases, is lack of any subtitles and an interlaced transfer.

- Gregory Meshman

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