Product Details

• Actors: Ed Harris, Viggo Mortensen, Jeremy Irons, Renée Zellweger, Timothy Spall
• Directors: Ed Harris
• Format: Color, DVD, Widescreen, Subtitled, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: New Line Home Video
• DVD Release Date: January 13, 2009
• Run Time: 115 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (188 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001LRJH0U
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,777 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Appaloosa" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The Western has been an endangered species, on and off, for something like 40 years now. Welcome to Appaloosa, Ed Harris's film of the Robert B. Parker novel--first because it exists at all, but even more because Harris as star, director, and co-screenwriter (with Robert Knott) has managed to bring it to the screen with no hint of fuss or strain, as if the making of no-nonsense, copiously pleasurable Westerns were still something Hollywood did with regularity. Harris plays Virgil Cole, one of those ace gunfighter-lawmen whose name need only be mentioned to make a saloon go still. Cole and his shotgun-toting partner Everett Hitch (Viggo Mortensen) accept a commission to enforce law and order in the New Mexico town of Appaloosa. That basically means protect it from rapacious rancher Randall Bragg (Jeremy Irons, looking right at home on the range), who murdered the previous town marshal like swatting a fly. Life becomes complicated when, about the time Bragg has been jailed to await trial, a fancy-dressing piano player calling herself Mrs. French (Renée Zellweger) steps down off the train. Cole commences to have feelings, and as he ruefully reminds Hitch, "Feelin's can get ya killed."

In his second directorial effort (following the 2000 biopic Pollock), Harris takes his cue from novelist Parker's often deadpan-comic touch, allowing action and character to accumulate in accordance with an overall eccentric rhythm. (The film's main disappointment is that it would benefit from more running time to allow things to stew a bit longer, especially in the second half.) The character work is choice, from the moment Tom Bower, James Gammon, and Timothy Spall step into view as Appaloosa's civic leaders; the director's father Bob Harris contributes a cameo as a mellifluous-tongued circuit judge, and an age-thickened Lance Henriksen turns up midfilm as gunman Ring Shelton, trailing affability and menace. In collaboration with Dances With Wolves cameraman Dean Semler, Harris sets up shots and scenes in such a way that we often see into and out of Appaloosa's various buildings simultaneously, to excellent dramatic and atmospheric effect, and there's a thrillingly vertical dynamics to a scene involving a train at an isolated water stop. The action is lethal when it needs to be, but never dwelt upon. "That was over quick," Hitch observes after one gun battle. Cole's response says it all: "Everybody could shoot." --Richard T. Jameson

Product Description

Spencer Aimes is just your average, 1882, New Mexico Territory. Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch are itinerant lawmen, hired by desperate towns as marshal and deputy. The city fathers of Appaloosa hire them after Randall Bragg, a newly-arrived rancher with money and a gang of thugs, disrupts commerce and kills three local lawmen. Cole and Hitch contrive to arrest Bragg and bring him to trial, but hanging him proves difficult. Meanwhile, a widow has arrived in town, Allison French, pretty, refined, and good-natured. Virgil falls hard, and it seems mutual, but there may be more to Allie than meets the eye. Can friendship and skill with a gun overcome a pernicious villain and green-eyed jealousy?

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

59 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good Western, January 1, 2009

By 

Ryan Agadoni (Whittier, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Appaloosa [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)

The story of Appaloosa is very similar to that of the excellent Warlock. Two mercenary "lawmen" are summoned to a town being terrorized by a local band of cowboys (led by a powerful and particularly ruthless rancher -- in Appaloosa's case, Randall Bragg played by Jeremy Irons). These lawmen are close friends and have worked together for many years, moving from town to town killing bad guys for money. They are called upon when the town's previous sheriff is murdered. They agree to clean up the town, but only if the town agrees to grant them any power they wish to do so.

Here the stories of Warlock and Appaloosa diverge. Warlock makes great use of the idea that fighting outlaws with mercenaries is a morally questionable solution, while Appaloosa features only one scene that ponders the question, even though the setup seems tailor-made for further conflict. Harris' character, Virgil, has been made uncomfortable and embarrassed by a conversation with his romantic interest (played by Renee Zellwegger), so he takes it out on some workers having a drink at the bar. Though drunk, they are doing no harm, and Harris' explosive temper and sense of impunity are first exhibited as he viciously pummels one of them before being restrained by Viggo's character (Everett). One of the town's officials questions this behavior, but beyond that it is never addressed again.

Other story similarities include a confrontation at the jailhouse (though the specifics of the scene were more reminiscent of one in Rio Bravo), a love interest that may lead to the retirement of one of the characters and the dissolution of their partnership, a final shoot-out that ends the partnership and that the title of each movie is simply the name of the town in which the action takes place.

Beyond those the story plays out in a very different fashion. There is no character equivalent in Appaloosa to Richard Widmark's outlaw-turned-lawman, Everett doesn't have any of the shadiness that Anthony Quinn's "Doc Holiday" had, and there is no betrayal among the old friends. The romantic interest also plays out very differently in Appaloosa.

Overall, the story is good, but there did seem to be a few too many Acts. I didn't mind that much, because I enjoyed all the possibly extraneous scenes, but it did feel a little long, a little less tight, even though the movie ran just under two hours. And there was one bone-headed decision that you see coming from a mile away. If you're a smart guy who has been cleaning out towns of bad guys for years now, what's the dumbest thing you can do? Very publicly fall in love with a girl who now lives in the town. I said out loud "liability and leverage" as soon as I saw Virgil go after her.

Other good points: Harris demonstrates a talent for writing (and delivering) comfortable, funny, and natural sounding dialogue. (A friend of mine said the dialogue at the beginning was bad, but I don't remember.) The relationship between Everett and Virgil is great. They effectively demonstrate respect, loyalty and love in subtle believable ways. Renee Zellwegger's character surprises you several times and turns out to be as interesting as the two leads. Irons' character doesn't have much substance to him other than "I'm a jerk," but he does have some good moments of interaction with the Virgil and Everett.

Harris, along with his DP, has a good eye for the scenery. Everything is shot on location, and it looks great. He also shoots within these locales well; I always knew where the characters were in relation to one another (which sounds simplistic, but I'm thinking of the scene on the river with the Indians where Everett rides up to meet them). I appreciated the unique camera work in the scene on the train where Allison is brought out from underneath the bridge.

Of course, I have to comment on the action and perpetrators there-of. This isn't 3:10 to Yuma (2007) or Tombstone, so the gunplay is pretty sparse. But when it happens, it's well-staged, and often unique in consequence. Virgil and Everett rescuing the kidnappers from the Indians, for example, plays out differently than you might expect. Allison has been kidnapped in order to secure Bragg's release, and Virgil and Everett have tracked them to a canyon. Before they can act, they notice a party of Indians about to raid them. They allow this until the Indians start to take Allison. Rather than shooting the Indians, Virgil and Everett shoot the pack-horse that Allison is on, and fire up into the air to scatter the raiding party. Later, Everett offers the group Bragg's horse to make up for the one they shot. Another unique scene is the shoot-out in the Mexican town. It's close-quarters and over in seconds. It also leads to one of the funniest lines in the movie.

Virgil and Everett lie on the ground, wounded but alive.

Everett: That was quick.
Virgil: Yeah, everybody could shoot.

The sound design is excellent, right up there with Open Range in terms of power and realism.

And the guns! Well, The Gun, anyway.

As you may have read, Everett carries a very unique item: an 8-gauge double-barreled shotgun. Until Appaloosa, I didn't even know 8 was a possible gauge. I'd heard of 10-gauges, and only seen one or two at all the gun auctions I've been to. For those unfamiliar with the gauge system, the smaller the number, the larger the bore. 12-gauge is the most popular. My double-barrel is 12. So the 8-gauge that Everett wields is HUGE, and is mentioned specifically about five times in the beginning of the movie. There are only one or two scenes where Everett is without it, too. He lugs that honkin' thing around everywhere he goes. And you only get to see him use it twice! The other guns are all pretty standard, though I noticed Everett's sidearm is a Colt open-top conversion, which is also unique.

I recommend Appaloosa to Western fans and fans of Viggo & Ed.

The Blu-ray edition of this film sports a nice transfer, great sound, and a few decent supplements.

72 of 83 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Harris and Mortensen Make The Most of Appaloosa, November 23, 2008

By 

Terence Allen (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Appaloosa (DVD)

"Appaloosa" combines the best of traditional and modern Westerns. Ed Harris, who directs as well as stars in the film, has created a great combination of the two perpectives in this adaptation of the Robert B. Parker (Spenser For Hire) novel.

