Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid – Blu-ray Disc Review
September 1, 2008 – 1:04 PM --- by: Danielle ByingtonTags: FOX, George Furth, George Roy Hill, Henry Jones, Jeff Corey, Katharine Ross, Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Strother Martin, William Goldman
has an average rating of 8.2 on IMDb
1080p in MPEG-2 on a 50gb disc
DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio & Dolby Digital 5.1
only include the basic DVD ports
– 
– 1969
– 110 minutes
– FOX
Overall Verdict – Mediocre Restoration of a Classic
Buy it for $24.95 @ Amazon.com
— Review written by: Danielle Byington —
The Movie Itself was directed by George Roy Hill (“The World According to Garp “, “The Sting“), and written by William Goldman (“The Princess Bride“, “Absolute Power“). Originally released in 1969, the movie revolves around outlaw legends Butch Cassidy (Paul Newman), and literally his partner in crime The Sundance Kid (Robert Redford). The two leaders of the “Hole in the Wall Gang” are planning another bank robbery (Butch prefers banks to trains because “they stay put”), but upon return to the gang’s hideout, some disagreements have risen and the gang has voted for a new leader. Butch does not agree with this obviously and so it’s decided that a knife fight can settle who the leader should be. Butch has his own favored strategy, and wins the knife fight. The plan that the wannabe leader had presented to the gang was to rob the Union Pacific Flyer, not just once, but twice. The second time would be unexpected, and there could be more money involved.
So, not just once, but twice, Butch, Sundance, and their gang hold-up the Union Pacific Flyer, but what they didn’t count on the second time was a separate train car transporting a specially assembled posse to seek and destroy Butch and Sundance specifically. When the “hole in the wall gang” makes a run for it, Butch and Sundance divert from their gang, and immediately notice that they are being trailed by all of the “special assembly posse”. They attempt trick after trick to lose these guys, but they simply can not be out smarted. As a last resort, Butch and Sundance decide they are too high profile to keep up their work in their current territory, and decide to sprint for Bolivia. To begin their journey however, they bring along their mutual love-interest, Etta (Katherine Ross). This strange triangular relationship never seems to spawn an argument, however, Etta’s connection with Butch seems to be stronger, and when this is displayed Sundance only looks away in a somber expression.
In closing, this film is of course an absolute classic, and even somewhat steps out of the boundaries of the traditional Western. The performances by the cast are undeniably up-to-par. The chemistry displayed between Paul Newman and Robert Redford has to be an uncanny exhibit of the actual bond between the real outlaw-buddies, and their performance being one of the reasons this film is regarded so highly. Redford’s character name, Sundance, has even left a mark as the inspiration in the largest independent cinema festival in the U.S., being named the Sundance Film Festival. William Goldman’s screenplay faced challenges in the beginning, mostly because it stepped out of bounds with the Western genre letting its two outlaw characters run away to Bolivia; Jesse James would have never ran away to Bolivia when he was being pursued. However, when Western obsess-ees loosen their lasso, they also agree that this film is an undeniable classic (it is #50 on the AFI top 100), and could only receive a lower rating if reviewed by a bitter individual lacking passion for great cinema, so, with no doubt, it earns a “5 Star Rating“.
Video Quality on this release is 1080p using the MPEG-2 codec on a BD-50 disc (50 gigabyte Blu-ray disc). This 35MM transfer to High Definition is in ways a let-down. The subjects that are a problem, but can in ways be looked over would be the amount of film grain and noise, which is expected with the age of this film, however, High Definition viewers are missing out on greater detail. Fleshtones are red at times but this is excusable again, being filmed in 1969, and if you were an outlaw on the run all day long in the sun, your skin would also reach a tint that exceeds being “tan”. However, at times in scenes that are indoors, Katherine Ross for example has a more fair fleshtone. There is another flaw with this video quality that just seems borderline-irresponsible with a High Definition release, especially on a big title such as this; a few times through out the film, there is a horizontal shuttering, mostly in the top half of the screen, as if it were tracking being adjusted on a VHS.
Aside from these two excusable details and one that simply is not, the black level is solid, and the color palette is adequately vibrant, though keep in mind this is set in the Mid-West outlaw-days, so there realistically wouldn’t be a lot of vivid colors, expect perhaps on a saloon-girl’s brazier. Also, there are two chapters using sepia tone, one being a sequence of photographs, and the other being the beginning of the film, to simulate a late 1800’s feel, and consisting of some interesting cinematography. There are also no signs of use of Digital Noise Reduction (DNR) or Edge Enhancement (EE) filters and no compression flaws. Overall, the video quality on this release receives a “3 Star Rating“, in seeming it could have been a bit more clear (our studio stills presented here are actually more clear than the film), and free from the tracking-esque issue when films such as another Paul Newman flick, “Cool Hand Luke” are older in film age, and looks better than this release.
Audio Quality on this release is in DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio and Dolby Digital 5.1. The sound format you get on this release does its job perfectly for the movie’s content. The score is front heavy, though with fairly good bass. Sound effects are really the key elements one will notice with this soundscape; the sounds of nature in the desert setting are clear and realistic, giving some rear channel presence, a strong bass-esque presence with several scenes of galloping horses traveling, the dynamite explosion of the Union Pacific Flyer is startling and pieces of debris can be heard falling clearly from the left to right channels, and the gunshots are loud and bright (I actually dropped my pen while taking notes in being caught off guard when a gun was fired). All in all, the audio quality on this release really does the film and its sound content justice, earning a “4.0 Star Rating“.
Bonus Materials are presented in Standard Definition using Dolby Digital 2.0.
- “Commentary By: Director George Roy Hill, Lyricist Hal David, Documentary Director Robert Crawford, Jr., and Cinematographer Conrad Hall”
- “Commentary By: Screenwriter William Goldman”
- “All Of What Follows Is True: The Making Of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” (35 minutes) Interviews with members of the post production and production team, and some cast, all relating about how they wanted to be true to the Western genre, but still do the story justice.
- “The Wild Bunch: The True Tale of Butch and Sundance” (25 minutes) Discusses the real outlaws 74 years after their reported death, and has interviews with the author of “Digging Up Butch and Sundance“, and the director of Educational Oklahoma Historical Society.
- “Test: Deleted Scene With Optional Commentary By George Roy Hill” (4 minutes) The original dialogue track for this scene was never found, however it does have subtitles, and the optional commentary is a nice touch as well.
- Theatrical Trailers: (5 minutes) Consists of the teaser trailer, trailer #1, and trailer #2.
The addition of William Goldman’s commentary is a nice touch and step up from commentary options available on the Special Edition DVD, giving viewers an additional opinion and further background information, most importantly from the individual who wrote the classic story. The documentaries, and deleted scenes are always a great feature on a release with a large fan base, however these are all just basic features. Overall, the bonus materials earn a “3 Star Rating“.
Blu-ray Disc packaging:
