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How The West Was Won [Blu-ray] [1963]
![How The West Was Won [Blu-ray] [1963]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51nNgodQAPL._SL160_.jpg)
RRP: £24.99
Our Price: £14.98 (subject to change)
A classic western restored to a blu-ray widescreen wonder
Review date: 2008-11-01 Rating: 10 out of 10
'How the West was Won' was the forerunner of widescreen cinema and was originally shot as a cinerama (curved screen) movie. Warner have made an excellent job of creating a widescreen letterbox transfer (without the three-panel vertical line joins) of this classic western from 1963 which features a myriad of screen giants such as Gregory Peck, Carrol Baker, James Stewart, Lee J Cobb, Karl Malden, John Wayne, George Peppard, Henry Fonda, Richard Widmark and Debbie Reynolds, amongst others. Like the more recent 'Deadwood', this movie was the work of more than one director (Henry Hathaway, John Ford and George Marshall in this case) and is essentially split into three historical periods whilst also following the fate of one particular family from beginning to end.
The cinematography looks fantastic on this blu-ray transfer. There is sometimes a little haziness evident where the three joins have been removed which is not surprising given the overall astounding clarity of the print but this does not detract from the film. I remember seing this film in the cinema as a child and later on TV, but it never looked as good as this. The excellent score by Andrew Newman, the various musical interludes, overture, intermission and exit, and the narration by Spencer Tracy are given the digital 5.1 and Dolby True HD treatment to compliment the transfer. There are a good number of extras including a commentary, features and trailers etc, but also a second disc which comprises another HD version of the film designed to give the viewer a taste of the original cinerama feature.
Well done Warner - a 45 year old classic now preserved and restored to something way beyond expectation.
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Reviews
WHY NO DIGIBOOK PACKAGING FOR ZONE B BLU-RAY EDITION?
Review date: 2008-10-10 Rating: 8 out of 10
This is not a review of the film "How the West Was Won". Rather, it is a comment on the packaging of the Zone B release of the Blu-ray edition. In the U.S. the Blu-ray edition is packaged as a "digibook". This "digibook", to the best of my knowledge, looks like it might be a miniture reproduction of the original cinema brochure. Why has this been forsaken for the Zone B release? What we get is an ordinary regular Blu-ray box. This may explain why, at the time of my posting this review, there is no image published for the Zone B release. What a shame?
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Richard Widmark
John Wayne
Eli Wallach
Carroll Baker
James Stewart
Creators:
Carroll Baker (Primary Contributor)
James Stewart (Primary Contributor)
Director(s):
Recording label: Warner Home Video
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
EAN: 7321900210843
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 2
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2008-09-29
Audience rating: Parental Guidance
Running time: 162 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1963