Harris plays Virgil Cole, who with his partner Everett Hitch (played by Viggo Mortensen), roams the West as hired guns who come in and tame towns where lawlessness reigns. Such is the case in Appaloosa, which is run by rancher Randall Bragg, who killed the town marshal (an old friend of Cole's) and his two deputies. Cole and Hitch begin the cleanup process straightaway, but everything becomes complicated with the appearance in town of Allison French (played by Renee Zellweger), a young widow who captures the heart of crusty Cole and soon, the hardened lawman moves in on her. But later, she comes on Hitch, setting the stage for issues of life, future, and loyalty to be explored while the lawmen deal with the woman and the wily Bragg, who has a few tricks up his sleeve.

The look, feel, and the tone feels very traditional, but the screenplay and action are more modern in their staging, which means the language is saltier, and the action faster, just as it would be in real life. Harris and Mortensen seem like they have been acting in Westerns their entire career. Zellweger hits the right notes as a woman who does what she has to do to survive.

This is a great film, and one that most Western fans should readily enjoy.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ed Harris + Viggio Mortensen = An Old Fashioned Western With A Few Modern Twists!, April 10, 2009

By 

Jana L. Perskie "ceruleana" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Appaloosa (DVD)

Freelance law enforcers Virgil Cole, (Ed Harris), and Everett Hitch, (Viggio Mortensen), ride into the New Mexican town of Appaloosa one afternoon in 1882. Close-up shots reveal that neither man moves so much as a muscle on his face as each surveys the near-empty streets. And such stern faces they have!! Obviously, these two are not men to be messed with. Cole, a hardened Civil War vet, with a hair-trigger temper, has been hired by Appaloosa's local leaders to act as marshal until the area is rid of Randall Bragg, (Jeremy Irons), a wealthy rancher. New to the territory, Bragg wants to take over the region's copper mines. He and his sidekicks are a grungy band of murderous thugs. They terrorize the small town's residents, making their own rules and disrupting business as usual, often with a lethal effect. When Apaloosa's former sheriff and two deputies rode out to pay Bragg a "visit," the villain shot and killed all three men. So, Cole and Hitch are hired, and are given power to impose order, by whatever means necessary.

Everett Hitch is the deputy with a capital "D," and the film's narrator. A West Point-trained ex-cavalry officer, he has been working with Cole, traveling and cleaning up the frontier, for many years. I was really drawn to this character of many contrasts. Highly educated, articulate, introspective, and clearly a leader of men, he gave up soldiering because he was tired of fighting in the Indian Wars. Yet, Hitch makes his living through violence - shooting and killing within the limits of the law, except for once. Virgil Cole, on the other hand, is explosive, a self-taught man, who is almost the exact opposite of his partner. The two, however, share a great rapport and are completely at ease with one another. This relationship is what pulls the movie together and makes it work. Cole and Hitch are men of honor who have a deep and abiding respect for each other - friends as well as partners - sort of like Butch Cassidy and Sundance without the sense of humor! Actually, there are wryly comic moments, mostly banter, in between bursts of gunfire, and though not laugh-out-loud funny, these amusing moments do provide a break from the tension.

At this point, a lady enters the picture. Don't they always? Renee Zellweger plays Allison, (Allie), French, whose arrival coincides with the lawmen's by a day or so. Both are attracted to the lovely, refined widow, with only a dollar to her name, but Virgil wins the gal, "supposedly." He even gets her a job, playing piano at the local hotel. Allie is quite different from the "whores and squaws" both men usually associate with. There are few "ladies" in this part of the world. While Everett is tempted, he doesn't even make a play for Allie, seeing that his partner is smitten. Everett seems to place his partner's welfare before his own, without appearing overly altruistic. Allie's personality is disturbing and complex, but I will remain mum on the subject from here on - no spoilers.

The tension builds between Bragg and Cole, with Bragg trying to reach an accommodation while Cole remains implacable in his goal to bring the outlaw to justice. When a witness to the killings of the sheriff and deputies comes forward and agrees to testify, Bragg is finally arrested and brought to trial. The story and major conflicts really begin to pick-up pace at this point. Each character reveals more of his/her personality as the action gets rougher and tougher. I found the ending to be surprising and somewhat bittersweet.

The cinematography is outstanding!!!! Kudos to Australian photographer Dean Semler, who worked on "Dances With Wolves" and the TV mini-series "Lonesome Dove." There are some shots which are amazingly beautiful and worth the price of admission, or the cost of a rental, on their merit alone.

Ed Harris acts, directs, and produces "Apploosa" which is based on Robert B Parker's western novel of the same name. Harris also co-wrote the screenplay.

I love a well made Western...and this is one with a few twists. Recommended!
Jana Perskie