El Dorado (1966)

[Early Memphis]

El Dorado Blu-ray

El Dorado Blu-ray Review

Eagerly awaited on Blu-ray, El Dorado arrives with high hopes and an MPEG-4 AVC transfer. Early screenshots appear to indicate that this is the same transfer which appeared earlier in Europe. While inconsistent and a bit problematic, El Dorado, at least in caps, appears to be far more acceptable than the train wreck that Hatari! turned out to be. Fingers crossed! I'll link to the BRDC review as soon as it posts - Done!.

[vdmello]

Hope this one has a better transfer than Hatari!...

[Akijama]

Check out the caps from the European blu edition, released by Paramount last year.

http://www.dvdclassik.com/forum/view...p?f=32&t=34951

I assume US release is the same transfer.

[quickdraw]

Originally Posted by Akijama

Check out the caps from the European blu edition, released by Paramount last year.

http://www.dvdclassik.com/forum/view...p?f=32&t=34951

I assume US release is the same transfer.

Hmmm...
things look a bit pasty.

[Early Memphis]

Well, release day and still no BRDC review. Rats. Maybe mañana ...

[Duke_45]

Originally Posted by Early Memphis

Well, release day and still no BRDC review. Rats. Maybe mañana ...

Supposedly El Dorado should arrive sometime today, and since this is my day off from work, I will probably watch it as soon as it arrives. I can follow up with my review here tonight, if all goes as planned.

[Boob-Ray]

I have to admit, just from the screen grabs, the image looks very strange.

Reminds me of this awful filter on my scanning software that sometimes showed up if I didn't remember to uncheck it, called "Dust removal" or something. It looked similar to many of these screen grabs. Kind of a water-color Photoshop effect or something.

I'm glad that most everyone is happy with it, so I'll be picking this up either way. But those screen caps do look HEAVILY manipulated -- even though the picture looks rich and vibrant and improved. There is something weird here.

Look at the foliage that (isn't) there in the background...
https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/scree...948&position=2

Or the soft blobs that should be crisp, crinkles on Wayne' pants. Looks like watercolor.
https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/scree...48&position=17

What makes me assume it's a digital effect or processing, rather than a part of the original film, is the uniformity of the effect. I could be wrong, it's just that I haven't seen such a thing before -- and it looks suspiciously like a digital effect. Though, I certainly see the strengths of the transfer as well.

My 2 cents

[mdonovan]

Originally Posted by Boob-Ray

I have to admit, just from the screen grabs, the image looks very strange.

Reminds me of this awful filter on my scanning software that sometimes showed up if I didn't remember to uncheck it, called "Dust removal" or something. It looked similar to many of these screen grabs. Kind of a water-color Photoshop effect or something.

I'm glad that most everyone is happy with it, so I'll be picking this up either way. But those screen caps do look HEAVILY manipulated -- even though the picture looks rich and vibrant and improved. There is something weird here.

Look at the foliage that (isn't) there in the background...
https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/scree...948&position=2

Or the soft blobs that should be crisp, crinkles on Wayne' pants. Looks like watercolor.
https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/scree...48&position=17

What makes me assume it's a digital effect or processing, rather than a part of the original film, is the uniformity of the effect. I could be wrong, it's just that I haven't seen such a thing before -- and it looks suspiciously like a digital effect. Though, I certainly see the strengths of the transfer as well.

My 2 cents

Is it possibly an artifact from the lenses used ?

[Duke_45]

I still think paramount used the same 35mm camera and lenses for this film, along with ST:TOS. Look at any 1st season outdoor scenes from that BD, and the transfers look identical...hardly any film grain on either. While everyone heaps praise on that transfer, because this was released into theaters, the expectations are it should look grainier. In my opinion, the only thing this transfer is guilty of is being fantastic looking.

[blu-bry]

I watched El Dorado two nights ago, and Rio Bravo last night. First off, both films are quite good (and have many similarities). I have to say, though, that overall I enjoyed the El Dorado experience much more.
I'm shocked to be saying this, because I thought it would be the other way around, but even though there is much more apparent grain in Rio Bravo, there was also some blurryness and some huge white halos (enhancement?) around some horses and people during some parts of the film. It was so prevalent that it actually took me out of the story a bit.
El Dorado certainly doesn't have the grain visible, but it looks so CLEAR. I had more of a sense of depth and I also thought the color was more accurate. To be sure, neither disc has a perfect picture, but I enjoyed the presentation, and the entire story of El Dorado more.
I am no expert, and I usually appreciate when there is less visible tampering, but El Dorado looks almost like it was shot digitally. I'm shocked to be saying it, but it looks pretty darn good to me.

[The Great Owl]

I've decided to devote most of the month of July to catching up on some westerns that are still unwatched in my Blu-ray collection.

Today, I watched El Dorado, and went through the entirety of the extras on the disc, including both commentary tracks.

