62-66 Five Tall Tales: Budd Boetticher & Randolph Scott at Columbia, 1957-1960

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M Sanderson
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Indicator: Five Tall Tales

#101 Post by M Sanderson » Thu Mar 08, 2018 6:07 am

Astonishing news, regarding the Boetticher Box Set.

Five Tall Tales

Just received the Indicator newsletter.

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MichaelB
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Re: Indicator

#102 Post by MichaelB » Thu Mar 08, 2018 6:07 am

Possibly the most poorly-kept secret in the label's history:

Image
FIVE TALL TALES: BUDD BOETTICHER & RANDOLPH SCOTT AT COLUMBIA, 1957-1960

THE TALL T (1957)
DECISION AT SUNDOWN (1957)
BUCHANAN RIDES ALONE (1958)
RIDE LONESOME (1959)
COMANCHE STATION (1960)


Release date: 21 May 2018
Limited Blu-ray Edition (Blu-ray premieres) - pre-order here

Five classic, iconic and slyly subversive westerns collected on Blu-ray for the very first time. Containing a selection of new and archival extras – including interviews with director Budd Boetticher and an appreciation by film critic Kim Newman – this collectable five-disc box set also contains an 80-page book with newly commissioned essays, archival interviews and full credits, and is strictly limited to 6,000 units.

INDICATOR LIMITED BLU-RAY EDITION SPECIAL FEATURES:
• 2K restoration of Ride Lonesome
• HD restorations of The Tall T, Decision at Sundown, Buchanan Rides Alone and Comanche Station
• Original mono audio
• The John Player Lecture with Budd Boetticher (1969): archival audio interview conducted by Horizons West author Jim Kitses at the National Film Theatre, London
• The Guardian Interview with Budd Boetticher (1994): an extensive filmed interview conducted by film historian David Meeker at the National Film Theatre, London
• Budd Boetticher on the Ranown Cycle (1999): excerpts from Eckhart Schmidt's documentary Visiting... Budd Boetticher
• Kim Newman on the Ranown Cycle (2018): an appreciation and analysis by the critic and author of Wild West Movies
• The Guardian Interview with Elmore Leonard (1997): the celebrated author, and writer of the short story upon which The Tall T is based, in conversation at London's National Film Theatre
• Original theatrical trailers
• Ride Lonesome trailer commentary (2013): a short critical appreciation by filmmaker John Sayles
• Comanche Station trailer commentary (2014): a short critical appreciation by screenwriter Sam Hamm
• Image galleries: extensive promotional and on-set photography, poster art and marketing materials
• Limited Edition exclusive 80-page book containing newly commissioned essays by Pamela Hutchinson, Glenn Kenny, James Oliver, Neil Sinyard and Farran Smith Nehme, archival interviews with director Budd Boetticher and screenwriter Burt Kennedy, a critical anthology, and full film credits
• World Blu-ray premieres of The Tall T, Decision at Sundown, Buchanan Rides Alone and Ride Lonesome
• UK Blu-ray premiere of Comanche Station
• Limited Edition Box Set of 6,000 numbered copies
• ...AND MORE TBC
• All extras subject to change

#PHILTD062
BBFC cert: 12
REGION FREE
EAN: 5037899071298

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Altair
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Re: Indicator

#103 Post by Altair » Thu Mar 08, 2018 6:18 am

I think my heart skipped a beat all the same.

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dda1996a
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Re: Indicator

#104 Post by dda1996a » Thu Mar 08, 2018 6:26 am

Difference between HD remaster and 2K? Also are these good? I've heard good things about them and I am a western fan

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tenia
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Re: Indicator

#105 Post by tenia » Thu Mar 08, 2018 6:36 am

This looks like a pretty good set for many movies I don't think have been pushed a lot on video so far. Happy to see it's also priced like all the previous sets, despite having 5 movies.
I'm however surprised to see this will be limited to 6000 copies, which seems like a lot.
dda1996a wrote:Difference between HD remaster and 2K?
Usually, the use of "HD remaster" means it's an older HD master, not a recent restoration. The older masters vary more in quality and consistency, some being very good (Sony's ones are usually very good), others being notoriously mediocre (MGM and Universal). Newer restorations, even at 2K, are usually more consistent in their good quality (though there still sadly are some misses).

