3:10 to Yuma | Joe Szadkowski saw, Action | Coming Soon!!

3:10 to Yuma

January/06/08 11:02 PM Filed in: Joe Szadkowski saw | Action
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3:10 to Yuma, from Lionsgate Home Entertainment, Rated: R, $26.95 to $39.99. Christian Bale and Russell Crowe star in an updated remake (i.e. profanity and graphic violence) of the Glenn Ford fueled 1957 Western of the same name. Both actors deliver a gritty performance to prove the traditional Hollywood cowboy film still has a place in theaters.

Mr. Crowe is especially nasty in delivering a coolness comparable to the devils as the captured career criminal Ben Wade. He portrays a character that finds himself almost sympathetic to the plight of his guard, the passively complex Ben Evans played by Mr. Bale.

3:10 to Yuma cover
1. The goods: Director James Mangold’s choice of environment, Diablo, Mexico, and the ominous dust levels (it will make viewers feel like coughing) mixed with the 1080p high definition presentation allows the film to just explode with color and texture off of large monitors.

The disc also mixes an incredible amount of multimedia goodies to make it strong addition to the Lionsgate Blu-ray library.

2. The mandatory extras: A welcomed commentary track from Mr. Mangold is constantly enlightening and never forced while a posse of featurettes informatively deconstructs the film and the time period. The best of the bunch of mini-documentaries include a 20-minute look at how the Transcontinental Railroad changed America (Sea to Shining Sea) and a 5- minute conversation with the Elmore Leonard who penned the original short story.

3. Above and beyond: A fantastic history lesson awaits those who mosey on over to the Timeline section on the disc. Using the remotes directional pad, knowledge seekers are able to navigate from the 1860s through the1890s learning about the evolution of the Old West.

An ever changing map of the United States western push for territory mixes with text biographies of the characters from the time period as well as significant events that helped shape one of America's most defining times.

4. Fuel the disc revolution: The Timeline was more than enough for me but developers offer the ambitious "Inside Yuma," a multimedia companion to the creation of the film.

A translucent ribbon over one side of the movie offers access to a side by side comparison to the script and storyboards, a picture in picture video display, raw footage from a the scene’s filming (dailies) and even some visual effects creation footage.

The script is an interesting idea except it blocks about 30 percent of the film. Overall, the entire presentation’s navigation is a bit clunky and not quite as slick as the U-Control interface seen in some of the Universal HD-DVDs. However, it is a grand start for Lionsgate

And just for good measure, a menu bar can be quickly brought up on screen anytime during the movie to bookmark memorable scenes.

— Joseph Szadkowski