El Dorado is basically Howard Hawk's remake of his own film, Rio Bravo, but, while it does not quite rise up to that film's level of greatness (in my opinion), it is still a brilliant western in its own right. Robert Mitchum is the highlight, mainly for his strengths at playing a character deep in the depths of alcoholism. John Wayne, however, shows real versatility here, and I like how his character is vulnerable through much of the film. A young James Caan is terrific as the sidekick who cannot shoot straight. Christopher George, who would later star in many horror films that I hold in high esteem, has perhaps the best role of his career here as a menacing, but still somehow likable, villain with an eye scar. Michele Carey is incredibly sexy as Josephine, a female gunfighter intent on taking down a greedy landowner.

The Blu-ray looks pretty great to my eyes, and the colors are pretty striking throughout the film. The lighting in the indoor scenes plays a big part in depicting the emotions of the characters, and I found that to be quite ingenious.

Highly recommended!

[Michael24]

Forgot this had been released until I saw the thread pop up last night. Need to get this. I've still yet to see Rio Bravo but I've loved El Dorado since I was a kid. Great cast. Michele Carey is quite a looker, too.

[Blu Titan]

Watching this now...looks fantastic. Anyways, does anyone know why John Wayne ride is a mule . No respectable cowboy or gun fighter would be caught riding a mule around.

[bipbop13]

Originally Posted by Blu Titan

Watching this now...looks fantastic. Anyways, does anyone know why John Wayne ride is a mule . No respectable cowboy or gun fighter would be caught riding a mule around.

you'd be surprised at how many "cowboys actually rode mules & donkeys. There was even an influx of camels from foreign shores at one point, as they could travel longer distances without water. There were actually wild camels in the southwest U.S. stemming from this right up until the '50's.

[Duke_45]

Originally Posted by Blu Titan

Watching this now...looks fantastic. Anyways, does anyone know why John Wayne ride is a mule . No respectable cowboy or gun fighter would be caught riding a mule around.

Are you sure you are not thinking of "The Comancheros"? There is a scene in that movie, where a prisoner that John Wayne is extraditing back to Texas, bonks him over the head with a shovel. When he wakes up, he finds the prisoner has taken his horse, and left him with a donkey (which John Wayne then rides back into town on).

I can't remember a scene in El Dorado where Duke is riding a donkey, but that could just be my bad memory at work.

[Blu Titan]

Originally Posted by Duke_45

Are you sure you are not thinking of "The Comancheros"? There is a scene in that movie, where a prisoner that John Wayne is extraditing back to Texas, bonks him over the head with a shovel. When he wakes up, he finds the prisoner has taken his horse, and left him with a donkey (which John Wayne then rides back into town on).

I can't remember a scene in El Dorado where Duke is riding a donkey, but that could just be my bad memory at work.

Not a donkey but a mule ...they refer to it as a horse but it's definitely a mule. I was thinking that maybe he had an injury and decided to ride a mule since its shorter than a horse... have seen dozens of JW westerns and he always rode horses unless the role called for something else.

[Duke_45]

Originally Posted by Blu Titan

Not a donkey but a mule ...they refer to it as a horse but it's definitely a mule. I was thinking that maybe he had an injury and decided to ride a mule since its shorter than a horse... have seen dozens of JW westerns and he always rode horses unless the role called for something else.

Hmm, still cannot recall a scene in El Dorado where Duke is riding a mule. He rides a horse called Cochise (which he famously backs out of Ed Asner's ranch), for all the scenes I remember.

He did buy a mule in Cahill US Marshall, from a rancher named MacDonald, after his horse got spooked and ran away. And since there is also a MacDonald in El Dorado, could that be the connection(?).

[baheidstu]

Originally Posted by Blu Titan

Not a donkey but a mule ...they refer to it as a horse but it's definitely a mule. I was thinking that maybe he had an injury and decided to ride a mule since its shorter than a horse... have seen dozens of JW westerns and he always rode horses unless the role called for something else.

Can you elaborate, maybe mention the time of the scenes or the colours? If you're referring to the animal with the spotted pattern, it's clearly an Appaloosa horse.

[Rory]

Someone's confused here, including me. Where in the running time of El Dorado is Wayne riding a mule? I've watched it many times, on Blu-ray just a couple months ago, in fact. Can't recall it.

If it's there, "Well, I'll be a suck-egg mule!"

[Rich65]

Originally Posted by Rory

Someone's confused here, including me. Where in the running time of El Dorado is Wayne riding a mule? I've watched it many times, on Blu-ray just a couple months ago, in fact. Can't recall it.

If it's there, "Well, I'll be a suck-egg mule!"

He rides a horse for all the scenes he is on horseback. I've seen this movie many times (it's one of my favorite John Wayne movies) and he never rides a mule in it. It was always the horse named Cochise.