Sony Pictures
Get ready for the ride of your life.
So states the tag phrase on the original movie poster for Lawrence Kasdan’s 1985 ensemble epic western, Silverado.
Silverado is a tale about friendship, loyalty, betrayal, and justice. It follows the story of four men, two brothers and two total strangers who all find themselves on the way to a small frontier town called Silverado.
As the film begins, we discover small nuggets about their pasts that have brought them to each other. Their destinies send them on wildly different paths.
However, through fate, luck, or chance, their lives once again intersect.
Through a series of events that unwittingly tie their futures together, they all join forces, once again, to overcome their personal tragedies and defeat their mutual adversaries. It’s a story where the lines between good and bad are sometimes blurred, and not everything is as black and white as it seems. As in real life, good guys must make hard choices, and the villains are not always who they appear to be.
Silverado is also a love letter to the Western Genre.
You feel Kasden’s love for the films that influenced his pen while writing. His reverence for the directors who, before him, captured the thrill and excitement of the Cowboy films is on full display with every frame he shot.
Expertly written with equal parts humor and drama, overall, the critics enjoyed it, but the audience just didn’t want to see a western. The 80s were still the time of big-budget sci-fi and modern dramas. It would be a few years until the audience would clamor for another big epic western.
It is also the first film I was aware of, at the time, to question the morals of the players involved in the old western films we knew and loved. Something that would be truly explored in Clint Eastwood’s 1992 game-changing, subversive western, Unforgiven.
Starring an incredible all-star ensemble cast of actors, including Kevin Kline, Scott Glen, Kevin Costner, Danny Glover, Jeff Goldblum, Linda Hunt, Brian Dennehy, Rosanna Arquette, and John Cleese, just to name a few, it is amazing that Silverado was as big a box office flop as it was.
As was usually the case, I was an outlier in the pack.
As a twelve-year-old Western enthusiast, thanks to my dad, I was brought up with the old John Wayne, John Ford, and Sergio Leone films. I was already steeped in Western films’ rich lore and mythos. Add to this the fact that it was written and directed by the writer of my two absolute favorite films at the time, The Empire Strikes Back and k, and to me, it was the best of both worlds, and I was in.
My father, who also loved westerns, wanted to see this new entry into the genre that was not only an homage to all the old films he grew up with as a kid, but, as he said to me after seeing a trailer for it, “There hasn’t been a good Western in ages, Benjamin.”
So, one July afternoon, we set off to watch the story of the little town of Silverado and see what kind of shenanigans the players would get up to there.
As the credits rolled, I was in heaven; it was all I could have hoped for. It was all that I could want from a picture of its kind. Gunfights, horse riding, good versus evil, the triumph of the spirit, and so forth. I loved it. My dad wasn’t as keen on it as I was, but he enjoyed it for the most part.
When Silverado made its way onto cable TV, I watched it constantly. My father warmed up to it over time, and we would watch it whenever it would show up on TV.
As an adult, I still love this movie. Silverado was and always will be a gem in my eyes.
I still gush over the majestic panoramic vistas and the sweeping camerawork. I fully appreciate the masterful use of the Panovision format that both Kasden and his cinematographer, John Bailey, have achieved. I love all the acting in this film and think it is a perfect film.
The cast alone is worth watching this film for, and not just the main actors. While they are all amazing, as you would expect, the supporting cast and the bit players help make this film the perfect tribute to the genre.
This new 4k release of Silverado is stunning.
The richness and the detail in the Panavision widescreen image are flawless. The sound has never sounded clearer, and Bruce Boughton’s epic soundtrack is always majestic. The main theme of Silverado is so iconic. Boughton would also score another one of my very favorite modern westerns, Tombstone, in 1993.
Watching this new presentation, I am once again transported to 1985. I am a young boy sitting in the theater and watching this film for the first time. I recommend this film for anyone who loves the genre and wants to sit and watch an expertly crafted film.
Extras incude featurettes and trailer.
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