The Lone Ranger (Blu-ray)

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?

Hi Yo Silver! [It's not actually Hi Ho. As many have long thought] The Lone Ranger rides again! That masked, mysterious, and all round decent Lawman, who rides white horse Silver and fires silver bullets from his gun! Who has a red indian sidekick called Tonto! The pair who deliver justice to the Wild West!The Lone Ranger is one of those enduring characters whose name everyone [although perhaps more in America than this country] may know but who, despite being familiar from various differents mediums down the years, will occasionally slip into limbo and then come again re-invented in a new style for a new generation.Thus this movie is pretty much a whole new take on the character, with no similarity to what has come before, save the integral points and gimmicks that he has.This is a movie that was intended to start a franchise. Like most of those, it thus introduces the character, gives us the tale of their beginnings and gives them an adventure to go along with as well.Armie Hammer plays the Lone Ranger.Johnny Depp plays Tonto.It's directed by Gore Verbinski, who directed Pirates of the Caribbean. It comes from the same studio as that, and the same producers. As the trailer didn't tire of telling you. Nor does the box.Thus it has character comedy and action and humour and it desperately wants to capture the same lighting in the bottle that Pirates did. The first one, at any rate.Can lighting strike twice?Well..We start in a wild west exhibition in relatively early twentieth century America, where a young boy meets an elederly indian. Who tells him the tale of his first meeting with his kemo sabe...The film does use this narration device - which it does jump back to from time to time - to make Tonto a slightly unreliable narrator. Which serves to make the story he tells a legend. Which is the point it's trying to make, given that by this time tales of the west were just that. This does all have a point to make in the end, but it makes the film overlong and it cold easily have been cut.John Reid [Armie Hammer] starts out a stuffy and uptight counsellor on the way out west to meet his brother, a tough and very good lawman. On the same train is Tonto. Notorious outlaw butch cavendis [Wiliam Fitchner] and chaos results when the latter makes a bid for freedom.The resulting first action sequence is good action. But also throws in character comedy. Which is where other problems come in. Comedy is subjective, and some have described the bickering between Reid and Tonto as a classic comedy duo on a par with sanco panza and don Quixote. You could alternatively find it annoying.Meantime the railroad is trying to force through progress. The indians are losing their land. The ancient gods are about to appoint a spirit walker - a hero who can't die or miss with a gun - John's sister in law and him have history. Tonto has secrets...There's a lot going on.Too many cooks can spoil a broth and this does have a very long running time and show the signs of a constantly shifting script. That and the framing device make it overlong. And the comedy doesn't help either. A certain horse is the worst offender.The fact that it's the origin movie means John does take a while to stop being annoying and become the hero he should be, and a character you can like.But...It does have great action set pieces. A very moving moment in regards to what happens to the Indians. Some stunning scenery. Some excellent supporting performances. William Fitchner in particular, and Helena Bonham Carter is also very good, albeit in a small role that doesn't get too much screen time. A lot of the stunt work is done for real with no visual effects.And it's so worth it for the final action set piece. A chase/fight taking place with runaways trains and amazing stunts and all of which is coreographed to the music in a stunning manner. This is action cinema as they used to make it. It's a brilliant watch.This is a flawed film. But for every misstep and error it does have something good. It might be best to make your own mind up. You might hate it. You might find it fun. You might find it a bit of a shame, come the end, that the obvious set up for sequels will never come to pass. I rate it 3.5 stars. But either way, I am glad I watched it.Do keep watching during the end credits for another scene. Which does go on for most of them.The dvd has the following language and subtitle options:Languages: English, Tamil, Telegu.Subtitles: English.It begins with several trailers, which can be skipped via the next button on the dvd remote.The only extras are:A deleted scene. It runs for three minutes. The bulk of it wasn't actually filmed and thus has storyboards instead both cgi and hand drawn.Blooper reel: three minutes long. Surprisingly good as these go, with a high hit rate of genuinely funny moments.