Cowboys & Aliens Extended Cut - Blu-Ray

Movie: It sounds like a dream for all movie buffs: Indiana Jones Harrison Ford battling aliens in the Wild West with James Bond Daniel Craig alongside Tron beauty Olivia Wilde, directed by Iron Man maker Jon Favreau. But has Favreau actually succeeded in living up to the high expectations with this film adaptation of Scott Mitchell Rosenberg's iconic graphic novel? The answer is an unequivocal yes!

The film is set in 1873: unable to remember his name or his previous life, a man (Daniel Craig) awakens in the Arizona desert. On his arm is a strange cuff of metal that cannot be removed. Completely confused, the man makes it to the small town of Absolution, but that's where the trouble begins for him. For not only does he incur the hatred of Percy's (Paul Dano) father, the powerful cattle baron Woodrow Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford), by bravely attacking him while shooting indiscriminately. It also turns out he's a wanted criminal, which lands him right in the cell next to Percy. But before the stranger and his cellmate can be transferred to the next larger prison, the unthinkable happens: Absolution is attacked by alien flying machines of extraterrestrial origin and numerous inhabitants are abducted. Now it's up to the nameless inmate to join Dolarhyde, the mysterious Ella (Olivia Wilde) and other residents of Absolution in the fight against the aliens to save the abductees. But along the way, some unforeseen dangers stand in your way.

director Jon Favreau has assembled great talent both in front of and behind the camera for Cowboys & Aliens. Whether Lost co-writer Damon Lindelof, Steven Spielberg as executive producer or Black Swan cinematographer Matthew Libathique and Mary Zophres, who has already created the costumes for True Grit or Catch me if you can - they all ensure that Harrison Ford, Daniel Craig, Olivia Wilde and the other actors have been put in the right light. And so it's really no surprise then that there's little to fault this sci-fi/Western mix from a purely workmanlike point of view.

The pictures are beautiful, the special effects convincing, the action sequences grippingly staged and the actors beyond reproach. Harrison Ford in particular is simply perfectly cast as a power-hungry and ruthless cattle baron. But even though all these elements are right, Cowboys & Aliens still doesn't leave an all-around positive impression in the end. This may be due to two factors: The first is the almost complete lack of humor. Sure, the unusual mix may work in the first place precisely because the creators took the story and graphic novel template seriously. But because the premise sounds so wonderfully absurd, a certain expectation simply grows in the interested viewer that includes a high fun factor. And even though Cowboys & Aliens has an extremely high entertainment value, the fun unfortunately comes far too short.

The second factor that could hurt the overall positive impression is the fact that the cowboys, and thus the western elements, are given a lot more time than the aliens. Thus, the entire middle section is actually completely a traditional western with hardly any action and only minor suspense. This is still extremely watchable thanks to the good actors, the great set (especially the set of an old paddle steamer is really great) and the engaging camerawork. But still, it would have done the film a lot of good if Favreau had picked up the pace here more often and sprinkled in a few more sci-fi elements.

Despite these weak points Cowboys & Aliens is still best cinema entertainment, whose original basic idea and the team Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig are enough to justify the purchase of the DVD or Blu-Ray. Not the hoped-for bull's eye, but also no reason to ride frustrated into the sunset. Therefore: with small deductions absolutely worth seeing!

The Extended Cut: On the Blu-Ray the film presents itself in a nearly 17 minutes longer version. This is primarily extended dialogue sequences and additional plot moments. The extended cut hardly has more action to offer. The advantage of the long version, however, is that some characters are better fleshed out and the overall story is presented in a slightly more well-rounded way. It doesn't eliminate the weaknesses of the theatrical version, but those who liked the shorter version will definitely prefer the extended cut to this one. Good!

Picture + Sound: The high budget is clearly noticeable in the technical implementation of the Blu-Ray. The picture is clean and has an extremely high level of detail, even in the darker sequences, which is especially great in the wonderful landscape shots. The colors are atmospheric and always provide an authentic western feeling on a high technical level!

The sound can also be heard, although the really good implementation with all the powerful surround effects once again only in the English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio mix really come into their own. But even the somewhat weaker Dolby Digital 5.1 mix of the German soundtrack has great surround feeling to offer. Whether it's the various alien attacks, coherent ambient sounds or the grand finale, this is where the film's great sound design becomes audible in the home theater. Very good!

Extras: The bonus offerings start with an engaging audio commentary by Jon Favreau, who talks with great enthusiasm about the making of the film, highlights references to old westerns, specifically discusses the extended cut, or reveals why he decided against shooting in 3D. After this commentary, which can optionally be viewed with subtitles, it seems all the more disappointing that the film only partially lives up to its potential.

Continues with six interviews, though these are not your typical promo interviews. Rather, they are very casual conversations between Favreau and his actors Daniel Craig, Olivia Wilde and Harrison Ford, producers Steven Spielberg and Ron Howard or even screenwriter Damon Lindelof. In a total of 80 minutes, not only Cowboys & Aliens is talked about in a very friendly atmosphere and it always comes to highly interesting, but also simply beautiful and entertaining moments, which makes this feature a real must for all film fans. Absolutely worth seeing!

Finally there is a 5 part Making of (approx. 40 min.), which offers a very comprehensive insight into the different phases of the production. This extra is also very entertaining and worth watching, even if a certain promo character keeps shining through here.

Conclusion: Cowboys & Aliens is an entertaining mix of traditional western and sci-fi action. Despite a good template and great actors, the film never quite lives up to its potential. However, especially in the longer version, the whole thing definitely has an enjoyable entertainment value, which is enhanced by the good technical realization and the great bonus material. Recommendable

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp