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Specifications: - Region 1 - Run time: approx. 112 min. - Subtitle: English, French -
Menus: Animated - Package: Keep case - 28 chapters
Video Features: - Aspect ratio: 2.35:1 widescreen
Audio Features: - English: Dolby Digital 5.1 - English: Dolby Surround
Bonus Materials: - Filmographies - Production notes (2 pages) - Theatrical trailers Theatrical Release: 12/25/00 DVD Release: 05/01/01 Review Date: 05/06/01
List price: $ 24.95 On-line price: $ 18.71 Pre-order price was: $ 18.71
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The Pretty Horses
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Starring: Matt Damon, Henry Thomas, Penélope Cruz, Lucas Black, Ruben Blades,
Robert Patrick,
MPAA Rating:
PG-13 Studio: Columbia
Pictures & Miramax Films
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Movie: B+ Video: A Audio: A Extras: C
Summary:
"All The Pretty
Horses" is a story of bittersweet romance, friendship,
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The Story
"All The Pretty Horses" is a story of bittersweet romance, friendship, honor, and loyalty. Matt Damon stars as John Grady Cole, a die-hard cowboy who leaves Texas and heads for Mexico with his best friend, Lacey Rawlins (Henry Thomas), to find work on a big Mexican ranch. On the way, they meet a rather suspicious character, Blevins, but John befriends him anyways and allows him to ride alongside them. In Mexico, they meet up with cowboys from a big Mexican ranch and find themselves gainful employment. John makes a name for himself breaking in wild horses, gains well-deserved recognition from the ranch's boss, and gets promoted to helping the boss breed a pure-bred stallion.
All the while, John falls for the boss's daughter, Alejandra (Penélope Cruz), during her many rides around the ranch. The great aunt Alfonsa realizes this and warns John in private to leave Alejandra alone and not destroy her honor:
"... this is another country. Here a woman's reputation is all she has. There's no forgiveness for women. A man may lose his honor and regain it again, but a woman cannot."
With disregard for the great aunt's warning, John submits to Alejandra's advances and their passionate romance soars. But obviously it's not that easy... I'll leave it at that so you can enjoy the rest of this wonderful movie.
The performances were generally top
notch across the board. The
character study is generally satisfying, though I had hoped for better
development in the romantic relationship between John and Alejandra before
they "consummated" their relationship. The portrayal of
this period of John's life is as vast as the open Texas landscape, and
as deep and rugged as the Mexican terrain. This analogy summarizes
why I think "All The Pretty Horses" is such an emotionally sweeping
mini-epic. However, as much as I liked this movie, parts of it
seemed slow and drawn out.
Video & Audio
The image quality of this anamorphic widescreen DVD is top notch. The colors are accurate and saturated, with excellent shadow details. The video transfer pays tribute to the breathtaking cinematography. (I particularly liked the camera angles used during the horse breaking scenes, Chapter 10.) The Dolby Digital 5.1-channel surround sound is aggressively used and is well balanced. You can hear the galloping horses sweeping through the front channels, and then back to the surround channels as they run on and off screen. The beautiful musical score by Marty Stuart is one of the best I've heard for a cowboy/western movie, and greatly enhances the mood of this bittersweet love story. In short, this DVD captures the essence of the visual beautiful and musical artistry of this near epic film.
Recommendation
"All The Pretty Horses" is a beautiful romantic tale told in the context of a western/cowboy movie. The plot is as sweeping as the open plains of Texas and as deep and rugged as the Mexican terrain. As much as I enjoyed this movie, I did find parts of the movie rather slow. While the video and audio transfer is top notch, the lack of real bonus material makes this a must-see rental for many. Die-hard fans of this movie, Matt Damon, and/or Penélope Cruz who can overlook the lack of serious bonus material will want to pick up this gem.
Buy
the "All The Pretty Horses" DVD at:
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Rent
it at NetFlix.com
(Sign up for
NetFlix.com "Unlimited" DVD Rental Service Visit the Columbia TriStar Home Video web site.
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