Where the Buffalo Roam - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Where the Buffalo Roam


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Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score: ​

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Movie
I’m a huge fan of the Shout Factory Select line of films that have been released over the last year. So far there have been 18 films that I really loved (out of 21 including this one), one film that was Ok, and we finally have one that I truly don’t like. I know you can’t keep up a winning streak forever, but I was extremely saddened when I revisited Where the Buffalo Roam (A film I hadn’t seen for over 20 years) as it just hasn’t aged gracefully. I remember watching the film as a slightly doped up teenager and laughing myself silly, just as I did with Hunter S. Thompson’s real world material as well, but upon a subsequent viewing as a sober adult I am left with the feeling that my childhood may have been slightly skewed. Those who know Hunter S. Thompson, the 1960s/70s underground journalist, knows that the man’s life was a roller coaster of drugs, alcohol, sex, and constant insanity (most likely caused by copious use of said drugs and alcohol), so a movie based off of his life seemed to be something that would tickled the funny bone and give fans a taste of what they wanted. Unfortunately, the movie ends up being much like Hunter S. Thompson’s real life. An incoherent mess that stumbles around in the dark hoping to hit on something big.

I have a really hard time coming up with a description for Where the Buffalo Roam. It’s not a movie that sticks to a standard 3 arc storyline like your average film. Instead it offers the chance to mimic the life of Thompson itself, and by that, I mean that just meanders along and flits from subject to subject without any coherent train of cohesive thought to keep it grounded. We’re privy to Hunter S. Thompson (Bill Murray) and his best friend and lawyer Lazlo (Peter Boyle) traipsing around the country in a drunken/drugged out stupor as they visit all sorts of oddities. These oddities range from a trial where Lazlo tries to defend a handful of mary jane enthusiasts, to Hunter himself flying a plane while drinking beer and singing “Lucy in the Sky”.

Very little of the film makes any coherent sense, but rather acts as a series of vignettes that chronicle the insanity of the life that was lived by one of America’s most cult followed authors EVER. I’ve enjoyed Thompson’s works over the years (though many attempts to be pseudo intellectualism based upon drugs and an altered state of consciousness) and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas happens to be one of my favorite films based of Thompson’s works (Johnny Depp is absolutely fabulous). However, Where the Buffalo Roam misses the mark entirely. I guess you could say that it’s a problem of being TOO close to its source material. Hunter was known to be a man that was bizarre, incoherent at times, and hilariously zany and violent to those around him. The movie just imitates that a bit TOO closely, and ends up being….well…incoherent, zany, and ridiculously over the top.

We could try and say that the movie is metaphorical and acts as a mirror to Hunter S. Thompson’s real life, but that still doesn’t excuse the film from being a complete and total mess of a film. I truly feel that Art Linson grasped what made Hunter the man that he was, but in his efforts to replicate the lunacy that was his life, he lost sight of trying to make a film that is relatable to the general audience. A flaw that undermines a completely fabulous performance by Billy Murray in his prime. He and Peter Boyle steal every scene that they’re in, and Bill Murray’s zaniness and comedic styling are perfect for the subject matter at hand. The only problem is that you can’t make much sense of the movie itself unless you’re about as high on Acid as Hunter was during the time period.




Rating:

Rated R by the MPAA




Video:

Where the Buffalo Roam is a solid entry into Shout’s lineup, but not one of the most pristine looking films out of the gate. However, being a film sublicensed from Universal studios I can understand where some of the issues come from. Universal has not had the greatest track record with giving us fully restored masters from their catalog titles and while the Shout Factory release doesn’t have their telltale DNR and aliasing going on (at least much DNR), the disc does look a bit rough in spots. Grain levels are rather strong and it has a very filmic look to it, with decent detail levels and solid black levels. Sometimes the camera judder looks a bit odd, or the black levels get a tad murky along with detail levels that impress, but don’t shock the audience, but overall Where the Buffalo Roam has a very healthy looking Blu-ray encode.





Audio:

The DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo track fares much the same as the video does. It’s not a wildly attractive audio mix that will wow the listeners, but it is more than capable of doing whatever is asked of it. The dialog is the main focus here, with crisp vocals and a well-balanced mix, but the separation and tone of the background effects feels a bit flat and lifeless. There’s not a whole lot of dynamic range going on, and there’s some analog source tones that make the track feel a bit odd, but overall it is decent sounding 2.0 mix that does exactly what it sets out to do. Give us crystal clear dialog with a moderate amount of background information to the whacked out film.






Extras:

• Presented With All Original Music
• Inventing The Buffalo: An Interview with Screenwriter John Kaye
• Original Trailer

Final Score: ​

Bill Murray is a joy to watch as the man, the myth, the legend, Hunter S. Thompson himself, but Art Linson’s film does very little endear itself to the viewer except to serve as a view into the fractured mind of the prolific author. I remembered very little of the film going into this viewing, but must say that it hasn’t really stood the test of time and is one of the most disappointing experiences I’ve had delving into the past that I’ve had in a long long time. Shout Factory’s Blu-ray is a solid endeavor with some flaws that come across from Universal’s dated master, and the extras are a bit slim for my tastes. If you’re a HUGE Hunter S. Thompson fan (or just a fan of the movie), it’s a worthy addition to the collection, but for everyone else I would have to say that it’s best left where it belongs. In the past.



Technical Specifications:

Starring: Bill Murray, Peter Boyle, Bruno Kirby
Directed by: Art Linson
Written by: Hunter S. Thompson (Stories by), John Kaye (Screenplay)
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 2.0
Studio: Shout Factory
Rated: R
Runtime: 99 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: June 6th, 2017

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• Michael Scott
• May 11, 2017

Recommendation: Skip It