Yellowstone: Season 1 - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Yellowstone: Season 1



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:



​

Movie
There are two names that I trust in a modern western. Taylor Sheridan (writer of such films as Sicario, Wind River, Hell or High Water) and Kevin Costner. Costner has been making westerns since he was a young man (I still adore Silverado as pure cowboy cheese, and Open Range as his best mature western) and Taylor Sheridan has been making some of the best modern westerns in recent times. Lately he’s gotten into directing as well, I believe with Wind River, so I was eagerly awaiting Yellowstone: Season 1 when I heard it was in production. Sadly I didn’t get to see the show when it aired due to too much on my viewing plate, but when the review disc showed up a week or so ago I tore into it as quickly as I possibly could.

The series is just what you’d expect from two veterans in the subject. Taylor Sheridan (who directed and wrote all 9 episodes of season 1) and Costner have created a low key character drama in Western guise. Yellowstone gets it’s name from the proximity of the local in the show (right next to Yellowstone National Park in Montana) and starts out with one John Dutton (Costner), the patriarch of a wealthy Montana ranch who lords over his family like the leader he is. Dutton’s ranch has been in his family for generations, and he has expanded it into the largest one in all of Southwestern Montana. The main conflict of the show arises from Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham), the chief of the neighboring Indian reservation who wants nothing more than to gain access to a large cut of Dutton’s ranch. Normally I would be shocked that the poor Indian is the “bad guy” in the show, but Taylor Sheridan doesn’t take the politically correct way out. Instead he paints Rainwater as the actual villain that he is in the show. A greedy and conniving man who will do whatever it takes to get as he wants.

However, this doesn’t lionize Dutton at all. He’s the good guy of the show, but he has his own demons and faults as well. While not as wheeling and dealing as say J.R. Ewing of Dallas fame, Dutton is hard man who will stop at nothing to protect his family and his ranch. And by anything, I mean ANYTHING. This sort of “50/50 black and white” type of scenario is what Taylor Sheridan excels at, and actually acts as the hook for the series. Nothing is every truly black nor white, but rather shades of gray run through the show. Dutton is a hero, but he’s also got a vicious streak to him that makes him less than admirable at times, the same goes for Rainwater. He’s a villain, but there are glimpses of humanity in his character that lend him to sympathy at times.

The two men aren’t the only source of conflict in the series. We also have Dutton’s two boys Kayce (Luke Grimes) and Jamie (Wes Bentley) who are on strains of Dutton’s calm. Jamie is the rich and successful attorney who wants to be a politician, but is the one who feels like his father never let him be himself. Kayce on the other hand is shunned due to marrying a native girl (played by Kelsey Asbille), and refuses to live on the ranch with the rest of the Duttons due to the conflict. Daughter Beth (Kelly Reilly) is the only one who seems to be on her father’s good side. Ruthless, cold, and one of the best businesswomen out there, she runs the ranch as efficiently as her father, but also hides a goodly amount of messed up demons due to the death of her mother at an early age. The only one who seems to be normal out of the group is Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser), the foreman for the ranch, but that of course can’t allow for TOO much normalacy, as he has a sort of “on again off again” relationship with Beth (which naturally brings more stress to the Dutton ranch).

The show is intriguing and a blast to watch, but one that is definitely more slow paced and dramatic than a wham bam modern western like Longmire. Dutton is a complex character (he cares about his people and family, but he runs the ranch like a machine, even going so far as to brand his workers so that they know they’re “part of the family”), and it’s completely engrossing. The 9 episode length keeps things short and sweet, so there’s not a whole lot of filler and the main bulk of the story moves along without too much down time. It’s a solid entry for a modern show, and Taylor Sheridan’s unique style of writing and directing keeps the show fresh and intriguing throughout.




Rating:

Not Rated by the MPAA




Video:

Shot using Arri Alexa cameras of some sort (IMDB and other databases are pretty cryptic on WHAT type of Arri’s were used), Yellowstone: Season 1 looks amazing on Blu-ray. The gorgeous Montana landscape is immaculate, with sweeping rolling hills, luscious green backdrops and dirty covered hills looking equally nuanced and intricate. Close up profile shots show all sorts of fine detailing, ranging from Kevin Costner’s craggy looking face, to little whiskers sprouting from lips, to the individual blades of grass waving in the wind in a background shot. Colors are bright and warm, with a very neutral and natural look that isn’t swayed too far to one end of the color spectrum. Blacks are deep and inky, with some of the indoor scenes showing the most dark and I only notice a few hints of color banding in the shadows to keep this disc from looking its best.







Audio:

Yellowstone’s audio mix is a standard dramatic mix, and while it doesn’t do anything WRONG, it’s just a very laid back track that isn’t going to stretch the limitations of the 5.1 Dolby TrueHD track found on the Blu-ray. The track is a bit front heavy and the surrounds are really the weakest part of the mix. Even the music and the ambient noises congregate in the front of the room, milling around in the center three channels. There’s some mild wind whipping through the back channels, as well as some musical ambiance as well, but in general the rear channels just aren’t utilized very much. LFE is appropriate when necessary, adding some weight to a gunshot, or to the thudding of horses hooves, and then seems content to fade away into the background when not needed. Yellowstone doesn’t have a bad mix as I said, just a rather front heavy and laid back mix that is content to lay around the house like an old dog rather than get up and run around.





Extras:

• Inside Yellowstone
• Costner on Yellowstone
• Cowboy Camp
• Character Spots: Beth
• Character Spots: Lee
• Character Spots: Jamie
• Character Spots: Rainwater
• Character Spots: Monica
• Character Spots: Kayce
• Working the Yellowstone: Production Design
• Working the Yellowstone: Special Effects
• “Yellowstone” Official Theme Music Composed by Brian Tyler
• Taylor Sheridan & Kevin Costner on Yellowstone

Final Score: ​

Yellowstone: Season 1 is definitely a good, under rated drama from Kevin Costner. The man is the king of the Cowboy and the fact that it is created by Taylor Sheridan (Wind River, Sicario, Hell or High Water) puts the icing on the cake. My only real complaint about the show is that it sometimes gets bogged down by typical TV show drama and angst, something which can feel a little bit cliched and well worn at times. Some of the fun is IN the drama, but it also fees a bit too familiar and re-used at times. It’s a very enjoyable character drama though, and Paramount’s technical specs are rather good. The video is awesome, the audio a bit pedestrian, and the extras solid enough to for me to make mention of it. All in all it’s a fun watch and a very intriguing character driven series.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Kevin Costner, Luke Grimes, Cole Hauser, Kelsey Asbille, Kelly Reilly, Wes Bentley,Brecken Merrill, Jefferson White, Gil Birmingham, Ian Bohen
Created by: John Linson, Taylor Sheridan
Aspect Ratio: 2.00:1 AVC
Audio: English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH
Studio: Paramount
Rated: NR
Runtime: 466 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: December 4th, 2018

Recommendation: Good Watch

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. I do enjoy a good western series so will check it out.

 

[Jack1949]

Thanks for the reminder, I had forgotten about this show. We watched season 1 when it aired last year and we enjoyed it (my wife and I are both western fans). After reading your review I googled to see if there would be a 2nd season, and it looks like it's in the works to run sometime around June.

Jack

 

[Michael Scott]

Yup. Season 2 is just a month or so away