When all's said and done, one basks in Legends of the Fall more than one absorbs it. It is easy to admire but difficult to love--unconditionally, at least. I was a fan of the film during its theatrical run, although I can't say it has endured for me; the western (inasmuch as it contains cowboys, Indians, and a quick-draw showdown, in that order) fable thrives on that first go-round, not unlike, I imagine, a romance novel. The mystique of a Harlequin paperback would not survive a deconstructive second read. (Not that I care to test that theory.)
My back is to the wall where Legends of the Fall is concerned; I'm forced to file it, after repeat viewings, under "guilty pleasures." What other term fits a movie in which a virginal young man (Henry Thomas) chooses fighting in World War I over the alabaster, breathtaking Julia Ormond while his more virile brother (Brad Pitt) prefers tribal dancing in New Guinea to same? Legends of the Fall celebrates being hairy, wearing necklaces fashioned from bear claws, and marrying whomever happens to work at your farm on Sunday afternoons. It is about men--not John Gray men, but Ernest Hemingway men, outdoor fellas who cling to a rifle in sleep.
Alfred (Aidan Quinn), the eldest son of Colonel Ludlow (Anthony Hopkins), does not live up to these preconceptions of manhood, and so, after being verbally emasculated by his father once too often, he migrates from the family ranch to a big, bad city, where he immediately finds employ as a government foil. Susannah (Ormond), a prism of lust inclined to rotate between the trio of Ludlow siblings, chooses Alfred last, natch, and only then, we suspect, so that she may remain umbilical to Tristan (Pitt), the crackpot hunter-gatherer.
I mock it now, yet Legends of the Fall fulfilled certain male escapist desires then. And, as the youngest brother in a set of three, I identified--albeit verrry superficially--with the Samuel-Tristan-Alfred dynamic. John Toll's achingly beautiful vistas, scored to some of James Horner's stronger compositions, remain a treat, and director Edward Zwick's experiments in montage, though not entirely successful, are still a source of interest. Lastly, Ormond, too delicate, perhaps, to ever have stood a chance at leading lady status, deserves belated praise for turning a total cipher of a character into a convincingly tragic home-wrecker.
Legends of the Fall was among the earliest wave of DVDs released by Columbia Tri-Star, before they began a regular practice of supplementing their discs. Due to its presumed home video longevity, the studio has seen fit to reissue it as a Special Edition. Letterboxed at 1.85:1 and enhanced for 16x9 televisions, the image is rich and eye-popping--a fine showcase for Toll's Academy Award-winning cinematography, although its detail is strangely inconsistent in the final reel. The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio is not on a par with the video transfer: I felt that dialogue was too low and that the war scenes, besides being overly loud in comparison, lacked precision. Horner's music sounds good, however, both incorporated into the action and isolated on a separate 5.1 track.
Zwick and Pitt contribute humorous commentary to the proceedings, while Toll and production designer Lilly Kilvert wax on in a sonorous commentary of their own. (Geek that I am, I was actually looking forward to all the alienating technical details Toll could provide but never did.) Pitt is his typical cheerfully smartass self, and Zwick's affection for the material is apparent from the outset, not to mention contagious. Zwick's oration is optional when viewing the deleted scenes section, three fascinating outtakes (in non-anamorphic widescreen) that were nevertheless justifiably excised, in my humble opinion. Zwick and Kilvert also narrate a brisk featurette on the production design, one of two accessible via animated menus. (The other is strictly PR fluff.) "Talent Files", notes, and seven trailers (two for Legends..., plus Seven Years In Tibet, The Devil's Own, A River Runs Through It, The Mask of Zorro, and Bram Stoker's Dracula) carry this SE off into the sunset.
The epic story of three brothers bound by loyalty, tested by war, and torn apart by love, Legends of the Fall is enormously entertaining (Roger Ebert)...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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