The first time I saw 'The Cowboys' was during it's theatrical run in 1971. At the time, I was about the same age as the young cowboys in the story. Perhaps this is why the film made such a lasting impression on me, my having considered it my favorite John Wayne western in the years since. I have avoided 'The Cowboys' in recent years due to my complete lack of interest in full frame transfers of scope films so was looking forward, with great anticipation, to Warner's letterboxed reissue. After watching this film for the first time in a number of years, I find my earlier memories were correct. 'The Cowboys' is at least as good as I remember it, maybe better. The Duke's performance here, though not as strong as 'True Grit' or 'The Shootist', is classic John Wayne. An excellent supporting role by Roscoe Lee Browne and above average performances by all the young actors make this admittedly simple and predicable story highly watchable. Of course, one should not forget Bruce Dern, probably the best "psycho" to ever step in front of a camera.
The quality of the transfer is generally very good. There are some signs of wear in the film elements and some inconsistency in a few shots but I feel this transfer gets about as much out of the source material as there is to get. Colors are solid, though a bit faded in most scenes. There is a somewhat brownish tint in most of the prairie scenes, however, this may have been intentional. It certainly fits with the "look" of the dry, dusty terrain. Except of a few night scenes where there is some fairly pronounced grain, the image is clear and sharp with excellent detail. The Panavision framing appears very accurate, about 2.35:1. The widescreen framing gives a very satisfying rendition of Bruce Surtees' excellent cinematography.
The audio is also quite good. The jacket states this is Dolby Surround but, except for the score, there is very little directional or surround information. Dialog and effects are clear without any detectable (by me) distortion, though there may be a bit of compression used as the dynamics and range are rather limited. As a small extra, Warner dug out the original Overture, Entr'Acte and Exit Music, which they claim has not been heard since a few of the first premiere engagements, and have included it here. The quality of these musical passages is very good, better even than most of the rest of the score.
The running time on most theatrical prints and all previous video transfers was 128 minutes, however, the inclusion of the Overture, Entr'Acte and Exit Music has increased the running time of this edition of the film to 135 minutes. The film is presented on 3 sides with side 3 in CAV. The Intermission comes about 21 minutes into side 2. The disc contains 26 chapter markers for those that find this a convenience in casual viewing. List price is $39.95.
As an unabashed fan of The Duke, particularly his westerns, there was never a question about adding this disc to my collection. I can also recommend it without reservation to anyone interested in this movie.
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