El Dorado DVD: Review By Mushy

Director Howard Hawke's gives us a tremendous western with El Dorado. This film sees John Wayne and Robert Mitchum team up as they fend off some of the nefarious elements of the old West. Mitchum plays a drunk sheriff with all the guts in the world, but due to his sickness he can't seem to get out of his own way. Wayne plays Mitchum's longtime friend and a good partner when they they've both got their backs against the wall. In fighting off thieves and corrupt businessmen, these two men do everything they can in order to keep their heads above water and out of the line of fire. Also starring in this film are James Caan, Charlene Holt, and Ed Asner.

While I didn't know anything about this movie before MovieWeb gave it to me review, I feel that my knowledge of the western genre and my DVD collection have really benefitted because of it.

Disc 1:

Commentary Tracks

They have given us two commentary tracks for this release. One is with noted filmmaker and film historian Peter Bogdanovich. The other has more of an ensemble that features critic and historian Richard Schickel, Ed Asner and author Todd McCarthy. I wish that I had the time to listen to both of these tracks, but with this movie running at 126 minutes I didn't have the time. So I went with the familiar and listened to Bogdanovich. This guy really knows his stuff and while he offers good stories about Hawkes, he talks about this film in a slow, steady way that makes one think he could've directed it.

Disc 2:

Ride, Boldly Ride: The Journey to El Dorado

Put together in 7-parts this release takes users through the making of this movie from the ground up. We get talking head perspectives from the people who were involved, and we also get to see some rare archival footage. While Paramount really hasn't done much here to reinvent the wheel, what they have done is make this featurette put across the major scope and feel of this film. Howard Hawkes was and remains one of America's greatest filmmakers, and in this featurette we get to revel in all of his artistic glory.

The Artist and the American West - 1967 Featurette

Behind the Gates

In this featurette, A.C. Lyles discusses the force of nature that was John Wayne. This actor may have played things as one note at times, but there was something endearing about how he did it that ultimately made him The Duke. Whether it was playing a strong man, a man hurt, or the straight man to a funny actor, John Wayne almost always seemed to have the attention in any particular scene placed on him. He almost seemed to love putting other actors in the foreground so he could steal the scenes behind their backs.

Photo Galleries

Widescreen Version Enhanced for 16:9 TVs. This movie looked incredible as part of Paramount's Centennial Collection. It had rich colors and the strong look held up across the entire film. There was richness to all the images that gave each frame a strong, almost painterly quality. Even when we switch from indoor and outdoor shots, I never saw this movie get grainy or overly dark (or bright) in any one area.

Dolby Digital: English, French and Spanish Mono. The audio on this release was also good. I had to turn up the audio a little high in some of the dialogue scenes, because the sound seemed to waver between those and the action ones. The audio was never hard to hear, it just surprised me that I had to raise the levels so high just so that I could hear what was being said.

For some reason they have put this release in a black slipcase with an image of Wayne and Mitchum on the front cover. They give users a dialogue quote from this film, a description of what this movie is about, three images from the film, a Special Features listing, a cast list and technical specs. The amaray case that holds the actual discs has the exact same cover.

I don't know what it is but I feel that John Wayne and Robert Mitchum's acting really holds up here. At times things play a little too melodramatically, but overall I feel that these actors embody their roles to perfection. Wayne has always been good as the strong, silent type that only gets involved when he really has to. Mitchum has a bit more range as he can play strong, but he can also play weak and at times even confused. As the drunk sheriff in this film he really brings a sense of simplicity and strength. We know that he can do the right thing, the question is whether or not he is going to allow himself to do so. James Caan also shows early shades of the greatness that he would display in later films.

If you are a fan of westerns, Mitchum, Wayne, Caan, Hawkes or just movies in general, then I would highly suggest adding El Dorado to your collection.