THE PLOT THUS FAR
“Civil War veteran-turned-rancher John Benedict (William Holden) returns home from a hunting trip to discover that a ruthless renegade and his murderous gang of rogues have killed his wife and children. But when Benedict recruits six condemned men to help him extract fatal revenge, he realizes that his newly formed posse answers to no one – they are wild, dangerous and unpredictable killers, much like the men they are pursuing. Will they carry out Benedict’s plan or turn the tables and add him to their list of victims? ”
WHAT WE THOUGHT
“The Revengers” is a pretty decent revenge flick. William Holden puts down the bottle long enough to band together with a ton of other character actors to hunt down the people that murdered his family. I never remember seeing Ernest Borgnine playing this scummy of a character before. But, I guess that I wasn’t paying attention. Even his Cabbie from “Escape from New York” had some minor redeeming value.
Honestly, the movie is pretty generic. I dig it for the cast and that’s about it. The problem is most Westerns at the end of the Golden Era fit that mold and if Hawks couldn’t put it together, what chance did Mann have? Radical reinvention wasn’t going to happen with Holden or Borgnine, but we get close to saying something new. If anything this is a building block Western to something greater. Never mind that Peckinpah was doing just that three years prior over at Warner Brothers (cough) with the same lead actors (cough).
The DVD comes with a trailer as the sole special feature. The A/V Quality is pretty sharp. The Dolby 2.0 track creates a lively soundstage. That being said, that transfer is impeccable and leaves me wondering when we can expect a Blu-Ray release from Paramount/CBS. In the end, I’d recommend a purchase.
RELEASE DATE: 05/20/2014