Reviewed by Johnny McNair

Miramax/Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment – 122 minutes – 2007 – Rated R – 1080p Widescreen 2.35:1 – PCM 5.1 Dolby Digital

The Coen Brothers are masters at their craft with great films like Blood Simple, Raising Arizona, The Big Lebowski, and Fargo already under their belts, without question they will go down in the history books on the list of great filmmakers. Their films usually look at a darker side of life, with gritty and eccentric characters. The brother’s latest film, No Country For Old Men earned them the Academy Award for best picture, and is now available on Blu-ray.

THE MOVIE

No Country For Old Men is based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy, set in 1980; telling the story of three men who each fall into one of three categories, good, evil, and somewhere in the middle. Tommy Lee Jones plays Sheriff Bell, an aging lawman who’s done it all, seen it all, and now just wants to take it easy. Javier Bardem plays Anton Chigurh a psychotic hitman who’s weapon of choice is a pressurized canister that he uses to blow open locks in doors and punch holes into the heads of his victims. Finally, there’s Lewellyn Moss played by Josh Brolin, who is just an average guy trying to stay afloat in a sinking world, but the temptation of easy money leads him down a path to the other side. The lives of these three men collide when a bag holding two million dollars is discovered by Moss after a drug deal gone bad.

Chigurh has been sent to recover the money and eliminate anyone who gets in his path. Moss believes that if he just lays low and holds onto the money he can start a better life, but he’s unaware that a tracking device inside the bag keeps him in Chigurh’s line of fire. Sheriff Bell is trying to figure out the mystery of why bodies are turning up everywhere and links the connection between Moss and Chigurh.

What places this film on a different plateau is that in the hands of most filmmakers there are many scenes in the movie where there could have been elaborate shoot-outs, crazy car chases and tons of explosions; but the Coen Brothers don’t do things that way. The story stays in reality, making it even grittier because when you see Moss running for his life and trying to stay alive, you’re not cheering for him, you feel for him. Sheriff Bell is not an action hero who jumps through the air in slow motion firing two guns; he’s just an aging man trying to figure things out.

The Coen boy’s style is ‘simple is more effective,’ and with No Country For Old Men this is laid out like a painter using only the basic colors on his palette to create a masterpiece on canvas. Javier Bardem’s character is more brutal than the Terminator, but he always remains subtle and never delivers any catchy one-liners. The Oscar he received for his performance was well deserved, but it’s an oversight by the Academy that Josh Brolin wasn’t nominated, because here he delivers one of the best performances of his career thus far.

Some may feel that the film is too slow paced for them, and it is slowly paced, because it’s giving you time to think rather than react. Ethan and Joel Coen are a rarity in this day and age of Hollywood filmmakers who rely on CGI to tell their stories. Because no matter what movie you’re watching, in the end it’s all about people and how they handle a situation. No Country For Old Men will definitely be considered a classic as the years roll on, and this is an honor well deserved.

VIDEO

No Country For Old Men may not seem like a film that would be considered high-definition show off material, but without question this is one of the best looking Blu-ray’s out there. Presented in 2.35.1 widescreen aspect ration in glorious 1080p resolution, this is as close to flawless as a transfer can get. The skin tones are perfectly toned giving you every detail, right down to the puck marks in Tommy Lee Jone’s face. In this hi-def age, many actors fear close ups because they can no longer hide what nature has dealt them, but this is a film where looking good on screen matters. Josh Brolin is covered with sweat and a messed up hair throughout the movie, and Javier Bardem’s mop top haircut is going to leap off of your screen. Roger Deakins’ cinematography shines from the depth of field in the desert sequence to grimy hotel that Brolin attempts to lay low in. This is a true visual motion picture experience.

AUDIO

No Country For Old Men offers an uncompressed PCM 5.1 sound mix that is well done. This is a heavy dialogue based film, but when action does occur it is over-heightened to make it more powerful. Just listen to the gunshots are the sound of Chigurh’s pressurized canister every time he let’s off a shot and the ‘POP’ echoes out of your speakers. Just like the film’s pacing itself most of the sounds are subtle, but that’s what makes it work so effectively.

EXTRAS

Unfortunately, this is where this Blu-ray goes downhill, because the extra material is pretty lame. The main reason being that there is not a director’s audio commentary from Ethan and Joel Coen. With a film like Old Country, you want to know what went into making it from the direct source, and it’s a true disappointment. Also what little materials that are available are lifted directly from the standard version of the DVD and are not shown in high-def.

‘The Making of No Country For Old Men’ is a half hour featurette that takes a look behind the scenes of the movie. Joel and Ethan Coen as well as the cast are interviewed and you are given a glimpse at how certain scenes where sculpted, but when it’s over you’ll feel like you just watched one of those mini-docs they show before a movie when you go to the theater. Maybe there was not much available at the time the disc was pressed and it was certainly done before the Oscars took place.

‘Diary of a County Sheriff’ runs just under tern minutes and attempts to compare the characters of Bell and Chigurh. It’s kind of interesting, but more could have been speculated. This is something that could have been clipped onto the making of featurette.

‘Working with the Coens’ is a ten minute kissy-fest where the actors just keep talking about how thrilled they work with the brothers. We get it, Joel and Ethan are cool, now can we all just focus on how this film was made? Again, this is also something that could have been tacked on to the making of piece instead of separating it.

BOTTOM LINE

There is bound to be another special edition of this movie released sometime in the future that will include all the goodies fans of this movie want, such as a director’s audio commentary and better making of features. For now, No Country for Old Men is still a must have for your Blu-ray collection, offering one of the best HD experiences you can get at home. Few films deserve to be called “Must sees,” this is one.

SCORES (Out of 5):

The Movie: 4.5

Video: 5.0

Sound: 4.0

Extras: 3.5

Bottom Line: 4.0