In American fiction, the Western has been one of the most important genres of the last century. It mythologizes the history of our country. Not the founding, but a point in history when the country was just starting to mature. We see that period of history as we want to, with heroes and villains, that arguably teach us right from wrong. This is why it has always been a no-brainer to combine the Western with other genres from science fiction to horror, and everything in between. This sub genre is called Weird West. The earliest film example is The Phantom Empire, a 1935 serial starring Gene Autry. Shortly after this, the idea of crossing genres with westerns died out until the late 1950’s. Once the trend restarted a new movie was released every few years, until 1990, when the idea becomes popularized with Back To The Future – Part III. After this there is a movie released at least one each year, until 1999, when the Western becomes popular once again. Television had also used this idea a few times with differing results each time, the most notable series being The Wild Wild West (1965-1969), and The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. (1993-1994). In the 1970s, comic books also started upon this trend, since it was easier to depict these genre-bending stories. The first widely popular comic was Weird Western Tales, where one of the most well known comic heroes of the Weird West got his start. The character was Jonah Hex, and now his tale is available for you to own on DVD!
The film opening sequence depicts Quentin Turnbull burning Jonah Hex’s family to death, with Hex forced to watch as they burn. The movie illustrates Hex’s hunt for Turnbull over the course of the opening credits and picks up as Jonah Hex delivers a bounty to the proper authorities. We then witness a train robbery, where the plot kicks into full gear. With this we find out that Quentin Turnbull isn’t dead as we were told, and is after a secret weapon akin to an atomic bomb. This is a terrifying turn of events, and the U.S. Government has decided to enlist the services of the only man who can track down and defeat Quentin Turnbull, Jonah Hex. The rest of the film is Jonah Hex tracking and eventually fighting Turnbull and his band of outlaws.
Special Features:
The DVD release of Jonah Hex has almost no special features at all. The only special feature that the disc has is 3 deleted scenes. Each scene has its own merit for being placed back into the film, and it is nice to see them. There is nothing more to be seen on the disc to go along with the movie. There is no making of, no outtakes, no history of the character, nothing. This is of course, due to the fact that the studios are trying to push consumers toward blu-ray.
The picture and sound quality are excellent for DVD, especially since the film is what takes up most of the disc. The picture is as clear as you can get on a DVD. It is crisper, and clearer than most, and more vibrant than usually seen on a DVD. The sound is loud at appropriate moments, and very clear throughout. The dialogue is audible, and can be understood easily.
Jonah Hex is a movie mostly for the Western, and Steampunk crowds. This movie gives
us the western archetypes, and the fantastic weaponry that Steampunk is known for. We get performances that are widely varied. Some are quite stiff and are usually to be found in Spaghetti Westerns, some are perfect for the character. This movie isn’t perfect, by any means, and is slow in a few parts, but westerns tend to do that. I really liked this move, but wanted it to be longer with more of the story to it.
Jonah Hex 4 out of 5 horses with Gatling guns.
Get your copy of Jonah Hex on DVD at Amazon.
Load your pistols with ComicsOnline for more Blu-ray reviews and everything geek pop culture!