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MichaelB
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Re: Indicator

#106 Post by MichaelB » Thu Mar 08, 2018 6:46 am

dda1996a wrote:Also are these good? I've heard good things about them and I am a western fan
You have only to look at the ecstatic reaction with which this announcement has been greeted (both here and elsewhere) for an answer to that!
tenia wrote:Usually, the use of "HD remaster" means it's an older HD master, not a recent restoration. The older masters vary more in quality and consistency, some being very good (Sony's ones are usually very good), others being notoriously mediocre (MGM and Universal). Newer restorations, even at 2K, are usually more consistent in their good quality (though there still sadly are some misses).
It's very very hard to accurately predict what it's going to look like merely from that label alone. As you say, a Sony HD remaster may well look superior to a 2K restoration from another source as their standards are very very high indeed. I was very pleasantly surprised by The Passenger, for instance, especially considering the bafflingly poor quality of an earlier Blu-ray release - but I imagine it was something of a flagship title for them when the master was created.
Last edited by MichaelB on Thu Mar 08, 2018 7:03 am, edited 1 time in total.

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What A Disgrace
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Re: Indicator

#107 Post by What A Disgrace » Thu Mar 08, 2018 8:07 am

I was hoping that 62-65 would be a third volume of Hammer films, but I'll take this one too.

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domino harvey
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Re: Indicator

#108 Post by domino harvey » Thu Mar 08, 2018 8:33 am

dda1996a wrote:Difference between HD remaster and 2K? Also are these good? I've heard good things about them and I am a western fan
They're on the whole okay but vastly overrated here and elsewhere. Maybe they'll be masterpieces for you too, who knows

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Stephen
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Re: Indicator

#109 Post by Stephen » Thu Mar 08, 2018 9:26 am

Hopefully the TBC will be some of the features on the 2008 Sony box set. The feature documentary and the introductions were pretty decent, but I never got round to the commentaries.

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Randall Maysin
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Re: Indicator

#110 Post by Randall Maysin » Thu Mar 08, 2018 9:43 am

Why is there no new material in this set from Jim Kitses, Bill Krohn or Blake Lucas? They're the go-to Boetticher experts, aren't they?

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Big Ben
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Re: Indicator

#111 Post by Big Ben » Thu Mar 08, 2018 9:52 am

That's interesting to see that rating from the BBFC. For Westerns made so long ago I'd have thought they'd have been milder. Anyhoo I'm quite pleased with this announcement and I'll be picking it up. I've only ever heard good things about these films.

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MichaelB
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Re: Indicator

#112 Post by MichaelB » Thu Mar 08, 2018 9:59 am

Big Ben wrote:That's interesting to see that rating from the BBFC.
Three of the films are PG, Buchanan Rides Alone is a U, but Ride Lonesome's hanging scene pushed it into the 12 category.

Not that it's an especially big deal, since Powerhouse wasn't targeting the under-12 market with these titles.

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dda1996a
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Re: Indicator

#113 Post by dda1996a » Thu Mar 08, 2018 10:07 am

domino harvey wrote:
dda1996a wrote:Difference between HD remaster and 2K? Also are these good? I've heard good things about them and I am a western fan
They're on the whole okay but vastly overrated here and elsewhere. Maybe they'll be masterpieces for you too, who knows
I sure do hope they will at the very least good. What are other good 60s American westerns (other than Ford/Hawks/Mann)?

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domino harvey
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Re: Indicator

#114 Post by domino harvey » Thu Mar 08, 2018 10:42 am

The Last Sunset, A Big Hand for the Little Lady, Alvarez Kelly, the Professionals, Hombre

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Mr. Deltoid
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Re: Indicator

#115 Post by Mr. Deltoid » Thu Mar 08, 2018 11:00 am

dda1996a wrote:
domino harvey wrote:
dda1996a wrote:Difference between HD remaster and 2K? Also are these good? I've heard good things about them and I am a western fan
They're on the whole okay but vastly overrated here and elsewhere. Maybe they'll be masterpieces for you too, who knows
I sure do hope they will at the very least good. What are other good 60s American westerns (other than Ford/Hawks/Mann)?
These Boetticher films are very much '50's pieces rather than '60's, though a lot lot less baggy and melodramatic than your regular Eisenhower oaters. The Tall T is very good: spare, economical and pretty violent for it's time. The interplay between antagonist and protagonist is at times quite subtle. It's all subjective of course, but if you liked 3.10 to Yuma you might get on well with these.

