Rio Bravo

Rio Bravo
1959 - Warner Brothers
Directed by Howard Hawks



SYNOPSIS

The sheriff of the town of Rio Bravo (John Wayne) has the brother of a powerful rancher behind bars for murder. The rancher has dozens of men for hire and wants his brother free. It up to the sheriff, a drunk (Dean Martin,) a crippled old man (Walter Brennan,) and a young wannabe gunslinger (Ricky Nelson) to keep the criminal behind bars until the Marshall arrives. And to complicate matters further, the sheriff becomes smitten with a new woman in town (Angie Dickinson.)




MY THOUGHTS

A classic western looks better than ever on Blu-Ray.

Legendary director Howard Hawks apparently designed the film as an answer to High Noon, which he despised. The film holds up to that classic and is further added to by some excellent performances.

John Wayne is John Wayne. Love him or hate him, his screen presence dominates the film. There is NO ONE else who could have played the role of the sheriff. The film does find several moments to poke fun at his screen persona, like whenever he deals with Walter Brennan or Angie Dickinson's characters. Most of their interactions are very silly.

From his stage persona, Dean Martin would be a no-brainer as the drunk. He bring much more depth to the role than I would have expected and provides an unexpected heart and soul to the film as his character tries to conquer his alcohol addiction amid the action.

Being a young TV star and music phenom, Ricky Nelson is perfectly cast as the headstrong young gunslinger.

Angie Dickinson is also fun to watch, but her character is painfully too young to be interested in Wayne's. They practically look like grandfather and granddaughter.

From a lesser actor, Walter Brennan's part would be largely annoying. The character you would hope would get killed off quick, but Brennan's light touch brings hilarity to nearly everything his eccentric cripple has to say. His rapport with John Wayne is a delight every time.

The images on the Blu-Ray are outstanding. The daytime outdoor shots are such good quality it's almost as if you are looking out a window instead of at a television. (amazing for a 50 year old + film. Warner Brothers should be commended) Many of the indoor or nighttime shots do show some heavy grain, but that's the way they were shot. It's not a default in the disc.

The disc also offers an excellent documentary on the film, one on director Howard Hawks, and a brief one on the filming location.

Though stuck in a precarious situation, the cast of Rio Bravo shines against the evil they face, and make it a very entertaining ride.