Texas 1935. It’s a time of boomtowns or bust for oil wildcatters and, repeatedly, derby-topped Mr. Cox has come out flat busted. Not to worry. Mr. Cox has a mule – headed optimism. He’s sure as the sunrise that near the town of Henrietta on a cotton farm that raises more dust than bolls, there’s black gold beneath the barren sod. From Clint Eastwood’s production company, The Stars Fell on Henrietta is a sweet – natured tail of hope and redemption. As Mr. Cox, Robert Duvall has another acclaimed performance to his gallery of great roles. And Aiden Quinn, Francis Fisher and Brian Dennehy shine as Lone Star denizens, not so much swayed, as gradually infected by Cox’s unflagging will. That optimism, you’ll discover, is catching. Are a doodlebug rod, tasting the soil, or even tossing the cat and marking where it lands unusual way to find oil? Yes. Are they hopeless? Never. Or, as Mr. Cox might say, “You’ve got to hitch your wagon to a star, sweetheart.”

For thoughts on The Stars Fell on Henrietta, please check out my thoughts on No Streaming Required:

Video Quality

The Stars Fell on Henrietta gets newly remastered on Blu-Ray courtesy of Warner Archive with a 1080p transfer that does not rank as the best from the company. There are moments when the transfer shows off the vital natural film grain, but there appears to be some variance when it comes to how it resolves. The label is not typically in the business of DNR, but not everything looks completely natural. You do have elements in the production design that are crisp and clear for the first time at home. Skin tones are mostly natural and detailed across the ensemble. The colors of the film are another area of slight concern as the temperature seems to veer somewhat slightly off perfection. Black levels are decent in shadowy areas of the screen, and highlights rarely succumb to blooming. Warner Archive has done an acceptable job, but we cannot say it is a homerun like normal.

Audio Quality

Warner Archive brings this new Blu-Ray to consumers with a DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix that does not seem to take full advantage of the sonic possibilities. For the most part, dialogue comes through clearly with no exchanges sounding clipped or harsh. Where we notice a handful of odd moments is in some of the environmental activity that seems to be filtered through the center channel instead of the surround channels as would seem natural. The score from David Benoit is wonderful as it flows with great fidelity. While we are not familiar enough with the film to know if it was poorly mixed for theaters, this presentation lacks the finesse to make us fall in love with it. Optional English (SDH) subtitles are provided on this disc.

Special Features

Trailer: The two-and-a-half-minute trailer is provided here.

Final Thoughts

The Stars Fell on Henrietta is an entertaining period piece that shows the morally murky depths of man and the drive to achieve your dreams against all obstacles. The film is a slice of throwback storytelling that provides some nice production values to a mature, character-driven story. The performers all do a nice job in their roles with Robert Duvall making the biggest impression. It plays things a little safe, but we are charmed by its ambition. Warner Archive has released a Blu-Ray featuring an inconsistent A/V presentation and not much in the way of special features. Recommended

The Stars Fell on Henrietta 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 Archive 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.