We were pleasantly surprised with the amount of clarity demonstrated in a number of the exteriors seen early in the film, before the lawmen settle into the jailhouse for the long stand-off. The shots of Thornton at the MacDonald s spread and Jason s ranch are dusty, with sparse vegetation and rough outcroppings in the background. All lines are clean with no ringing from edge enhancement, and not a bit of grain or image breakup of any kind to mar the picture. Later, when we settle into the jailhouse and visit a saloon or two, the picture remains quite sharp and detailed. There are a handful of softer looking exteriors, but these are brief and few.
Colors are bright, clean and saturated.
Some folks may be turned off by this artificial quality, but that s how Hawks shot the film. Paramount s transfer doesn t dull the hues at all. The deep, rich blue and peach colors of Wayne s shirts are striking. The drab, dusty rags worn by Mitchum and Bull also look very good. We noted no bleeding between color fields here, or anywhere else during the presentation.