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

H D - S E N S E I

A view on Blu-ray by Gary W. Tooze

Bone Tomahawk [Blu-ray]

(S. Craig Zahler, 2015)

Coming to a Blu-ray Steelbook in October 2023 from Image Entertainment:

Also available in Europe:

Review by Gary Tooze

Production:

Theatrical: Twilight Riders

Video: Image Entertainment

Disc:

Region: 'A'-locked (as verified by the Oppo Blu-ray player)

Runtime: 2:12:03.916

Disc Size: 34,724,412,020 bytes

Feature Size: 25,914,562,560 bytes

Video Bitrate: 20.99 Mbps

Chapters: 13

Case: Standard Blu-ray case

Release date: December 29th, 2015

Video:

Aspect ratio: 2.35:1

Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps

Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

Audio:

DTS-HD Master Audio English 3684 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 3684 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)

Subtitles:

English (SDH), Spanish, none

Extras:

• The Making of Bone Tomahawk (10:05)
• Deleted Scenes (2:03)
• FantasticFest Q+A with Director and cast (34:40)
• Original theatrical trailer (2:37)
• Poster Gallery

Bitrate:

Description: In a small western town several of the residents go missing and are feared to have been kidnapped by a cannibalistic tribe who live in vast caves deep in the desert lands. Originally thought to be Indians, the tribe is actually a spoiled bloodline known as troglodytes; vicious killers who prefer human meat over all else. Determined to find the townsfolk, Sheriff Franklin Hunt (Kurt Russell) enlists a team of gunslingers to risk their lives by confronting the remorseless cave-dwelling maneaters.

***

When a group of cannibal savages kidnaps settlers from the small town of Bright Hope, an unlikely team of gunslingers, led by Sheriff Franklin Hunt (Kurt Russell), sets out to bring them home. But their enemy is more ruthless than anyone could have imagined, putting their mission – and survival itself – in serious jeopardy. Kurt Russell (Silkwood, The Thing, Death Proof, The Deadly Tower etc.) leads an all-star cast, including Patrick Wilson (Insidious), Matthew Fox (“Lost”) and Richard Jenkins (The Visitor) in this gritty, action-packed thriller chronicling a terrifying rescue mission in the Old West.

The Film:

The setting is a classic, isolated frontier town, Bright Hope, sometime in the mid 1800s. Late one night, convalescing local businessman Arthur O’Dwyer’s (Patrick Wilson) life is turned upside down when his wife, the town's backup doctor (Lili Simmons), is kidnapped while treating a patient in the jail. Clued in by an Indian resident that a strange, lost tribe of troglodytes might be responsible, given the strange, bone-decorated arrows and axes left behind, the grizzled and stoic Sheriff Hunt (Kurt Russell) rounds up a disparate vigilante posse to go in pursuit, featuring his eccentric Deputy Chicory (Richard Jenkins), local gunslinger and charmer Brooder (Matthew Fox), and the crippled O’Dwyer. They set off quickly to pick up the trail, facing a hard five-day ride, but their rescue soon terms into a nightmare blend that is one part The Searchers and a little bit The Hills Have Eyes. In case the gritty title didn’t clue you in, things do eventually get very bloody and many a bone is broken.

Excerpt from EyeForFilm located HERE

With a superb cast and a narrative that defies stereotypes while also honoring them, Bone Tomahawk is a solid directorial debut and one of the year's most unique genre films.

An expectation can be a strange thing. Bone Tomahawk is the directorial debut from novelist and musician S. Craig Sahler, whose previous cinematic claim to fame was co-writing the barely-discussed (but great) 2011 horror Asylum Blackout, and it centers on four men heading out on a mission to rescue people from a group of inbred cannibals living in caves. No one would get an arrow to the head for assuming this was a slasher flick that dealt in equal measures of gore and exploitation, but that is about as far from the truth as possible. Okay, so there is some pretty solid gore involved.

Excerpt from CinemaBlend located HERE

Image : NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

Bone Tomahawk looks solid on Blu-ray from Image Entertainment / RLG. It's on a dual-layered disc with a decent bitrate. There are different transfers in Europe and I may compare one day. It appears to have been shot in Redcode RAW 4K and printed in 35mm. The image is very strong looking tight, detailed and exporting plenty of depth. Contrast is excellent. This Blu-ray looks fabulous on my system. Visually this gets high marks.

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

Audio :

A DTS-HD Master 4.1 surround track (24-bit) is utilized. The film has plenty of western-related effects and some horror one too. Horses, powerful guns shots and the trogladyte's horrific caw-like howls plus there is a score by Jeff Herriott and S. Craig Zahler (also writer and director) that is infrequently used but does a solid job when called upon. The audio rendering is as good as the video - tight, exceptionally clean, deep and rich. There are optional English (SDH) or Spanish subtitles and my Oppo has identified it as being a region 'A'-locked.

Extras :

Since I enjoyed the film so much, I appreciated the extras, although no commentary but I'd love to hear from S. Craig Zahler on details of the film and his screenplay. We do get a bit of him and Kurt Russell in the 10-minute Making of Bone Tomahawk, and a brief, and less consequential, deleted scene (the ending). There is a half-hour Q+A post screening at 2015 FantasticFest with director Zahler and cast members Kurt Russell, Matthew Fox, Patrick Wilson and Richard Jenkins LIVE in attendance. There is an original theatrical trailer and poster gallery.

BOTTOM LINE:
Bone Tomahawk was such a pleasant surprise for me - it has now become a favorite. Like The Witch (another Blu-ray I need to review) I was delighted by the, incredibly well-thought out, articulate, flowing dialogue. It's brilliantly utilized. Kurt Russell is his usual 'great' (never a bad performance) and this is a highly impacting western - in our TOP 100 - skirting the edges of being a very unsettling horror. The Blu-ray delivers a totally solid a/v presentation and some worthy supplements are included. Yes, I've rewatched it a few times and will be keeping an eye out for future projects by Mr. Zahler. That, my friends, is a very strong recommendation!