The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Blu-ray) - Westerns Blu-ray (2007) Starring Brad Pitt & Casey Affleck; Directed by Andrew Dominik; Warner Home Video : OLDIES.com

Blu-ray Features:

Aspect Ratio: Anamorphic Widescreen - 1.85

Audio:

Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround - English, French, Spanish
Subtitles - English (SDH), French, Spanish - Optional

Additional Release Material:

Behind the Scenes - Making of Documentary - THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES: DEATH OF AN OUTLAW

Entertainment Reviews:

USA Today - 09/21/2007

4 stars out of 4 -- "[T]his is a wondrously contemplative and poetic saga that offers a fresh and bewitching take on a timeworn genre."

Entertainment Weekly - 09/28/2007

"[A] haunting retelling of one of the enduring outlaw sagas in American culture...shot by the brilliant cinematographer Richard Deakins in a wide-open geography of moody skies and fields plaintive with bent light and shadow." -- Grade: A

Rolling Stone - 10/04/2007

3.5 stars out of 4 -- "[T]his quiet wow of a Western sneaks up as one hell of a satisfying surprise. Artfully exciting and compulsively watchable..."

Total Film - 11/01/2007

5 stars out of 5 -- "[I]t's awash with melancholy and ennui, love and betrayal, obsession and paranoia and arrives like manna from movie heaven....An instant classic, with poetic visuals..."

Empire - 10/19/2007

5 stars out of 5 -- "[A] slow, meditative poem that harkens to the verdant sprawl of Terrence Malick's DAYS OF HEAVEN."

Uncut - 12/01/2007

4 stars out of 5 -- "Malick, Kubrick and Cimino would surely recognise a kindred spirit in Dominik....[A] weighty monument to the death of the West..."

Sight and Sound - 12/01/2007

"The film has a good feel for the Victorian milieu in which it is set....Roger Deakins' photography makes the most of the bleak winter landscapes of the Midwest, evocative of the coldness and emptiness that lie in the heart of Jesse James."

Los Angeles Times - 09/21/2007

"What transfers best is Pitt's intriguing performance as the outlaw king....The casually charismatic aspect of Jesse James is second nature to Pitt..."

Product Description:

Based on the 1983 novel by Ron Hansen, THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD captivatingly depicts the final few months of the legendary Jesse James’s life. He was 34, and his days of ruthless robbing had dwindled, yet his fearsome reputation continued to swell. With an abundance of nickel-books retelling his brutal gun-slinging adventures, James (portrayed by Brad Pitt, in one his most convincing and moving roles) had become a symbolic hero for many Americans, and a dazzling tabloid icon for the 19th-century media. A particular young man seduced by the wonderment of James, the shifty Robert Ford (a breakthrough performance by Casey Affleck), wormed his way in as a James groupie, in the hopes of snagging a coveted spot alongside his brother Charley (played by the always affable Sam Rockwell) as one of the bandit’s cronies. Ford, fiercely insecure and painfully aware that he would never be taken seriously by James (who, ever-plagued by paranoia and skepticism, found Ford’s earnest obsession a bit unsettling), grew increasingly angry with his idol, leading to a destructive path that ultimately ended in the anticlimactic death of Jesse James--and brought the treacherous Robert Ford the notoriety he had always wanted.

Although this film takes place in the late 1800's, its eerie relevance to modern-day celebrity-obsession scandals is astounding, and adds a fresh scope to what could be viewed as just another cinematic western. Director Andrew Dominick (CHOPPER) furthers the film from its genre by banishing clichéd bullet-infested showdown scenes, instead embracing the relationships and interactions of the outlaws, and creates a mood of brooding and contemplation with exceptional camera angles and lighting. His intensely sophisticated approach to filmmaking illustrates the darkest corners of the characters, and insightfully provides a deeper, heartfelt portrayal revealing what the men might have been like behind their masks.

Plot Keywords:

Drama | Outlaws

Cast and Crew:

Starring		Brad Pitt & Casey Affleck
Directed by		Andrew Dominik
Produced by		Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Ridley Scott, Jules Daly & David Valdes
Screenwriting by		Andrew Dominik
Composition by		Nick Cave & Warren Ellis
Director of Photography		Roger Deakins
Performer		Sam Shepard, Mary-Louise Parker, Paul Schneider, Jeremy Renner, Zooey Deschanel & Sam Rockwell
Executive Production by		Brad Grey, Tony Scott, Lisa Ellzey & Benjamin Waisbren
Source Writer		Ron Hansen

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

(Blu-ray)