‘Seraphim Falls’ recalls Westerns of yesteryear

Following fairly flimsy theatrical exposure, a majestic old-school Western receives a well-deserved second life as David Von Ancken’s Seraphim Falls rides into the digital corral, courtesy of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment ($26.96). It’s our …

DVD pick of the week

A bearded, battered Pierce Brosnan portrays former Union Capt. Gideon who, as the film opens, is being aggressively pursued by ex-Confederate Col. Carver (Liam Neeson) and a quartet of hired guns, for reasons initially unexplained, in 1868 New Mexico.

Wounded by the band, Gideon embarks on a desperate flight that leads him to a settler family’s cabin, a railroad construction site and a wagon train of traveling missionaries while he alternately battles and eludes his determined pursuers. Well-placed flashbacks gradually reveal the source of Carver’s relentless vendetta.

While Mr. Brosnan and Mr. Neeson command the screen with pitch-perfect performances, the New Mexico landscape, from its snowy peaks to parched deserts, emerges as a visual co-star, one expertly captured by veteran cinematographer John Toll.

Lending terrific thespian support are such dependable character actors as Michael Wincott, Ed Lauter and Tom Noonan, while Anjelica Huston impresses in a borderline-surreal cameo.

Mixing meanness and violence with moral values and natural beauty, writer and co-director Von Ancken crafts an ideal example of a nearly vanished genre, rivaled of late only by Nick Cave’s Australian frontier tale “The Proposition.” Extras include a commentary with Mr. Brosnan and the filmmakers and an informative behind-the-scenes featurette.

“Seraphim Falls” rates as a must both for Western and quality-film fans.

Collectors’ corner

Speaking of Westerns, Warner Home Video and Paramount Home Entertainment join forces to celebrate John Wayne’s centennial with a slew of vintage films showcasing the Duke.

Heading the outdoor roster are two new special editions of 1959’s Rio Bravo, a double-disc affair ($20.97) featuring a film expert audio commentary, a documentary on director Howard Hawks, and two new featurettes, plus an Ultimate Collector’s Edition ($39.92) further bolstered by collectible lobby cards, press book and comic book.

Warner also goes the special-edition route with The Cowboys (1972), while Paramount presents True Grit: Special Collector’s Edition (1969, two-disc, $19.99), both galloping in with audio commentaries, featurettes and original trailers.

More for collectors

Warner likewise offers Director’s Showcase: Take Two, with fresh special editions of a quartet of titles tagged at $19.97 each — Sidney Lumet’s 1981 policer Prince of the City (in a double-disc set), starring Treat Williams; Alan Myerson’s 1972 comedy Steelyard Blues, with Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland; Ulu Grosbard’s excellent 1978 crime drama Straight Time, starring Dustin Hoffman as an ex-con; and Richard Dreyfuss in John Badham’s 1981 drama Whose Life Is It Anyway? Extras include audio commentaries, featurettes and trailers.

Warner also honors an iconic actress with its six-disc Katharine Hepburn Collection ($59.92), assembling 1933’s Morning Glory; Sylvia Scarlett (1935), co-starring Cary Grant; Without Love (1945), with Spencer Tracy; 1944’s Dragon Seed; Undercurrent (1946), featuring Robert Taylor and Robert Mitchum; and the 1979 TV movie remake of The Corn Is Green. The set includes vintage short subjects.

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