High Plains Drifter (1973) [14002]High Plains Drifter on LD would be a wise purchase for those missing it from their collection. It is a full blown western of course with Clint Eastwood in his most sardonically cool portrayal. Plus, with the right eerie music it treats us to thin layers of the supernatural. The latter is not a component of your average western, therefor elevating this film to a unique status. You can't help but get caught up in the strange acts of a man that wants to settle a score all by using a lost and lilly-livered town as the vehicle to achieve it. The acting has a realistic and mesmerizing look to it as Eastwood dominates the townspeople and exposes their weaknesses on even the subtlest of levels.
What a blast to watch this drifter buy goods at "no charge" while annoyed merchants reluctantly grumble.The actress Vera Bloom conveys her angry yet conquered emotions as the torn hotel keeper with precision. You get a bonanza of real good acting. In fact, each character completely inhabits their role with oddities certain to entertain. This film is an early directing endeavor by Eastwood that rarely misses a beat. Watching this, your reminded of why "Unforgiven" was a near masterpiece.
The laserdisc, presented letterboxed, has a nice scope to it. Released on the format in "92, you get some decent visual perks from good old MCA Universal that regularly put out LDs with fine contrast and pleasant shadowing. This transfer holds to that. With the right combo of player and monitor, some scenes look near hi-def. A nice theatrical texture fills your screen. The blue outer expanses give a color that DVD fails to fully capture. The old school film blood with vividness plops you into a small theatre of the 70s. Reviewing the sound, I can say that you can go pro logic, but I'd recommend pure stereo for this disc as it gives a more distinct and balanced audio presentation this way. There's good full sounding dialogue and the trampling of horses and cracking whips will sweetly emit from your speakers. There are some tiny sounding moments but its a source material issue.
They just don't make'em like this anymore, however cliched that sounds. This is one of those "get your fill" of unique westerns on laserdisc while you can. It's not rare by any means but possibly overlooked. My jacket cover still has the original 34.98 sticker on the outer plastic wrapping. You can get it for less than that.
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