Plot: What’s it about?
Colonel Ludlow (Anthony Hopkins) decides to leave his military life behind, due to the unfair treatment of Native Americans and retire with his three sons to the mountains of Montana. Here he can teach his sons about life and such far from the masses, which is just the way he wants it to be right now. Ludlow schools his three sons in the traditions of battle, such as gun management and horse riding, both of which might come in handy in the region in which they reside. Soon the sons have all grown, which means sooner or later, at least one of them will leave the area. Samuel (Henry Thomas) returns home from an institute of higher learning and brings with him a guest, his fiance Susannah (Julia Ormond). She is very beautiful and as such, both of the other brothers take an instant shine to her, Tristan (Brad Pitt) even wants to make move on her at some point. Just when the tension becomes almost unbearable, the relief comes in the form of a war and of course, the well trained sons are called to fight for the cause. But what will become of Susannah and who will she choose to be with?
The movie looks fantastic, but falters somewhat in terms of writing and focus, it seems to tackle too much at once and that lowers the overall value a little. The film’s visuals are breathtaking and the Academy Award for Best Cinematography is a testament to that, though there is also beauty to be found in the costumes and locations as well as how they were shot. You’ll also find a gifted cast here, including Anthony Hopkins, Julia Ormond, Brad Pitt, and Aidan Quinn, but they struggle at times with this material. The actors and visuals give this writing a place to hide and that’s a shame, as a good script could have pushed this to be a tremendous movie in the end. But as it stands, this movie is average at best, which leaves me to recommend a rental, unless you’re a fan and then you’ll want this special edition disc, of course.
With a cast like this one, you’d expect some terrific turns, but the writing never lets these folks begin to show their skills in front of a camera. As always, Anthony Hopkins gives a more than solid effort, but this material holds him back from his usual level of excellence. At times, he even comes off as a bad actor because of this, so you know this is substandard source material. Aside from a few struggles though, Hopkins handles himself well and gives much more justice to this material then it deserves. Also in poor form here is Brad Pitt, whose Fabio like hair is a joke and his line delivery is even worse. I prefer Pitt in the darker roles and he is far from that here, but he does have a certain edge.
Video: How does it look?
Sony’s 4K discs are often the best-looking (to me) out there and the film’s lush visuals are well-represented in this transfer, which replicates a high level of sharpness and with that, a deep texture of detail is present at all times. I found very little debris on the source print, but I did see a couple small compression problems. Nothing too serious, but it is worth a mention in this review. The colors have a natural glow to them and though they’re not as rich as in some films, this softer color scheme is the intended final look. I have no complaints with the contrast either, black levels are well balanced and no detail is ever lost in the shadows.
Audio: How does it sound?
This movie has a few sequences which fire up the surrounds, but on the whole this is a more conservative film in terms of audio. The new and improved Dolby Atmos track makes sure your speakers always sound very good when you do. The battle scenes are the most active ones and that’s obvious, but James Horner’s musical score also makes good use of the surround channels. There is some minimal subtle use found at times, but not enough to warrant much discussion. This mix comes off as very natural, which is good because tracks with forced surround use usually sound terrible. The dialogue is sharp & always clear and I had no volume problems in the least.
Supplements: What are the extras?
Unfortunately the last three decades have not brought us any new features. These are recycled from the previously-released “Special Edition”, but they’re nice to have nonetheless.
- Audio Commentary – Director Edward Zwick and Brad Pitt also recorded a full commentary track for this film, along with actor Brad Pitt. This track is the better of the two found on the disc, but failed to hold my attention throughout the overly long running time of the movie.
- Audio Commentary – Cinematographer John Toll and Production Designer Lilly Kilvert collaborate on the second audio commentary. These two offer a technical look into Legends of the Fall. I liked this one, but it was too dull and silent at times, which makes it a pain to listen to.
- Deleted Scenes – Three total all with commentary by Edward Zwick.
- Making-Of Featurette – The obligatory “talking heads” feature where the actors discuss their respective parts and so forth.
- Production Design Featurette – Again, pretty self-explanatory as we get a look at the film’s production design.
- Theatrical Trailer
The Bottom Line
Like it or not, this film is the one that really put Brad Pitt on the map. And three decades later, he’s still going strong. It’s been a while since I sat down and watched this and while I did enjoy it, there’s somewhat of a void for me with this one. Nevertheless, Sony’s new disc looks and sounds amazing so if this is your thing – pick it up. If not, don’t.
