True Grit appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.35:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. The film boasted fine visuals.
Sharpness worked well. While the occasional wide shot betrayed a sliver of softness, the majority of material appeared accurate and concise. No issues with moiré effects or jaggies occurred, and I saw neither edge haloes nor source flaws.
In this Western setting, the film favored an often amber/orange palette, with a fair amount of teal thrown in as well. Within the stylistic constraints, the Blu-ray reproduced the colors in a favorable manner.
Blacks came across as deep and dense, while shadows appeared smooth and well-developed. The movie offered pleasing picture quality.
Just as good, the movie’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio also satisfied. Music showed nice stereo presence, while effects added immersive material. The action sequences boasted fine use of the side and rear speakers, all of which brought us into the story well.
Audio quality seemed strong. Music was full and rich, while dialogue seemed natural and distinctive.
Effects offered clear elements, with warm, tight lows. Though not a consistently active affair, I still liked the soundtrack for Grit.
In addition to the film’s trailer, we find seven featurettes. Mattie’s True Grit runs five minutes, 13 seconds and presents notes from actor Hailee Steinfeld.
She discusses her casting, her performance and aspects of her experiences on the shoot. Steinfeld seems mature beyond her age and makes this an informative discussion.
From Bustles to Buckskin spans eight minutes, two seconds and presents comments from costume designer Mary Zophres and actors Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, and Barry Pepper. We learn about the movie’s costumes in this efficient and informative reel.
Next comes The Guns of a Post-Civil War Western, a four-minute, 41-second piece with property master Keith Walters. As implied by the title, we learn about the weapons used in the film via this enjoyable chat.
Re-Creating Fort Smith lasts 11 minutes, 20 seconds and includes remarks from executive producer Robert Graf, production designer Jess Gonchor, supervising art director Christy Wilson, train mechanic Steven Greathouse, train consultant Stan Garner and train owner Richard Grigsby.
As expected, we learn about sets and locations here. This turns into another satisfying program.
After this we get The Cast, a five-minute, 25-second segment with Bridges, Steinfeld, Damon, Pepper and actor Josh Brolin. They discuss cast and performances in this disappointingly superficial reel.
The Greatest Writer You’ve Never Heard Of takes up 30 minutes, 55 seconds and brings comments from literary editors William Whitworth and Marc Smirnoff, authors Roy Rosenbaum, George Pelecanos, Ed Park and Roy Blount, Jr., musician Dwight Yoakum, filmmaker Nora Ephron, publisher Peter Mayer, and friend/journalist Ernie Dumas.
Here we learn about the life and career of author Charles Portis, with some emphasis on Grit. Created for this circa 2011 Blu-ray, “Writer” shows its age since Ephron died in 2012 and Portis himself passed in early 2020.
Those jolts aside, “Writer” gives us a fairly good overview of Portis. It lacks a ton of depth but it acts as a suitable discussion.
Finally, The Cinematography of True Grit fills two minutes, 57 seconds with info from Damon, Graf, Bridges, and director of photography Roger Deakins. We get some notes about the movie’s photography but the reel seems far too short to tell us much.
A second disc provides a DVD copy of Grit. It lacks any of the Blu-ray’s extras.
A new take on a famous property, the 2010 True Grit improves on the original 1969 film. Smart, well-acted and compelling, this becomes a solid Western. The Blu-ray brings very good picture along with positive audio and a mostly useful set of supplements. True Grit ends up as one of the best modern-day Westerns.