DVD Reviews

Blu-ray Review: 3:10 to Yuma

By Jeff Swindoll Jan 21, 2008, 13:54 GMT

At one time you’d be able to go the movies and you’d have a large selection of Westerns to choose from, nowadays they’re few and far between.

Although this remake has nothing much in terms of competition it does feature some fine performances and a rousing film.

Rancher Dan Evans (Christian Bale) owes money to the bank and his farm is about to be foreclosed upon. It doesn’t help that the banker wants his land because the railroad is about to come through their small town. Outlaw Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) is the scourge of the railroad since he’s been robbing their pay stages. This time the Pinkertons, led by Byron McElroy (Peter Fonda), have put the money in a heavily armored stage, but this doesn’t stop Wade and his gang. All good or bad things must come to an end, and Wade is captured in the local saloon after him robbing the stage and wounding McElroy. Mr. Butterfield (Dallas Roberts) wants Wade transported to the town of Contention and have him placed on the 3:10 train to Yuma prison. Dan agrees to help McElroy on this trek for the money that is owed to the banker to save his farm. Dan, McElroy, Doc Potter (Alan Tudyk), Tucker (Kevin Durand), and Butterfield saddle up and start off with the handcuffed Wade, but Charlie Prince (Ben Foster), Wade’s second in command, makes it known that he and the gang are going to free Wade. So Marshall Weathers (Luce Rains) manufactures a stop at Evans’ ranch to pull a Texas switch and hide Wade at the ranch and put a substitute in the stage. Dan’s wife Alice (Gretchen Mol) doesn’t take kindly to having to put up with Wade for an hour. The party sets off with Wade, but Dan’s elder son William (Logan Lerman) sneaks out of the ranch and follows. The gang finds out about the switch and starts off in hot pursuit. 3:10 to Yuma is another in a long line of bad guys with a heart of gold, but it’s a bit hard to tell that with Russell Crowe’s Ben Wade at first. Christian Bale’s Dan Evans is a stand up guy who has a secret or two that in the final act convinces Wade to find that heart of gold that he’s be concealing for the majority of the film.

Westerns these days are few and far between, but in their golden age they covered all sorts of plots that didn’t involve pistols and Indians. 3:10 has the same sort of vibe as it really covers the relationship between father and son and also the human condition. The acting is top notch as both Crowe and Bale perform exceedingly well here, but also solid support from Logan Lerman, Peter Fonda, and the stylized villainy of Ben Foster. The film has classic written all over it. 3:10 to Yuma is presented in 1080p anamorphic widescreen (2.40:1) and enhanced for 16x9 televisions. Special features include a commentary by director James Mangold. Exclusive to the Blu-ray version is an “Inside Yuma” function that will bring up a menu with dailies, scripts, storyboards, etc. However, if you’re player is not up to profile 1.1 you may have some difficulty accessing these features (as I did on my 1.0 player). All of the following special features are presented in 1080p. First is the 21 minute “Destination: Yuma” which is a making of featurette. Next is the 13 minute “Outlaws, Gangs, and Posses” in which some historians discuss…outlaws, gangs and posses (bet you didn’t see that one coming did ya?). The 6-minute “An Epic Explored” goes into the western genre. The 7-minute “3:10 to Score” talks with composer Marco Beltrami about the wonderful score he did for the picture. The 19-minute “From Sea to Shining Sea” explores the impact that the railroad had on the old west. The 5-minute “Conversation with Elmore Leonard” talks with the author about his short story that the film is based on. The 6 minute “Guns of Yuma” examines the firearms used in the film. Finally, there’s an interactive timeline of the west, the 2-minute theatrical trailer, 7 minutes of deleted scenes, and trailers for other Lionsgate DVDs/Blu-rays. 3:10 to Yuma is a fine film that only shines even brighter on the higher resolution of Blu-ray. Even some troubles with some of the special features didn’t dull the shine of the fine film within (a half a point off for those problems though).