Sweetwater [Blu-Ray]
Director: Logan Miller
Cast: Ed Harris, January Jones, Jason Isaacs
Release Date: Available on DVD & Blu-Ray December 31, 2013
A Review By: Kevin Lovell
Film Rating: 9/10
Disc Rating: 8/10
Plot Summary:
In the late 1800s, a fanatical religious leader, a renegade Sheriff, and a former prostitute collide in a blood triangle on the rugged plains of the New Mexico Territory.
While I wasn’t certain what to expect going into ‘Sweetwater’ I must admit I was very pleasantly surprised with the result. What we have here is a smartly crafted western revenge thriller that plays things out in a very different way than most revenge thrillers as opposed to characters and the roles they play within, but it also really captures the landscape and backgrounds in an absolutely stunning and beautiful manner. The pace is fast, the characters are sharp and unique to the point where you truly find yourself rooting for some while flat out despising others and that is a perfect example of fantastic writing, direction and acting.
‘Sweetwater’ was written by brothers Logan and Noah Miller (who also make a cameo in the film) and is directed by Logan Miller. These two have really done an amazing
job here, and you can really see the depth and care they have in what they do, because it shows clearly in almost every detail of this film. They have assembled an absolutely stellar cast that pulls off these unique characters flawlessly. The cast includes Ed Harris, January Jones, Jason Isaacs, Eduardo Noriega and more, all of which are given opportunity to show off their tremendous talent here and do so admirably.
OVERALL: ‘Sweetwater’ is a beautifully crafted western revenge thriller with some slight alterations to the standard. Impressive writing and directing in addition to a stellar cast definitely make this one you will not want to miss. When a film is compiled of such an amazing cast and an entertaining, emotional and thrilling story, and you have the landscape and setting down in such an impressive manner, there is really not too much more you could ask for in a film. I most certainly give ‘Sweetwater’ my recommendation.
VIDEO:
The Blu-Ray release of ‘Sweetwater’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation utilizing the film’s original 2.35:1 Cinemascope Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks quite impressive and all of the rich detail of the film’s landscape and backgrounds is on glorious display here with this high definition video presentation. A healthy bitrate dedicated to the video also allows it to avoid the faults that more compression may have resulted in.
AUDIO:
The Blu-Ray release features a lossless 5.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. The movies score is quite beautiful, and this lossless 5.1 soundtrack really helps you to appreciate it to its fullest. There are a number of action oriented sequences that involve bullets whizzing by, so while not an overwhelming amount of activity is thrown into the surround channels, there are certainly some fun moments where they are utilized quite nicely. All in all, everyone should be pretty satisfied with this lossless multichannel soundtrack.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
The Blu-Ray release of ‘Sweetwater’ doesn’t offer too much in the way of extras, but it does include a couple of fun and informative extras. Most notably would have to be a 10 minute featurette which provides a look behind the scenes during the making of ‘Sweetwater’ and includes comments and interviews from the brothers behind the film as well as the cast. Also included is a video track for what I suppose would likely be considered the film’s theme song. It’s not actually a video, simply the song with a picture on the screen throughout. Lastly, the films trailer is also included on the Blu-Ray release.
Film Rating: 9/10
Disc Rating: 8/10
‘Sweetwater’ will be available to own on DVD & Blu-Ray December 31, 2013 from Arc Entertainment.