Werewolf by Night

Re: Indicator

#116 Post by Werewolf by Night » Thu Mar 08, 2018 11:03 am

This will be my first Indicator purchase, is it best to buy direct?

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dda1996a
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Re: Indicator

#117 Post by dda1996a » Thu Mar 08, 2018 11:06 am

Mr. Deltoid wrote: These Boetticher films are very much '50's pieces rather than '60's, though a lot lot less baggy and melodramatic than your regular Eisenhower oaters. The Tall T is very good: spare, economical and pretty violent for it's time. The interplay between antagonist and protagonist is at times quite subtle. It's all subjective of course, but if you liked 3.10 to Yuma you might get on well with these.
I've only seen the bad remake. I'm at once sad to have seen so few Noir and Westerns from the 40-60 and at the same time happy I have so much to look forward to

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Finch
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Re: Indicator: Five Tall Tales

#118 Post by Finch » Thu Mar 08, 2018 4:51 pm

Absolutely thrilled with this announcement. "Vastly overrated" pfft! Give me any of those five titles over High Noon or The Searchers any time of the day and the supplements look great.

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dda1996a
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Re: Indicator: Five Tall Tales: Budd Boetticher & Randolph S

#119 Post by dda1996a » Thu Mar 08, 2018 5:29 pm

Why the need to bash The Searchers though? Unless two films share too much not to compare them in a constructive way (i.e The Revenant stealing off Malick/Herzog/Tarkovsky) I don't see the need to needlessly compare these just to say how great you think they are.

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zedz
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Re: Indicator: Five Tall Tales: Budd Boetticher & Randolph S

#120 Post by zedz » Thu Mar 08, 2018 5:47 pm

dda1996a wrote:Why the need to bash The Searchers though?
You must be very thin-skinned if you feel that somebody expressing a preference for another film over The Searchers constitutes 'bashing'.

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Cronenfly
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Re: Indicator

#121 Post by Cronenfly » Thu Mar 08, 2018 7:00 pm

Werewolf by Night wrote:This will be my first Indicator purchase, is it best to buy direct?
Further to this, do they declare the full amount for customs?

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Ribs
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Re: Indicator: Five Tall Tales: Budd Boetticher & Randolph S

#122 Post by Ribs » Thu Mar 08, 2018 8:33 pm

Unless you have money to spare, I'd advise not ordering from Indicator's site if you're in the US. Works out *way* cheaper to do so through Amazon. You'd get it a little sooner if you did, though.

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willoneill
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Re: Indicator

#123 Post by willoneill » Thu Mar 08, 2018 8:43 pm

Cronenfly wrote:
Werewolf by Night wrote:This will be my first Indicator purchase, is it best to buy direct?
Further to this, do they declare the full amount for customs?
You’re in Canada, right? My one experience with Indicator is that they ship with Fedex and declare the full customs value. The tricky part is that Fedex delivers the package straight to your home, then a couple of weeks later send you a bill for the customs and handling fees. This is of course doesn’t allow you to either refuse the package, or clear the package through customs yourself.

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Feego
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Re: Indicator: Five Tall Tales: Budd Boetticher & Randolph S

#124 Post by Feego » Thu Mar 08, 2018 9:20 pm

The Tall T is one of my absolute favorite westerns, quite possibly my favorite American western. As Mr. Deltoid noted earlier, it is very spare and economical, creating great tension between its few characters. I don't find the rest of the films in the set to be anywhere near as good, although they are decent, but I will happily buy this set anyway to replace my Sony DVD set (or supplement it, on the off chance Indicator doesn't include the commentaries). I also highly recommend the Boetticher/Scott Seven Men from Now, which is excellent as well and features a terrific villainous performance from Lee Marvin. In fact, the villains in these movies are usually the most interesting and complex characters, almost likeable and sharing a fascinating moral kinship with Scott's hero, but naturally choosing the darker side.

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MichaelB
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Indicator: Five Tall Tales: Budd Boetticher & Randolph Scott

#125 Post by MichaelB » Fri Mar 09, 2018 7:22 am

More Boetticher artwork, starting with the box as it looks without the belly band:

Image

And here’s the cover of the accompanying book:

Image

And the individual sleeves:

Image

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