Paired as rivals in A History of Violence, Ed Harris (who also directs, produces, and co-scripts) and Viggo Mortensen stand together as friends and for-hire peacekeepers Cole and Hitch in a character-driven, bullet-hard Western based on Robert B. Parker’s novel. As the woman who arrives in town with only a dollar and a keen sense of survival, Renee Zellweger adds feelings – things that can get you killed – to a quest to bring murderer Randall Bragg (Jeremy Irons) to justice. Blood will spill in the town called Appaloosa.

For thoughts on Appaloosa, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic:

[youtube https://youtu.be/wBAjM2neS4g?si=arMMryEgWGbGINHy&t=4365]

Video Quality

Appaloosa gets another printing on Blu-Ray of the original disc that was first released all the way back in 2009. While the release may have been acceptable for the time, the VC-1 encode struggles to achieve the quality we expect these days. If the film is getting a reprint, we wish they could have upped the ante to 4K UHD Blu-Ray. The film suffers from minor issues of sporadic edge enhancement, artifacts, banding, and crush in the darker spaces. It is nice to observe a more modern production still shot on film, and we see how this could potentially be a mind-blowing visual experience with a fresh coat of metaphorical paint.

The landscapes are decently saturated with the earthy colors pouring out of every frame. There is a solid level of detail in the clothing and production design. Everything from the smallest facial details to the texture of the costumes and furniture is capably detailed here. The picture is mostly clear throughout with only brief instances of murkiness and noise during the darker scenes. Maybe one day Warner Bros. will give the film a fresh upgrade, but this is a passable look for this one.

Audio Quality

The disc provides a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio track that is modest but gets the job done. The track is far from bad, but it is slightly less immersive than we expected with the inconsistent implementation of the rear surround sound speakers. Environmental effects are a notable part of the experience, and thankfully the world feels lived-in and authentic for most of the runtime. Dialogue and sound effects are appropriately balanced with the score where nothing gets muddled. Activity in the low end delivers on occasion, but the action takes a backseat to character work. The disc provides an audio experience that maintains a pleasing fidelity and is clear of any unwanted damage. Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has done an acceptable job here. There are optional English SDH and Spanish subtitles provided.

Special Features

Audio Commentary: Ed Harris and (eventually) co-writer Robert Knott provide a commentary track that is steady and scene-specific as the creative discusses his motivations behind certain choices, cameos he didn’t get to execute, the location scouting, the production design, changes from the source material, and more.

Bringing The Characters of Appaloosa To Life: An eight-minute featurette in which the creatives discuss what drew them to the material, the nuances of the characters, the casting of the picture, creating the film on a lower budget, and more.

Historic Accuracy of Appaloosa: A nearly 11-minute piece that explores the care put into achieving historical accuracy in the production design, the costumes, the props, the language, and more.

The Town of Appaloosa: A five-minute exploration of the construction of the set to bring this town to life.

Dean Semler’s Return to the Western: A five-minute featurette on the cinematography at large, the lighting, how they attempted to capture the characters, and more.

Additional Footage: There are six scenes of unused material totaling 12 minutes provided here with optional audio commentary from Harris and Knott who discuss why these scenes didn’t make the cut.

Final Thoughts

Appaloosa does not live up to the promise of certain modern Westerns like the masterful 3:10 to Yuma. It has all of the elements right in terms of craft, but it is a bit too patient and meandering for its own good. The film is at its best when exploring the friendship between the two main men, but the script lets down the sole woman of importance within the narrative. What the creatives may describe as “complicated’ is just erratic and poorly developed. There are many things we like about the film, but it just doesn’t fully hold up. Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has delivered a package with a fine A/V presentation and some decent special features. If you like the performers, you should still give it a shot.

Appaloosa can be purchased directly through MovieZyng or various other online retailers.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.