Far Country, The (BLU-RAY)

An archetypal example of its genre, The Far Country is one of five superb westerns the screen legend James Stewart (Vertigo, Bend of the River) made with acclaimed Hollywood auteur Anthony Mann (El Cid, The Man from Laramie).

Mann’s film tells of Jeff Webster (Stewart) and his sidekick Ben Tatum (Walter Brennan, My Darling Clementine), two stoic adventurers driving cattle to market from Wyoming to Canada who become at loggerheads with a corrupt judge (John McIntire, Psycho) and his henchmen. Ruth Roman (Strangers on a Train) plays a sultry saloon keeper who falls for Stewart, teaming up with him to take on the errant lawman.

An epic saga set during the heady times of the Klondike Gold Rush, The Far Country captures the scenic grandeur of northern Canada’s icy glaciers and snow-swept mountains in vivid Technicolor. Mann’s direction expertly steers the film to an unorthodox, yet thrilling ‘all guns-blazing’ finale, whilst the imposing landscape takes on a whole new splendor in High Definition.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS

• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation of the film in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1

• 2019 restoration from the original camera negative by Arrow Films

• Original 1.0 mono audio

• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing

• Audio commentary by film scholar Adrian Martin

• American Frontiers: Anthony Mann at Universal, a documentary with film historian Alan K. Rode, western author C. Courtney Joyner, script supervisor Michael Preece, and critics Michael Schlesinger and Rob Word

• Mann of the West, an appraisal of The Far Country and the westerns of Anthony Mann by the critic Kim Newman

• Image gallery

• Original trailer

• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Graham Humphreys