James Blackthorn (Sam Elliot) has been
leading a quiet life in Bolivia
for almost the last 20 years. He is actually Butch Cassidy whom everyone believes
was killed in 1908. BLACKTHORN picks up in 1927 as Blackthorn/ Cassidy
is about to make a trip home to the USA for good to get to
know his nephew (the son of Etta Place
who has just died). He is on his way to make long journey from the
secluded Bolivian village and comes across a young ambitious Spanish criminal who has stolen 100,000. He sets out on one last adventure with people giving chase (because they want the money that the
criminal has stolen).
BLACKTHORN is a classic Western. It shows off the landscape of Bolivia in a way that it make you pay attention not just to the characters,
but you also notice this new landscape you usually don't see in Westerns (because most Western viewers see many of the same
Southwest United States landscapes over the years). The film balances out
a fictional tale of what if Butch Cassidy survived and the events of his last travels with the Sundance Kid and Etta
Place. In many ways, it is the classic Western journey of one last adventure full of twists, shoot
outs, chases, and romance.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
10 deleted scenes (about 20 minutes in
total) with material cut for pacing reasons.
MAKING OF BLACKTHORN (which is in Spanish
with English subtitles) covers the making and shooting the film in Bolivia
where BLACKTHORN takes place.
HDNet:
A LOOK AT BLACKTHORN is a promotional featurette on the film.
Also included on the disc is the theatrical
trailer and short films by the director of Blackthorn: BREAKING AND ENTERING (which bored me) and SAY ME (which is charming).
FINAL ANALYSIS: BLACKTHORN is in the classic Western mold showing a landscape usually not seen in a Western. I wish they made more Westerns like this one.
this DVD review is (c)12-20-2011 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com
