The Lone Ranger [DVD]

Love this film

I can't be the only person out there who avoided The Long Ranger due to bad word of mouth? I mean, the movie was given such heavy negative press that it just seemed like it was an utter disaster. That was nearly ten years ago now and I've grown up since then. I've grown to understand that people's opinions are not fact and for two pounds, I may as well try the movie out for myself.The Lone Ranger was originally released in 2013 by Walt Disney Studios. At the helm was director Gore Verbinski and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. The film stars Armie Hammer as the legendary Ranger and Johnny Depp as his trusty side kick Tonto. The movie failed at the box-office and did it so impressively, it was recognised as one of the biggest box office flops of all time. Looking back at it now, it may have been a bit harsh as I found out, I quite like this movie.For those who don't know, Gore Verbinski gave us the excellent Pirates of the Caribbean film. The director took that same approach and applied it The Lone Ranger. The movie has the same dark, filthy and twisted vibe the Pirates movies gave us. All the bad guys have filthy clothes, rotten teeth, tangled greasy hair and the world is a vicious horrible place full of many dangers. This style means there's a lot of detail to look at and this Bluray disc certainly brings out those details. It's a fantastic movie visually.I quite enjoyed the story in its simplicity. A group of Texas rangers go on the hunt for Butch Cavendish and his gang. They end up in an ambush that cost the lives of all but one, John Reid. With the help of a spirit animal, Reid is resurrected and in his determination to seek vengeance, evolves into the Lone Ranger character. I felt the movie was a smidgen too long in places but the character interactions and over all acting really held the film together. The chemistry between Armie and Depp is pretty good, providing many great laughs. As an actor, I quite liked Armie as the Lone Ranger but Depp as Tonto was a bit weird at first glance. After a while I thought he brought a bit fun to the character, we just needed to not see Jack Sparrow in the role. William Fichtner is suitably evil and great as our villain. I didn't recognise him at first but he definitely looks the part.The audio for the film is worth mentioning. The action set pieces in this film are remarkably silly but still great fun and it's really heightened by the excellent sound design. The use of sound with the runaway trains, gun fire, explosions etc is quite impressive and possibly one of the best I have. It's a great sounding film and definitely worth cranking up in a home theatre system.I paid £2 for this movie and to be honest, I feel I underpaid by a lot. I really enjoyed this film and would love to know what people don't like about it. It's got some great gags, fantastic action and a great cast. What's not to love?

Brilliant film

We thoroughly enjoyed this movie during our weekly family movie night. It’s filled with action and jokes and gave the children a decent impression about some aspects of the old West.I had never seen it before. Nor had anyone in the family. I always had it on my to-see list, though knew it was a box-office flop at the time. And it was the first indication that the magic of Johnny Depp in weird costumes was no guarantee for success. I recall it was by decimated by critics in 2013 for being too long. And the fact that Johnny Depp was portraying a native American didn’t sit well with the racially-sensitive US viewers. Yet it was a super big budget movie, which shows. And this benefits you as a viewer.I’m not a big fan of director Gore Verbinsky. His movies look fantastic, the visuals and effect are stunning and rich in their historic setting. The stunts and an action scenes are hilarious and often pure slapstick. Making it all a pleasure to look at. And frankly movies like these have all the vital ingredients for a perfect family movie evening.However the storyline and story telling are generally subject to all this spectacle. Too many twists and unexplained events distract from what should be easy viewing, as an adult I suppose, because the children just indulged in it with huge enthusiasm. And wanted to see the movie again afterward. I should say that we watched in two parts so the length wasn’t an issue.Our young children in theory are the perfect age group for the storyline, the comedy and visuals. We are not too obsessed with age- advice and our children are not to fussed about seeing some mild horror scenes like the ghost pirates in Pirates of the Caribbean and the fairly brutal action scenes in the Hobbit.But I must admit that the gun violence in particular at the start of this movie is a bit rough, which perhaps partly explains why the movie flopped at the box office. The storyline is a bit too silly for grown ups yet some scenes a bit too rough for the younger audience.Nevertheless. I liked it. And the family liked it very, VERY much. Bought it in HD format on Prime and it looked very sharp with deep colours, proper contrast and excellent sound quality on i our high-end OLED screen.