Customer Rating:  
Summary: A Classic Western
Comment: This is a movie that entertains throughout. It has a bit of history, a lot of legend, and nonstop action.
It features Paul Newman and Robert Redford as Butch Cassidy and 'The Sundance Kid' respectively. These two were part of the notorious 'Wild Bunch' gang that operated in the west during the late 1800s and early years of the 1900s. They primarily did bank and train robberies. Their claim to fame was that they did not kill people during their crimes.
During the course of the film, Butch and Sundance end up getting separated from the rest of their gang. They are being hunted relentlessly and finally decide to relocate to South America. I will limit my comments about the rest of this show to avoid spoiling it.
The ending is one that makes a great movie climax, but may not be historically accurate. There are accounts out there that Sundance died in Casper, Wyoming (under a different name) in 1957 as well as claims that Cassidy died in Washington in the 1930s. Regardless of the accuracy of any of the accounts of their ultimate demise, this movie is a lot of fun.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Blu-ray versus Standard DVD SPECIAL EDITION version!! (explained)
Comment: This 1969 WESTERN ( Listed as a TOP 100 AFI Film in 1998) CLASSIC is an OUTSTANDING Movie period!!!
The STANDARD SPECIAL EDITION DVD is wonderful and if you own it and have a a DVD player with the HDMI upconverting feature will give you near HD Quality Picture (1080i lines) and sound for many years. This SPECIAL EDITION is loaded with every extra feature to include; 45 min documentary, interviews with the stars, audio commentary, production notes and trailers.
If you have a Blu-ray/HDMI Home Theatre System and want to know why buy a 1969 movie NOW, here's the answer. This Blu-ray version includes everything the Standard DVD has, BUT there is one UNBELIEVABLE difference. THE FEATURE PRESENTATION (at 1080P (1920 x 1080 lines with HDMI)) AND DTS 5.1 SOUND IS TOTALLY INCREDIBLE period!!!!! The picture clarity and sound are so fantastic. It feels like you are there in the movie. Youthful Paul Newman and Robert Redford are quite alive for this enjoyable western classic.
Believe me, the colors, detailed sets, costumes beautiful panoramic landscapes in TECHNICOLOR is awesome!! This is a must have for your HD Blu-ray w/HDMI Home Theater Library. A great film period. ENJOY!!
Customer Rating:
Summary: One of my favorite movies of all time
Comment: I love this movie, having watched it many times. When I saw it was coming out in blu-ray I didn't hesitate to buy it. Although I'm still glad I did, the video quality was on the poor side for a blu-ray. The audio quality was slightly better. I was definitely expecting FOX to do more to improve the quality of this blu-ray. I was definitely disappointed in what I saw/heard.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great movie... don't watch it on free TV though
Comment: This is one of my favorite movies and I remember watching it for the first time sometime in the 70's and was blown away by the sharp, cutting dialog, which seemed spare, witty and utterly compelling, especially for a Western. I saw it then several times, mainly to enjoy the banter between Redford and Newman. I think the highlight of the film is their quick banter on the cliff, before the perilous leap. Redford's expression is priceless as he confesses that he can't swim. One advice though - whatever you do, don't watch it on free TV. I saw it recently and was amazed that they cut out some priceless banter when Redford and Newman land up in Bolivia with Katherine Ross all dressed up before a bunch of llamas, pigs and other animals scampering in the mud. There are at least five or six great lines there and on TV, they completely cut out the entire scene except for a brief mutterance about Bolivia by Butch.
Customer Rating:
Summary: NEEDS REMASTERING. FILM: Wonderful. Transfer: Not so much...
Comment: The transfer of this film appears to be the same MPEG transfer as the one used for the DVD version. It DOES NOT appear to be a new 1080p 4k re-mastering of the film. This is not to say that it doesn't look much better in Blu-Ray than it does on DVD. But it is not, evidently, a brand new 1080p 4k transfer made expressly for Blu-Ray release. This can cause some problems, depending on your display system and settings. You may have to select a different input palette or profile on your display, or adjust your settings.
If your system is setup to show Blu-Ray films using the "Cinema" and "Movie" profile of your display, which assumes a low contrast, subdued display of a wide range source that takes full advantage of the display's capabilities, then this film may look washed out, have milky blacks and generally be displeasing. You may have to select a "Standard" profile, with a narrower contrast band, higher gamma and so forth, to bring the film back into the range for which it was originally transferred. Doing so with this film yields remarkable results, it suddenly "snaps to" and produces the sort of effect you were after with a Blu-Ray disc.
As happened in past generations of video standards, VHS to LaserDisc, LaserDisc to DVD, standard definition 480i to "high def" 1080i, and now 480p progressive scan DVD to 1080p Blu-Ray, the studios are cutting corners and, with some titles, re-issuing transfers that were "pretty good" for the prior standard on newer media without re-mastering them for the full potential of the newer media.
Many, if not most, of the Blu-Ray discs I have seen have been remastered at the highest levels with all the capability of Blu-Ray in mind. If you have a 1080p display, and have properly adjusted and configured it, then you are probably in video and film heaven.
Sadly, some major film titles are being "shoved out there" with just their old 1080 MPEG transfers, re-issued on the new Blu-Ray format. This appears to be one of them. If you adjust your display properly, for what's on the disc, you will get very good results. But don't expect it to look great with the settings you would use for a properly made, new 4k transfer for Blu-Ray.
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