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Death Wish is perhaps the best-known work of Michael Winner alongside Charles Bronson and to start off with, Chato’s Land has a pretty interesting plot. It follows, at least in my opinion, a flat out insane scene where a man by the name of Pardon Chato happens to sit comfortably in a tavern. At this very moment, he is unexpectedly pestered by a rascist gentleman who does not seem to have any sort of civil discourse and subsequently manages to kill him in self-defense without any notion of the man actually being a U.S. Marshall.
Quinney Whitmore, a Confederate Captain, has put together a group of many including Joshua Everette, Martin Hall as well a few others along with a Mexican scout by the name of Raul Castro after he realized that there may be a bit more than meets the eye. Their mission to capture Mr. Chato thoroughly backfired after they found themselves stuck in the desert. To add fuel to the fire, Tensions within the group began to arise the moment they set foot in the area and quickly reached the boiling point after certain members of the group decided to abduct and brutally assault Chato’s woman leading to him taking violent revenge against the group.
Even though it is fundamentally a chased film with some basic elements of a revenge movie, all taking place in the classic American West, Chato’s Land also serves as an allegory to what American soldiers faced in the Vietnam War. This reminds me of a vast group of men who are completely out of place and who have advanced weaponry compared to their enemy, but their enemy happens to have the home advantage. It is particularly intriguing to think of the movie that way, especially for the men in the posse who set fire to a small Apache village (in a scene that hails Cannibal Holocaust but evokes an equally similar feeling of nausea), where American soldiers did just that- set fire to a Vietnamese village. The film serves as a very harsh critique of racism directed towards the period and time in which it was set, and American society in general. Michael Winner may have sometimes indulged in exploitation but for this film, he seemed to have a stronger social conscience.
The actors and actresses here are in fine form. It is quite comical to see Victor French, who is mostly recognized for playing the friendly Isiah Edwards in Little House On The Prairie, being cast as one of the bastard posse members. Richard Jordon, Ralph Waite, and Simon Oakland are fantastic as the diabolical Hooker Brothers, and James Whitmore is also good in this role. Jack Palance is great as Quincy Whitmore, a man with his own version of honor who is a bit more calm than most of the men that he keeps company with. Palance, who is sometimes prone to chewing the scenery, comes though with a remarkably restrained performance, and for it the film is all the better. Of course, right in the middle of all this is a Charles Bronson in say his fifties. As a man who could still cut an imposing figure even in this advanced age, Bronson as Chato is lean, mean, and cunning. Bronson does almost all of his acting here without a line of dialogue. He has a few lines, but more often than not he does what he does using body language.
The film’s award was granted appreciating two important aspects: Character portrayal and direct irony from the script. It discussed the do’s and don’ts of preserving a family, but what’s a family without trust? He fights for the character, and what he packed was quite the luggage, as he had a rough past filled with disdain. The scene speaks for itself and the apathetic violence in the world is the root cause for one never crossing the line.
The pacing is slow at points, but even in those segments, the film is different enough in the cinematography department that we do not mind. Shot in both Spain and Mexico, this is undoubtedly a good looking film, and you’ll have no trouble accepting it as the American West. The score from the legendary Jerry Fielding helps heighten the drama, anxiety, and action that is ingrained into the storyline. It elevates the film by a notch, what can I say. Wonderfully, after noticing all of this, for goodness’s sake, it is just a b movie.
This goes hand in hand with noting that even though on the back of the cover art in this blu ray release it states pg, it is in fact the uncut international version. The original movie is free of cuts. This however does mean that certain scenes are stronger than they were on the previous region one dvd release, the rape scene features some obvious nudity. Some of the more laughable cuts like, ‘The Indian that is hung over the fire is shot,’ and the ‘horse stripping,’ the ‘rock to the face,’ and the ‘the one where the indian is shot over the fire,’ are pretty ‘iconic’.
Kino has transferred Chato’s Land to Blu-ray from a new 2K restoration of the original 1.85.1 widescreen aspect ratio, and the film looks really good. It is stored on the 50GB disc using 33GBs of space, which provides a nice, strong bit rate. This allows for nuance in detail depth and texture for the majority of scenes, although some shots look more grainy than others. The black levels are strong, avoiding crush, and color reproduction is above average. The detail is commendable as there aren’t any compression problems to note, even in dust filled scenes. The image is free of noise reduction or edge enhancement as well. There is also very little print damage here. The picture is very clean.
While there are no alternate language options provided on the Blu-Ray, English subtitles are available. The only audio is an English 24-bit DTS-HD 2.0 Mono mix. The quality of the sound is okay. The levels are nicely balanced. There are no issues with any hiss or distortion. The score is balanced within the dialogue, making it easy to understand rather than distracting.
A new audio commentary on the disc which features Howard S. Berger and Steve Mitchell is the most notable extra. They start by complimenting the movie’s visuals and move on to explaining the film’s production. There’s plenty of talk here about the life and career of Michael Winner, Wilson’s script and how the movie is executed in a fashion that is deeper than the superficial plot, the film’s structure, the satirical elements that abound in Winner’s films, the use of the McBain house from Once Upon A Time In The West and all the other locations from where the film was shot where a lot of the ‘scrub and brush’ was added by the art department, Bronson’s career at this stage and the amount of success he had in Europe, how Palance got along and did not get along with Winner on the shoot, Winner’s attempts to put in material in his films with Bronson which Bronson did not always believe were appropriate, the variations of the rape scene that have existed in various cuts of the movie, Jerry Fielding’s score and its notoriously ‘ugly, transitory’ qualities and many more.
While there are places in this segment where voices overlap, the account provided is an entertaining blend of an analysis on the movie’s history and some trivia.
Next comes an eighteen minute interview of the screenwriter, Gerald Wilson. In this interview, Gerald deliberates on a range of topics that include his feelings on the western genre, his connection to the Native American culture, how the scenery within the film is not a static object at the back of the view, what his motives were for writing the particular film, some stories about the Apache Indians and how they were very industrious with the land they resided in, incorporating some of his politics into the screenplay, and his opinions regarding some of the acting performances in the motion picture.
To top off the extras on the disc, are a feature advertise, bonus advertise for a couple other Bronson features (Cold Sweat, The Valdez Horses, Mr. Majestic, Breakhart Pass, From Noon Till Three, The White Buffalo, Cabo Blanco), menus and chapter selections that the changes offer. This release also includes a reversible cover along with a slipcase for the major film.
Chato’s Land film follows a meticulous storyline that revolves around themes of vengeance and undertones of violence – all of which are exceptionally portrayed through the filming locations. The combination of work from Jack Palance and Charles Bronson was extremely delightful and captivating to witness. The film is very well made and to say I recommend checking it out would be an understatement. The extras on the Blu Ray are also worth noting. Highly Recommended!
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