American Outlaws (2001)

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General		Extras
Category	Western	Main Menu Audio Dolby Digital Trailer-Train Audio Commentary-L Mayfield (Dir), J Rogers (Co-Writ) & M Tronick (Ed) Featurette-Making Of Featurette-Creating The Old West Featurette-How To Be An Outlaw Featurette-Costuming The Cowboys Deleted Scenes-2 Theatrical Trailer Easter Egg-Steam Train Sequence
Rating
Year Of Production	2001
Running Time	90:20 (Case: 92)
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (51:02)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Les Mayfield
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Colin Farrell Scott Caan Ali Larter Timothy Dalton Kathy Bates
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	Rental	Music	Trevor Rabin

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    American Outlaws is the story of the James-Younger gang, and starts with the two James brothers Jesse (Colin Farrell) and Frank (Gabriel Macht) returning home with their cousins Cole (Scott Caan), Jim (Gregory Smith) and Bob (Will McCormack) Younger from the American Civil War where they have all ridden in a band of partisan raiders fighting on the side of the South. On arrival back in their hometown of Liberty, their desire is to return to life on the land. However, this dream is short-lived as the railroad is coming to town and the representatives of the Rock Island Railroad are keen to acquire the land they need for a pittance if they can or by any other means if the land owners are not prepared to sell.

    Unfortunately for the railroad, when they try to persuade the James family to part with their farm they end up killing Ma James (Kathy Bates) in the process. The James boys enlist their cousins and other ex-raiders to help obtain revenge on the railroad for this act and they set about travelling around the countryside robbing the banks and trains that have the railroad's money in their keeping. Needless to say, the railroad in the form of  its owner Thaddeus Rains (Harris Yulin) and his enlisted henchman Allan Pinkerton (Timothy Dalton) take great exception to the actions of the James-Younger gang and set about the arduous task of hunting them down.

    I'm no expert on the history of the American West, however I'll venture that the producers of American Outlaws have taken some poetic licence with this portrayal of Jesse James' life. As films go, this is more likely to appeal to those looking for some light entertainment as opposed to a gritty view of the reality of the old West or a factual account of the life and times of the James gang. On the positive side, there's plenty of action and the reference quality soundtrack will give both your sound system and your ears a good workout!

Video

    This is an excellent transfer without any but the most minor of problems. In other words, Roadshow Home Entertainment have done their usual excellent job!

    This transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and it is 16x9 enhanced. The original aspect ratio is 1.85:1.

    There are no concerns with sharpness or shadow detail. There is no low level noise. There is a small amount of edge enhancement seen occasionally but this could be easily overlooked as it never reaches a distracting level.

    A full colour palette is available with all colours accurately rendered. Skin tones appear quite natural.

    No compression artefacts were apparent. Film-to-video artefacts consisted of a couple of very minor instances of aliasing. Except for some minor film grain being apparent occasionally, I don't recall seeing any other film artefacts in this transfer.

    English subtitles are the only option available on this disc. The subtitles are displayed in white text at the bottom of the screen are easily read. They are not the most accurate I have seen with quite a few phases and words varying from the spoken dialogue, however in the 15 minutes or so that I checked there were no significant deviations in so far as the meaning was concerned.

    This disc is an RSDL disc, with the layer change occurring in Chapter 17, at 51:02. Its placement in the middle of a scene is slightly disruptive to the flow of the movie.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    This is a fantastic audio transfer and is of reference quality. I'd be surprised if you could experience this soundtrack and walk away unimpressed.

    The audio defaults to an English Dolby Digital 5.1 dialogue track. There is an additional Dolby Digital 2.0 surround encoded commentary track. I listened to both.

    The dialogue is perfectly clear at all times. There are no obvious problems with audio sync.

    While he is not as well known as some composers, Trevor Rabin has quite a long list of well-known blockbuster movies behind him including Gone In 60 Seconds, Armageddon and Rock Star. The music for American Outlaws is impressive and is best described as rousing. The main theme music is quite reminiscent of the score from Armageddon. I enjoyed the score which was successful in enhancing the viewing experience and complementing the on-screen action.

    The surrounds are very active when needed and are very successful at drawing the viewer into the thick of the action. The opening battle sequence is a good example of this with cannon shot and bullets whizzing past your ears. The surrounds are also used extensively in support of the music score.

    Equally, the subwoofer is also very active as needed and is used aggressively and intensely to underscore explosions and similar events. A good example of the use of the subwoofer occurs at 23:40 during the horse stampede.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

    In typical Roadshow Entertainment fashion, there are quite a few reasonable extras including a commentary track from the director and others involved in making the film.

Menu

    The menu is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and includes 16x9 enhancement. The menu features Dolby Digital 2.0 audio but no animation is provided.

    Both deleted scenes are presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 without 16x9 enhancement. Both feature Dolby Digital 2.0 surround encoded audio. The first scene, "Jesse and Frank Argue", runs for 2:15 and has some minor audio dropouts. The second scene, "Jim and Lyla", runs for 1:28. There is a significant amount of aliasing present in both.

    A typical trailer which is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and is 16x9 enhanced. The audio is Dolby Digital 2.0 surround encoded.

    This is accessed to the right of the Main Menu option in the Special Features Menu. This feature which runs for 1.38 and is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 provides some background on the various steam train sequences in the movie, which were shot using the trains and facilities of the Texas State Railroad.

    The Region 4 version of this disc misses out on:

• DTS 5.1 audio
• French Dolby Digital 5.1 audio
• French & Spanish subtitles
• DVD-ROM features
• Cast & Crew biographies
• Production & publicity stills

    The Region 1 version of this disc misses out on:

• Easter Egg

    In my view, it's a close call as to which is the best version. It really comes down to how much you want a DTS soundtrack.

    American Outlaws is definitely not a great movie, but it is a good movie and therefore not a bad way to spend a couple of hours if you're looking for some action and light entertainment. It provides plenty of action and is blessed with an excellent transfer.

    The video quality is superb, and is almost of reference quality.

    The audio quality is superb, and is of reference quality.

    The extras are quite satisfactory.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall