Urban Cowboy: 40th Anniversary Edition - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Urban Cowboy: 40th Anniversary Edition



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


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Movie
Wow, have the gods smiled upon us? Has the heavens split and dealt us a blessing? It’s been a long time since Paramount has released a catalog title on Blu-ray that wasn’t already released, and re-released several times. With the announcement of the Paramount Presents line of films I was sure we were just getting 4K remasters of already released titles, but Paramount decided to sneak in a catalog title on the side that has NEVER been released on Blu-ray before in the form of Urban Cowboy. Now, it’s not part of any line like the “Paramount Presents” or 4K UHD lines, but rather just a good old fashioned 40th anniversary release from Paramount standard.

Urban Cowboy hasn’t exactly been iconicized like Saturday Night Fever or Grease, but it was basically the Saturday Night Fever for the 1970s and 1980s country crowd. It had the same dark under lining that Saturday Night Fever did, with a tale of up and coming adulthood mixed with domestic violence and chauvinism, and the search for true love. It had a classic score of epic country stars from the past, and even included the then famous Charlie Daniel’s band as live entertainment in the last act. It also acted as the final mega hit for his early career, and it wasn’t until 1994’s Pulp Fiction, where he gained a second wind in his career. The movie hasn’t aged as well as I would have liked, and it definitely appeals to the honkey tonk crowd more than the general public, but coming from the Southwest myself, this film was an indelible part of my childhood, being played on every local TV station and rented by my older brothers throughout the years.

Bud (John Travolta) is a country boy, bred and raised, but now that he’s a man Bud is moving out to Pasadena, Texas, to make his own way in the world. Staying with his uncle Bob (Barry Corbin), he starts hanging around a local honkey tonk bar called Gilley’s, where he falls in love with and marries (within a week) the sassy Sissy (Debra Winger) and gains employment at a local factory job. However, things start to fall apart for the couple within a week, as Bud becomes more and more violent, and ends up hurting himself on his job. To make matters worse, Sissy starts to become attracted to ex-con, and bull rider, Wes (Scott Glenn), who has a few dark secrets of his own. The only thing that tears them apart, and brings them back together again is the pure country desire for bull riding. A skill which Bud is determined to master, and beat Wes, even if it kills him.

John Travolta has sadly been relegated to DTV films nowadays like Bruce Willis, but there were two times in his life where he was one of the biggest box office draws we had ever seen. Back from 1975-1981 he was the young heart throb, starring in smash hits like Grease, Saturday Night Fever, Urban Cowboy, and even having a hit TV show as well (Welcome Back, Kotter). However, he started to fade out until the early 90s when he got his biggest career boost, shooting him into the limelight for over a decade with stuff like Pulp Fiction, Get Shorty, Face/Off, only to start fading out when he starred and produced in the mega failure that was Battlefield Earth. Still, it’s a great thing to go back to his heyday and watch these films that made him into one of the richest celebrities in Hollywood.

Urban Cowboy hasn’t aged as well as I would have hoped, sadly. I’m not sure whether it’s me not being so much into the country scene as when I was in my 20s and earlier, or whether it’s my discomfort with the blatant chauvinism built into Sissy and Bud’s relationship, but watching the movie some 20 years later it just isn’t as fun. The movie has a fantastic sound track, a great cast of characters (Debra Winger was unbelievably gorgeous back then as a 25 year old rebel), but the stakes just don’t seem as high, and Travolta’s glimmer isn’t as strong. That being said, the movie is still a solid classic and definitely well worth checking out, especially since this is the first time it’s been released in hi-def since that aging old DVD was released decades ago.




Rating:

Rated PG by the MPAA




Video:

Paramount hasn’t made any indication in the press release what resolution the master was, and whether it was a new one struck for this release, so I’m going to lean towards the theory that this is the same 4K master they’ve used for streaming services for the last few years. While it’s not been given the Paramount Presents restoration treatment for this 40th anniversary edition, it still looks very good on Blu-ray. The film is bathed in sepia tones with heavy film grain and some orangey skin tones at times. Grain is very consistent and shows good field of depth, but I did notice some print debris in the first 20 minutes of the movie. Skin tones are normally very ruddy and clean, but there are a couple of shots (such as Sissy going into Wes’s trailer) where faces look a bit pale. The textures and fine detailing is usually excellent, but inside of Gilley’s there’s the occasional soft scenes, and a few flickers of black crush. All in all, a good transfer for the film’s first time on Blu-ray.








Audio:

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA track is more than satisfying, offering a strong dynamic range and good vocals. Even as a lower budget 1980’s film, the track is impressively clean and clear of any distortions. The only thing I could possibly see as a fault in the recording is that the dynamic range can be pretty intense. Vocals can sometimes be lost in the music at Gilley’s, only to have the score rip your head off. The country music score is flawless, with great bass and good surround presence. The mix can sometimes be a bit front heavy, but once the music gets going it’s anything but boring.







Extras:

• Good Times With Gilley: Looking Back At Urban Cowboy - Featurette
• Deleted Scenes
• Outtakes
• Rehearsal Footage

Final Score: ​

Urban Cowboy is a good drama, but I’ve always felt that the abuse that the two leads heap on each other never made for a compelling romance. Bud dumps on her the entire film, and poor Sissy has then traded up for Wes, only to have him beat her around too. The final scene of the movie is Bud and Sissy getting back together with a “sorry”, but you never really see the internal progression for Bud that makes him WORTHY of her coming back to him. As such I always felt a little bit uncomfortable with the relationship, and it’s only become more obvious as I get older. But the acting is definitely top notch, and Debra Winger and Travolta both knocked it out of the park (I really love her on The Ranch , and ironically The Ranch has several other Urban Cowboy co-stars in the series as well with her). Paramount has released the film on it’s 40th anniversary and it’s decked out with some nice extras and very good video and audio. A must own for fans of the film, and a good watch for regular viewers like you and me.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: John Travolta, Scott Glenn, Debra Winger, Barry Corbin, James Gammon
Directed by: James Bridges
Written by: James Bridges, Aaron Latham
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, French DD 2.0 Mono, German DD 2.0 Mono
Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, German
Studio: Paramount
Rated: PG
Runtime: 135 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: June 2nd, 2020

Recommendation: Good Watch

 

[Todd Anderson]

Interesting release... this one flick I don't think I've ever seen. I think I can reserve it for streaming. Don't see the need to add to the collection. Nice review, Mike!