The Legend of the Lone Ranger (1981) - Shout! Factory - July 14, 2015

[Mrlovkim]

I was going to buy the UK version but time went fast and then this was announced so decided to get this one, hard to make a decision when nobody reviewed the other versions.

Mine comes tomorrow UPS.

[The Great Owl]

I just finished watching the Shout Factory Blu-ray of The Legend of the Lone Ranger.

This movie rocked my world when I saw it during my childhood, and I'm happy to say that it still rocks my world after seeing it for the first time in over 30 years. This is a good-natured western that plays out like the adventure stories that we all read in our younger years. It was quite violent for my 10 year-old eyes back in the day, and the violence is still more visceral than average even for PG films today, but that's part of the odd charm, because the brutality of the Cavendish gang drives our sympathy for the protagonists. Christopher Lloyd, as Butch Cavendish, is an awesome villain, and he is one of the true highlights of the film. I love the scenes of Lloyd and Jason Robards, as President Grant, matching wits.

Klinton Spilsbury is quite good in the title role, even if his voice is dubbed by James Keach. Michael Horse is excellent in his role as Tonto.

The movie itself has a gauzy look that tends not to draw raves in high definition, but I do not have anything negative to say about the picture quality of the Blu-ray transfer. Everything comes across quite well on the audio front, and John Barry's score sounds great.

The one element of The Legend of the Lone Ranger that will draw snickers from modern audiences is Merle Haggard's sing-song narration, where he often bends over backwards to make the words rhyme with the lyrics penned by Dean Pitchford. Once again, though, it's all part of the charm.

This is a fun flick that always deserved a bigger audience.

[Professor Echo]

Just watched this for the first time the other night and didn't care for it, though I can definitely see a nostalgia factor for kids who grew up with it.

I have the German Region B version which is a nice transfer and am selling it very cheaply or trading it if anyone is interested.

[Rich65]

I haven't watched my Blu-ray yet but I am looking forward to it, I saw this in the theatre with Outland in 1981 and I enjoyed it then and have ever since. It is not a perfect movie but it has a lot of great moments and I thought Michael Horse was an excellent Tonto.

[ol_Dut]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

The one element of The Legend of the Lone Ranger that will draw snickers from modern audiences is Merle Haggard's sing-song narration, where he often bends over backwards to make the words rhyme with the lyrics penned by Dean Pitchford. Once again, though, it's all part of the charm.

This is a fun flick that always deserved a bigger audience.

I just watched this last night after having picked it up on the cheap at HPB. While I had fond memories of seeing this in theaters as a kid, I had forgotten all about this element of the film and a great many other things as well. Never cringe-worthy but sometimes very forced, it's definitely something pretty unique to this film. The overall look of the film was fine by me - I know the reviewer here was not very kind to the picture quality - but like Haggard's contribution, it works for this film. I'm glad I picked this up so I could watch it again for the first time.

[mcelebs]

when will the originial lone ranger all the seasons come out to blu ray?