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The White Buffalo [Blu-ray]
(J. Lee Thompson, 1977)
Review by Gary Tooze
Production: Theatrical: Dino De Laurentiis Company Video: Kino Lorber
Disc: Region: 'A' (as verified by the Oppo Blu-ray player) Runtime: 1:37:22.503 Disc Size: 21,587,638,764 bytes Feature Size: 21,133,449,216 bytes Video Bitrate: 25.78 Mbps Chapters: 9 Case: Standard Blu-ray case Release date: April 28th, 2015
Video: Aspect ratio: 1.78:1 Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio English 1577 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1577 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)
Subtitles: English, None
Extras: • Original Theatrical Trailer (1:51)
Bitrate:
Description: Two of the West's most legendary figures search for the demon buffalo that haunts them both! They called him Wild Bill Hickok (Charles Bronson, Breakheart Pass), the prince of pistoleers, a frontier adventurer and killer of men now, in his last years, he's in an old gunfighter plagued by fears and driven by a need to make peace with himself. The White Buffalo is his constant nightmare; he must find the fabled beast and destroy it... before it destroys him. He was Crazy Horse (Will Sampson, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest), the greatest of all Sioux chiefs. A warrior of dignity and pride - now a father who searches for the legendary albino buffalo so that the spirit of his dead child can go to heaven and he will stop at nothing to obtain the sacred white pelt. J. Lee Thompson (The Guns of Navarone) directs this one-of-a-kind western that features a brilliant cast the includes Jack Warden (Billy Two Hats), Kim Novak (Picnic), Stuart Whitman (Shadows in an Empty Room), Slim Pickens (Blazing Saddles), John Carradine (The Sentinel) and western legend, Clint Walker (More Dead Than Alive).
The Film:
J. Lee Thompson directs Charles Bronson in this strange western variation on Herman Melville's Moby Dick. Bronson plays a man named James Otis, who is disturbed by dreams of a giant white buffalo. He returns to the west under his new name --Wild Bill Hickok. Amongst his travels, he meets Chief Crazy Horse (Will Sampson), who is roaming the plains in an obsessive search for the giant white buffalo that killed his young daughter. Chief Crazy Horse wants to slay the beast in revenge for his daughter's death, and Wild Bill Hickok teams up with him to hunt down the giant white buffalo. Excerpt from MRQE located HERE Bronson plays Wild Bill Hickok, whose nemesis is the giant white buffalo of the title which haunts his nightmares. But the major struggle in the film is over whether it is a 'big' or 'small' picture. Biggest are: the buffalo, another Dino (King Kong) De Laurentiis presentation; the cast of mainly fading stars featured in cameo roles; and the self-consciously epic character names like Hickok, Crazy Horse and Custer. All of which suggests a thunderously empty yarn mounted around yet another mechanical gimmick. Yet Richard Sale's adaptation of his own novel hints at something more intimate. His Hickok is haunted, ageing, and diseased, trapped and uncertain in his own myth. Because of this, the movie occasionally takes an interesting turn, but less often than it should, because J Lee Thompson's direction clings to the increasing number of action set pieces with all the relief of a drowning man clutching a life raft. Excerpt from TimeOut Film Guide located HERE
Image : NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc. Much to the delight of Charles Bronson's fan-base, The White Buffalo has made it to Blu-ray from Kino-Lorber. This 'western with a monster' looks decent enough in the single-layered transfer with supportive bitrate. There is some thickness which seems authentic and plenty of textures. There are some sequences with depth - although colors may be shade flat - but I'm not complaining. It is transferred in the, marginally, bastardized 1.78:1 aspect ratio. I expect it looks like a solid replication of the film from almost 40 years ago but it is not particularly striking in 1080P. This Blu-ray provides a decent, consistent and watchable HD presentation but lacks any dynamic visual appeal.
CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Audio :Kino use a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel track at 1577 kbps. There are some effects including the almost mechanical sound of the charging Buffalo. Gunshots have minor depth but the biggest beneficiary of the lossless rendering is the score by the iconic John Barry (Midnight Cowboy, Dances With Wolves and the Bond themes among his many credits) which helps the film's mysterious atmosphere. There are optional English subtitles and my Oppo has identified it as being a region 'A'-locked disc.
Extras : Only a trailer - which is a shame - because I'd love to hear some discussion on The White Buffalo - such a strange film in many respects.
BOTTOM LINE: Gary Tooze March 25th, 2015
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