Frontier Crucible - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Frontier Crucible

Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


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Movie
Call me a sucker, but I’ll watch any new western that comes out in hopes of it being a good one. Even if I know from the trailer that there’s not much chance of that. Growing up in the 80s, I was privy to a LOOOONG history of Westerns via my grandfather, who schooled this young lad in the righteous ways of Clint Eastwood, John Wayne, Gary Cooper, Lee Marvin, and countless others. So naturally, I was a bit saddened when the 90s came around, put the final nail in the coffin that was western cinema for the most part. Sure, we’ve had some fun remakes and one-offs over the years, but the day of the western dominating cinema is far behind us, and that makes me sadder than you might imagine. So, whether it be in vain, I still hold out year after year, looking for hope that we might see another great American Western crop up.

And in falls Frontier Crucible. I didn’t have much hope for the film, but after looking at the cast, I was mildly intrigued. William H. Macy and the return of Armie Hammer were something I wanted to check out. And when I perused around and found online that S. Craig Zahler was involved in the writing (even though his name is scrubbed from the actual film credits. I’m assuming there was some behind-the-scenes controversy where Zahler asked to recuse himself from the film, or the powers that be shuffled him to the side, and after his 2015 horror/western Bone Tomahawk, I was REALLY interested in what he had to offer here.

Our story revolves around a former Union soldier named Merrick Beckford (Myles Clohessy) in Arizona during the 1870s. He has been tasked with getting medical supplies through the territory, past the outlaws, past the Apache, and into the hands of those who need them. Along the way, he comes upon a family beset by outlaws, who have slashed a young man for no apparent reason. This man, named Jeff (Eli Brown), and his wife, Valerie (Mary Stickley), are up a creek without a paddle (so to speak), and Merrick’s wagon full of medical supplies comes in handy.

To make matters even worse, a group of 3 sketchy individuals (a seriously unrecognizable Thomas Jane, Armie Hammer, and Ryan Mason) join them, who claim to have had their horses stolen by the Apache, and they know another attack is imminent. Merrick reluctantly agrees to take all of them along to the settled territory, but as time goes on, tensions build. Ire’s rise. And soon we’re privy to what can only be described as a Zahler third act, with incredible, grisly violence. And an ending that feels just as dark as the men who get shot.

Frontier Crucible does a masterful job at hiding its low budget underneath grizzly features, dusty land shots, and some amazing wide-angle shots that allow the viewer to get lost in the scenery instead of focusing on the lack of location changes. The casting is fascinating, with a throwaway cameo by William H. Macy, and some interesting performances by Thomas Jane and Armie Hammer. From what I could unearth in the special features (and online), Hammer was a late addition to the film and seems like a fish out of water, trying his best to get back into his acting persona after having been basically blacklisted from Hollywood for years. Myles Clohessy is probably the most adept here, playing a fairly solid western anti-hero, with that stoic vibe that Eastwood mastered decades ago.




Rating:

Rated R for strong/bloody violence and grisly images




Video:

As is the case with most Well Go USA titles, I could find next to ZERO information on the cameras uses, the master utilized, or the resolution of the master for the home video release. I looked around in the credits of the film and saw a glimpse of Red cameras used, Honestly, I don’t know as I could find no confirmation either (though if they were used RED cameras then I’d be shocked if a 2K master was struck for this). But, despite the confusion on what was used to film this production, the end result is quite stellar. The shots are wide and spacious, giving us a massive field of view for the Arizona desert (I live here in AZ, and from what I could tell they were shooting around Prescott), and amazing fine detail levels. You can see dust, debris, and grime under fingernails. Splits and tears in people’s pants with fine threads hanging down, and even spittle blood caked together in a paste on hands and arms during the final, brutal, act. Black levels remain dark and inky, and this maxes out the Blu-ray format to the max, with as appreciable detail as you can see. It’s not often I give a Well Go USA Blu-ray a 5/5 rating (usually there is banding at the very least to bring it down to a 4.5/5), but this is one of those rare instances.









Audio:

Featuring a Dolby Atmos mix and a 2.0 DD mix (the 5.1 DTS-HD MA from the Blu-ray disc is swapped out for the lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 track), the film’s budget may not have hampered much in the video department, but you can tell some things were left off the table when crafting the audio mix. For being an Atmos mix, this is decidedly calm and ambiguous, with a light rear end and a low end that only comes into play in moderate amounts. Dialog is clean and clear, and while the surrounds aren’t massively used, the wide open spaciousness of the shooting location allows for some nice ambient noises (such as galloping horses, the rumbling of the supply wagon, and gunshots going off), but overall this is a fairly laid-back mix.












Extras:

• Making of Featurette
• Trailer

Final Score: ​

Personally, I don’t think Frontier Crucible is the western we were waiting for. But this is a lot better than it should have been, or has been, considering how many mediocre to poor westerns have come out in the last 5 years. It’s got a lot of heart, some interesting direction, and some gruesome violence that would be right at home in a horror movie thanks to Zahler's influence. The Blu-ray disc is very impressive, with great video, good audio, and a few minor extras. This isn’t a blind buy recommendation, but if you have a lazy Saturday afternoon, this might suit the bill for curious western fans.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Myles Clohessy, Mary Stickley, Armie Hammer, William H. Macy
Directed By: Travis Mills
Written By Harry Whittington, S. Craig Zahler
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1 AVC
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Core), English DTS-HD MA 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH
Studio: Well Go USA
Rated: R
Runtime: 125 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: February 17th, 2026

Recommendation: Decent Watch