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Order this DVD from Amazon.com
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Open Range
(Buena Vista Home Entertainment)
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| DVD Release Date:
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January 20, 2004
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| Length:
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139 mins.
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| Rated:
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R
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| Format:
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Widescreen (2.35:1)
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| Audio:
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DTS 5.1 Digital Surround Sound, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, French
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| Subtitles:
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Spanish, English Captions
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| Extras:
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Audio Commentary with Kevin Costner, "Beyond Open Range" Director's Journal Featurette, "America's Open Range" Featurette, Deleted Scenes with Optional Director's Introduction, "Storyboarding: Open Range" Featurette, Music Video Montage, Previews
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I've always been a fan of Kevin Costner. I've always been a fan of Robert Duvall. I've always been a fan of Westerns. With Open Range, how could I go wrong? (I've never been a fan of Annette Bening, but that's neither here nor there.) Costner has gotten a lot of slack throughout his career. There's people who love him, and there's people who hate him. He's made some great movies, and he's made some real bombs. You never really know what he's gonna come up with. Thankfully, Open Range delivers. It's quiet, yet it's action-packed. It's small, but it's epic in scale. When you think about it, the day of the Western, much like the old west itself, seems to be dying. There just aren't that many being made these days - but this movie is a testament to how great the genre can be.
In Open Range Coster plays Charley Waite and Duvall plays Boss Spearman. The two are free grazers - living off the land with no place to call home except the open range. But, when a ruthless rancher tries to run them out of town, Charley and Boss have to stand up for what they believe in. Add to the mix Annette Bening, the local doctor's sister who forms a romantic relationship with Charley. It all comes together in one of the bigger and better gun-fight scenes I've ever seen.
There's some beautiful photography here, a great story, great acting and some terrific gun fights that are all the hallmarks of a great Western. Why it's been snubbed this awards season is beyond me. It was certainly a critical success. It didn't make too much at the box office, but it made enough to be considered a moderate success. Still, the awards just arent' there. I wonder why.
For the DVD realease, Open Range is available in a 2-Disc Collector's Edition set. Presented in widescreen format, there's the option of viewing with either Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround or the superior DTS 5.1 Digital Surround track.
For extras, on disc one there is an optional commentary by Costner. If there's one thing that could be said about Costner, it's that he is passionate about his work - not just this project, but it's something I've always noticed about him. Throughout the track he goes over various aspects of the film, from the characters, the story and various aspects of the making of the movie. This is a pretty good commentary and it's worth a listen for Costner fans. I would almost say that the commentary would have benefited from somebody else doing the commentary with Costner (preferably Duvall) but at the same time, part of the charm of this commentary is that Costner is alone. He produced, directed and starred in the movie - it's his movie and it's fascinating to hear him talk about it. Maybe a separate cast commentary would have been a nice addition - but the disc doesn't fail without it.
Also on disc one, there some previews for some other Disney/Touchstone releases as well as an odd (out-of-place) ESPN TV Spot and a nice, similarly-themed TV Spot for Alias with Jennifer Garner.
The second disc is dedicated to the film's special features. First up, there is a really great featurette titled "Beyond Open Range". It runs just over an hour in length and goes deep into the production of the film with Costner. He goes over pretty much every aspect of the film including some great clips about how he got screwed over with the financing of the film. I suspect he put the footage in there as a little f-u to the people who screwed him over. There's also some great footage of scouting locations for the film just outside of Calgary, Alberta. We also get info about the casting, the difficulty of shooting a Western (ie. working with horses) the building of sets. Overall, this is a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the film made that much more so by the passion Costner brings to the table. One thing that "sticks in my craw" (I got that lingo from the movie) is the lack of Robert Duvall. Costner has nothing but great thing to say about this acting legend, but I guess Bob (as they call him in the industry) didn't want that much to do with the DVD. We only get a brief statement from him about 45 minutes into the feature where he talks about the injury he sustained while filming the movie.
The next featurette, titled "America's Open Range" is an nice look at the history of the open range. Narrated for the most part by Costner (again) this is a photo essay of the old west. We get to hear narration of some actual letters written by people from the time period, including some by then-future president Theodore Roosevelt, who one roamed the open range himself. There are some great photographs from the time that make this featurette is a must-see part of this DVD.
Next up are a number of deleted scenes with optional introduction by Costner. He goes over various reasons why the scenes were cut from the final product. Most scenes were understandably cut, but they are still worth a viewing. Be sure to watch "Wife and Child" which is an extended look at the scenes where Charley and Boss are waiting for the big gun fight to begin. It was one of the best and most human scenes in the movie, and this extended look was the stand out here.
The featurette titled "Storyboarding: Open Range" (running just over 6 minutes) is the only feature that doesn't feature Kevin Costner. Not necessarily a good or bad thing - it's just nice to get a break from Costner to get a different (albeit brief) perspective on the film. Unlike most storyboard features, this is more like a documentary showing how the storyboard artist contributes to the film.
Finally, we get a music video montage of behind-the-scenes footage from the film. Nothing really special here. The majority of the footage is available elsewhere on the DVD - it's just set to music. This might appeal to some people I guess - not me though.
In the end, this is Kevin Costner's movie, and this DVD shows that. He directs, stars, does the commentary and is the focal point of almost every single feature included here. There's nothing wrong with that, but I'd almost knock the DVD for the lack of perspective from everybody else involved. Robert Duvall was great (although this movie is no Lonesome Dove) and it would have been nice had he participated in the DVD. Despite this shortcoming, I would have no problem recommending this DVD. Westerns don't come around too much anymore - and good Westerns come around even less - which makes this movie that much more special.
| The Movie: |
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8/10 |
| The Extras: |
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7/10 |
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