Plot: What’s it about?
As the 1970s came to it’s midpoint, unless Clint Eastwood had the starring role, the western genre was becoming a dying breed. The audiences were rushing to the theatres for more action and disaster fare but westerns were few and far between. In 1975, Kirk Douglas was eager to not only star in a western but to work behind the camera as well giving us a tale of the old west with a town, a sheriff and a Posse.
A mysterious stranger tips off a posse and U.S. Marshal Nightengale (Kirk Douglas) that a bunch of bandits that made off with $40,000 is hiding out in a nearby barn. The posse burn the barn as well as the bandits except for their leader, Jack Strawhorn (Bruce Dern) who woke up as the stranger was leaving and, unknown to the posse, got out of the barn before it burned. Things looked bright for the sheriff on his run for senator with his mobile living and his dependable crew. However, Strawhorn resurfaces looking for the bunch that burned his friends. Nightengale has a few plans of his own. Will Strawhorn be brought to justice or will the posse be too late?
The film starts out like a traditional wild west set western and as the film progresses there’s a look and a feel that is all routine but there are a few twists here and there along the way, and they are twists that fit and the result turning out to be a better than expected western.
The viewer can always count on Kirk Douglas as a mighty protagonist and Bruce Dern playing one of the best badasses. The only difference in this movie is those two actors play those roles but with a few more complexities than your average protagonist and badass.
If there’s one thing that could’ve turned this western from better to expected to excellent was there was not much development of the posse itself. The movie is called “Posse” and there is a skillful one but they are a little bit in assisting mode and not enough in development mode. The townspeople are routine and they try to build up a unique printer, played by James Stacy. Although it’s a decent character, it feels it’s just there to play up a smaller character and that also goes for the other guy Strawhorn meets up with after his getaway. Without the both of them, they wouldn’t have felt like filler characters.
Overall, there is an intriguing last third of the movie that kicks Posse further in gear and makes way for a western that throws something my way unexpected and different than the routine traditional western.
*Note: keep an eye in the opening scene with a future soap star as the mysterious stranger.
Video: How does it look?
Posse is given the anamorphic 2.35:1 Panavision treatment and the results of the look and the colors are credible. There are a few times that the print does get a bit speckly and in a few dark scenes a bit spotty and a little scratchy in the town. The print most of the way is clean and the brighter daytime scenes are when the transfer shines the most. The sun reflected on the clouds on this print is transferred most beautifully giving way to a satisfactory result.
Audio: How does it sound?
Posse is given a Dolby Digital 5.1 track and the sound has it share of seventies muteness but nothing that makes it a weak track. It mostly comes alive when the score comes into play and the effects play a role as well but not as much. The surround effects are not groundbreaking but also not bad either. The sound action comes mostly from the middle channels with little to none given through the outer channels with the exception of a few effects. This disc also has a Restored Mono Track as well as English subtitles.
Supplements: What are the extras?
Posse keeps in the Paramount latter quota of one in eighty as one every once in a while has extras while the other seventy nine has none, which is the case here.
Overall, Posse is a intriguing Western that has many moments of good and bad with the good outweighing the bad and the disc has a nice presentation that can be better had a small amount of extras been included.
