The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.35:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This release came out early in the existence of Blu-ray and it showed.
Sharpness varied from “pretty good” to “oddly soft”. Overall delineation came across as moderately appealing but I wouldn’t call this a particularly precise presentation.
No issues with jagged edges or shimmering materialized, but I saw some light edge haloes. Source flaws also failed to crop up at any point.
Grain appeared chunky and clumsy. Actually, I found it tough to discern the difference between grain and artifacts.
Westerns don’t lend themselves to broad color choices, and the palette of Coward stayed suitably subdued. The movie tended to mix sepia, yellow and teal.
Those selections restricted the impact of the colors, but they still felt mediocre. The hues came across as dull even given the choices.
Blacks seemed inky and somewhat crushed, while shadows became a bit dense. This remained a watchable image but it clearly showed its age.
As for the Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack of Coward, it suited the material. Like I mentioned in the body of the review, the film didn’t feature too many big action pieces.
The train robbery early in the flick provided its most involving sequence. This meant it brought out the gunfire and other elements well.
Otherwise, this was a quiet effort. A few other gunshots used the spectrum in a positive way, and general environment seemed realistic.
Music showed good stereo delineation, and a little localized speech also appeared. Nonetheless, most of the time this track stayed low-key.
Audio quality satisfied. Speech always seemed warm and natural, and the gentle score showed fine clarity and definition.
Effects were concise and accurate throughout the movie, and the smattering of louder bits lacked distortion. This never became a supercharged track, but it didn’t need to be like that.
How did the Blu-ray compare to the DVD version? Both came with identical audio, which meant I docked the Blu-ray a little. No lossless audio on a Blu-ray – even an ancient one – means a lower grade.
Visuals showed the usual format-based improvements, but not as strongly as I might hope. As mentioned, Coward came out early in the existence of Blu-ray, and the presentation showed its age.
Add the fact the DVD looked very good for the format and this became a less than stellar step up in quality. I’d pick it over the DVD but not by a big margin.
While the DVD included no extras, the Blu-ray brings Death of an Outlaw, a 31-minute, 48-second featurette. It offers notes from authors Ron Hansen, TJ Stiles, Richard Slotkin and Ted Yeatman, historian Ralph Ganis, screenwriter/director Andrew Dominik, and actors Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck, Sam Rockwell and Mary-Louise Parker.
“Outlaw” offers some facts/history behind the characters and situations seen in Coward. It becomes an effective little overview.
The absence of extras disappoints, but the movie succeeds. The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford gives us an intricate and thoughtful examination of historical events and characters supported well by some excellent performances. The Blu-ray offers mediocre visuals, generally positive – though not lossless – audio and an informative featurette. I like the movie but this becomes a dated Blu-ray.
To rate this film please visit the DVD review of THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD