Butcher’s Crossing Blu-ray review

Jan 06, 2024- Permalink

Butcher’s Crossing, from director Gabe Polsky, stars Nicolas Cage as Miller, a grizzled buffalo hunter in 1870s Colorado who is looking for one big haul of hides. The writing is on the wall, as the number of bison has been decimated by relentless hunting. To make his expedition work, Miller needs financing and that’s where Will Andrews (Fred Hechinger) comes in. Andrews, from a privileged background, has dropped out of Harvard to experience life in the West. Miller is willing to show Andrews that life, as long as he pays for it. Miller is obsessed (a comfort zone for Cage) and drives his team hard, risking life and limb to get the perfect haul of hides. The film, which also stars Jeremy Bobb, Paul Raci, Xander Berkeley, Rachel Keller, Amber Rose Mason, Harper Hofstad, Beckett Hofstad, Duncan Vezain, Gabriel Clark and Zuzu Weingart, has been released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on Blu-ray. I had a chance to take a look.

The 1080p AVC encoded digital transfer is presented in a 2.00:1 aspect ratio. It’s a really good looking video presentation with sharp details in the grizzled faces, worn and dirty clothes, and gorgeous landscapes. The colour palette is natural and ranges from snowy whites to greens and reds. Black levels are deep. There are no real signs of compression artifacts or digital noise.

On the audio side of things, Butcher’s Crossing comes with an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack with subtitles are available for English SDH and French. The soundtrack immerses you into the landscape with good use of the surrounds, while the horse and herds of bison are served well by the subwoofer. Dialogue is clear and centred.

The Blu-ray disc does not come with a digital code nor does the release have any extras.

Butcher’s Crossing looks and sound great and has good performances from Cage, Hechinger and the cast. Bleak, slow-paced and at times grisly, the Butcher’s Crossing Blu-ray is not for everyone, but if the story interests you, it’s worth a look.