Even though the Western genre has fallen out of favour with the general movie-going public in recent decades, it doesn’t prevent filmmakers from trying to revive it. And 3:10 to Yuma is latest attempt to bring the Western out of the cold. Based on an Elmore Leonard short story that was last adapted to screen in 1957, director James Mangold remakes 3:10 to Yuma into a less psychological but more action-packed film.
In 3:10 to Yuma, Dan Evans (Christian Bale) is a simple man deep in debt, trying to hold his family together and save his ranch from the ravages of drought. In desperation Dan volunteers to be part of the posse that will escort notorious train robber Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) to a town named Contention, where he’ll be put on the 3:10 train to a prison in Yuma. For this, Dan will be paid a much-needed $200 by the railroad company.
Will Dan and the posse deliver the prisoner to Contention in time?
Contention is a day and a half away on horse-back, and the main challenge the posse faces is Ben’s gang, now led by the hot-headed psychopath that is Charlie Prince (Ben Foster). Charlie wants his leader back, and the gang is willing to gun down anyone who gets in their way. It’s a race against time and the posse is pursued relentlessly by the gang, but they eventually make it to Contention. Unfortunately so do Ben’s gang, and as the clock ticks by, they set up ambushes within the town to prevent their leader from getting on that train…
3:10 to Yuma has a run time of 123 minutes and is rated PG. This Blu-ray release presents the film re-mastered in High Definition (HD) and comes with special features including:
- Audio Commentary — with the director
- Destination: Yuma — the making of the film including interviews, production design, and costumes
- An Epic Explored — a talk by the director on why the western genre is appealing for filmmakers
- Outlaws, Gangs, and Posses — historical stories of famous outlaws and myths of the “Old West”
- 3:10 to Score — a chat with the composer Marco Beltrami
- From Sea to Shining Sea — discusses the impact, good and bad, of the railroad on the 19th Century
- A Conversation with Elmore Leonard — a chat with the author of the original short story, Elmore Leonard
- The Guns of Yuma — shows the weapons used in the movie
- Deleted Scenes
- Trailers
3:10 to Yuma was kindly supplied for review by Nelmari Claassens, SterKinekor Home Entertainment Marketing Manager for Sony Pictures. Go to www.bluraydisc.co.za to view the latest Blu-ray news, reviews and competitions featured on SterKinekor Home Entertainment’s newsletter. Sony Pictures can be found on the Web at www.sonypictures.com.
