Santa Fe Trail (1940)

I was encouraged by another reviewer who gave the transfer his blessing and I want to concur. Its nowhere near the stunning work that Universal has done on its Monster collection nor some other transfers of its era on BR....but given that Warner Brothers let the project lapse from its control and what we've been dealing with for years has been very sub standard versions taken from Public Domain ....I was very pleased with the overall presentation and the sound is more robust than most BRs I have.

Now...lets place it in its proper context. This is such a gem of a movie in the classic Michael Curtiz/ Errol Flynn/ Olivia De Havilland series that to have it in even okay shape is a must for any film lover... to have it in at least very acceptable form a delight for me. Of course Van Heflin , Raymond Massey and the ever present Alan Hale Sr add greatly to the mix as does future President Ronald Reagan.

This isn't a cheap BR but if you are a fan of these actors as I am its well worth the 20 dollars... Of course I'd recommend these Errol Flynn sets first The Errol Flynn Signature Collection, Vol. 1 (Captain Blood / The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex / The Sea Hawk / They Died with Their Boots On / Dodge City / The Adventures of Errol Flynn)The Errol Flynn Signature Collection, Vol. 2 (The Charge of the Light Brigade / Gentleman Jim / The Adventures of Don Juan / The Dawn Patrol / Dive Bomber)TCM Spotlight: Errol Flynn Adventures (Desperate Journey / Edge of Darkness 1943 / Northern Pursuit / Uncertain Glory / Objective Burma)Errol Flynn Westerns Collection (Montana / Rocky Mountain / San Antonio / Virginia City) ...if you collect all those then you will be greatly interested in this film.

The quality here is less than a standard studio DVD. To be fair we must note that there has never been a good version of this film released on DVD and this low quality BD is probably the best image to date. If your a big Flynn fan you might justify the price just to have the best but this low quality should be priced at about $10. Every Warner, Flynn DVD, looks much better than this Blu-Ray.

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I bought this in hope this is Remastered and it's sort of; although, not like a really great Blu-ray with great sharpness but it's still good. The audio was pretty good and the video transfer was better than I expected, but don't expect a great job since it's by a company that hasn't done a Blu-ray before. It is in a Full frame mode, but when it's on a widescreen TV the bars are there and the have only two languages which are in English and German with no subtitles. The only special features is a slideshow and the trailer of the movie. The movie stars; Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Raymond Massey, Ronald Reagan, Alan Hale, Van Heflin, plus others and was directed by Michael Curtiz. I'll try to upload a screenshot by a video or camera since I don't have a Blu-ray drive in which I could've gotten a screenshot of the movie. Overall the quality of the Blu-ray is better than some DVDs and I would recommend this.

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It's a great story starring Errol Flynn, Ronald Reagan, Olivia de Havilland, Raymond Massey, and Alan Hale. The subplot pitting Errol Flynn and Ronald Reagan competing for the affections of Olivia de Havilland is vintage Hollywood. However, even though it's a great movie, please be cautious that this movie is not historically accurate. For example, Longstreet, JEB Stuart, George Armstrong Custer did not all graduate West Point together in the class of 1854. So if you are looking for history, please be aware that only the broad sweeping theme has any resemblance to reality. The writers have taken quite a bit of creative license with history. However, if you can get beyond this, it's a great movie. The scene with the old Indian woman, when she tells their fortunes, is priceless. It's directed by Michael Curtiz who did a number of Flynn-de Havilland movies (Sea Hawk, Captain Blood, Robin Hood). It's terrific vintage 1940 Hollywood.

The video quality is very poor, The Blu-ray is no better then the DVD. It's about the same. In fact, the DVD has an added feature with the biographies of Flynn, Reagan, and de Havilland. Somebody should fully restore this terrific film. The blu-ray and DVD are both very grainny and overexposed. It's a shame. The sound is fine and it is in sync with the video.

I gave this blu-ray 3 stars because of the very poor video quality. Otherwise, I would have rated this 5 stars.

PS: It is interesting to note that in the beginning of the movie, while they are in Kansas, Flynn & Reagan are using Remington Model 1861 Army Revolvers. They did not exist yet. Also, the rifles in the crates marked "Bibles" do not appear to be Sharps Model 1853 Carbines (Beecher's Bibles). They should be. Finally, in the scene where Lee and what should be his Marines, are retaking Harpers Ferry from John Brown, Flynn is using a Colt Single Action Army revolver (which was issued in 1873). The John Brown incident at Harpers Ferry occurred in 1859. The Colt SAA was not even invented yet. For both the Kansas and Harpers Ferry scenes, they shold be using the Colt Model 1851 Navy revolver or even the Colt Dragoon.

By the way, JEB Stuart (Flynn) was graduated from West Point in 1854. George Armstrong Custer (Reagan) was graduated in 1861 (a year early due to the outbreak of the Civil War). James Longstreet was graduated in 1842. Phil Sheridan was graduated in 1853. John Bell Hood was also graduated in 1853. In 1852, Lee was appointed Superintendent of West Point and served in that capacity for three years.

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A movie good to get an escape from the modern world and to get a good laugh at how they interpreted history. Ronald Reagan as George Armstrong Custer?? This movie is not for historical purists

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