Plot: What’s it about?
Rafe Covington (Tom Selleck) is the kind of man who keeps his word, no matter what that might involve. He might be a drifter of sorts, but he is a good man and this time, he has made a promise to a dying man. Rafe told the man he would watch over the man’s widow and his massive ranch, to ensure no problems arose after his death. Now Rafe intends to live up to his word and even though the widow has little faith in him, he does his best to keep the situation under control. It seems as though things are going very smoothly, but soon enough, a crooked man with an eye for stealing land takes aim on the ranch, with his gunmen along to assist him in the process. Can Rafe fend off the criminals and keep the ranch safe, all while trying to prove himself to the widow?
With some decent names attached, this seems like it could be a solid effort, but in the end, I was let down by Crossfire Trail. I kept my expectations low with this one, but it still fell short, even if it was worth a look this once. Based on the book by Louis L’Amour, this movie has some good potential and has a decent cast, even if no real A list workers are present. Tom Selleck heads up the list, with such names as Virginia Madsen, Mark Harmon, Wilfred Brimley, and other on deck, offering a solid enough backing roster. Selleck and Madsen are quite good in their roles, but the rest of the cast is simply average, which doesn’t help matters much. The production values seem high here, as sets and costumes look good, I was just never that taken with the story, I suppose. Even so, fans of westerns and Selleck will want to give this a look, to be sure.
I’ve never been a fan or critic of Tom Selleck, as he has some good roles and some bad ones, like most performers. He never really took off as a feature film worker however, which means he has small movie roles and lots of made for television parts, such as in Crossfire Trail. This is one of quite a few roles within westerns also and Selleck seems comfortable within the genre, to be sure. His performance won’t win him any awards, but he handles the character well enough and more than provides a strong lead. You can also see Selleck in such films as Mr. Baseball, Folks!, In & Out, The Love Letter, Runaway, and Quigley Down Under. The cast also includes Virgina Madsen (The Hot Spot, Candyman), Wilfred Brimley (The Firm, The Natural), Mark Harmon (Summer School, The Presidio), and Christian Kane (EdTv, Broken Hearts Club).
Video: How does it look?
Crossfire Trail is presented in a 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. This is a very solid looking presentation, but it never looks excellent, just passable most of the time. It looks good, mind you, but it would have been nice to have a sharper image, I think. The print used shows a lot of debris and damage, which is not welcome of course, but the overall picture is still watchable, to be sure. The colors seem bright and never falter much, flesh tones remains natural, and contrast is stable, though sometimes a little faded. Even so, the image looks decent enough and should please fans, although I wish it looked less dated and was cleaned up a shade.
Audio: How does it sound?
The included 2.0 surround option was a let down also, with minimal surround presence and a very thin overall range. I wasn’t expecting too much here, but I did count on a fuller, more active experience than this, to be sure. The music seems very thin here and isn’t placed well within the mix, while sound effects are decent, but lack the immersive traits I would have liked. The dialogue seems fine however, with no real complaints to be made, aside from some rather tinny sounding scenes. This is not a bad mix by any means, but it should have sounded better, if you ask me.
Supplements: What are the extras?
This disc includes some cast bios, but no other supplements are to be found.
