The Film (4.5/5)

For the past five months, during my exploration of watching films in Western genre, I decided to view the remake of 3:10 to Yuma. This movie turned out to be one of the top five that I’ve ever seen. A poor rancher Dan Evans (Christian Bale, The Prestige) agrees to escort legendary, dangerous outlaw Ben Wade (Russell Crowe, LA Confidential) to the 3:10 to Yuma train to Contention for $200, the money of which will pay off his debts. Dan Evans first witnesses Ben Wade and his gang during a stagecoach robbery and went face to face with him, briefly, without any harm coming to either man. They go their separate ways until later, in the town of Bisby, Wade is captured. Evans, who also happens to be in Bisby, is a witness to the arrest. This event ultimately Evans to be Wade’s escort (for $200) to the 3:10 to Yuma in Contention for his trial and execution.

Along the way, Evans and Wade are followed by Wade’s gang led by his maniacal right-hand man Charlie Prince (Ben Foster, 30 Days of Night) and encounter many dangers such as Apache Indians and other scoundrels, and Wade himself, who is just as dangerous even when he is handcuffed. Wade is an amazing character, cool, calm, and cunning, not afraid to die, but also with a sense of pride. Along the way we learn more about Wade; and suddenly he and Evans, slowly start to have some kind of respect for each other leading to a surprising, terrific climax.

This is such a great, great film that really captures that Western atmosphere needed to make these films work. The two lead characters Evans and Wade are far more than the one dimensional characters. Wade underneath is rugged exterior, is something other than a bloodthirsty, arrogant robber; his humanity side of his character evolves as the film moves along. Perhaps something inside Wade identified with the struggles of Evans’ life and brought out ‘the good’ in him. Bale and Crowe have a great chemistry between them as Evans and Wade; making 3:10 to Yuma really stand out ahead of the pack of contemporary Westerns.  There are plenty of fantastic gunfight violence and other bloody, violent action sequences throughout. Outside of Bale and Crowe, the cast is superb; everyone gives stellar performances in their respective roles. Logan Lerman(Gamer) as William Evans, Dan’s ‘boy’ also has a pivotal role in the film and plays it perfectly. 3:10 to Yuma is just an outstanding film from start to finish.

Audio/Video (5/5)

Lionsgate seems to have really stepped up in the audio/video department 3:10 to Yuma is presented in its original letterboxed 2:35:1 aspect ratio, in 2160P, 4K UHD and to say it is visually stunning is a HUGE understatement.

Right of the bat we see the richness of UHD visual quality; the early scene where Dan Evans’ barn catches fire is so rich and robust in color. The colors of the flames are both, strong, and overpowering. 
The visual delights don’t stop there; the daylight scenes are just breathtaking, with extremely strong textures. The scenery looks absolutely amazing, with precise, clear details. Browns and red are really strong and stand out throughout the film, especially on the horses and cattle. The black levels look crisp during the night scenes. The faces of the characters are also very detailed, with perfect flesh tones, but it’s the clarity of everything that really amazes!  This is a visual tour de force!

The audio is the ever clear Dolby Atmos True HD multichannel. Gunshots, music, dialog, and other noises including the 3:10 to Yuma train itself, sound just terrific and flawless.

Extras (5/5)

The release has a really impressive amount of extras. These were all from the Blu-ray release. There is an audio commentary with director James Mangold for starters. There are plenty of other featurettes including 3:10 to Score, The Guns of Yuma, and A Conversation with Elmore Leonard. There is the Sea to Shining Sea documentary, Inside Yuma- an exclusive Blu-ray disc interactive experience, Destination Yuma making of documentary, An Epic Explored featurette; Outlaws Gangs and Posses documentary, and deleted scenes

Overall (5/5)

A fantastic film gets a nothing short fantastic release from Lionsgate. 3:10 to Yuma is a terrific film and I’m happy to see it getting HDR treatment. The UHD image quality is superb, along with superior audio and a great deal of extras make this release highly recommended.