The Cowboy Way Blu Ray Review (Mill Creek Entertainment)
The Cowboy Way is a 1994 action comedy film directed by Gregg Champion (The Magnificent Seven TV series, Short Time, Sub Down, and Stealing Christmas). It was written and produced by William D. Wittliff (Lonesome Dove, The Perfect Storm, Legends of the Fall, and The Black Stallion). It was produced by Brian Grazer (Night Shift, Splash, Real Genius, Parenthood, Like Father Like Son, Backdraft 1/2, The Doors, My Girl 1/2, Greedy, and The Paper). The budget was $35 million and it grossed $20.3 million at the box office.
Two championship rodeo stars and former lifelong best friends settle their differences to find their missing friend Nacho Salazar (played by: Joaquín Martínez from Joe Kidd, Meatballs Part II, Revenge, and Jeremiah Johnson). Pepper Lewis (played by: Woody Harrelson from Zombieland 1/2, Natural Born Killers, Cheers, True Detective, Kingpin, and The People vs. Larry Flynt) and Sonny Gilstrap (played by: Kiefer Sutherland from 24, Flatliners, Dark City, Freeway, Stand by Me, and The Lost Boys) pause their long feud to help out their mutual friend that never came back from New York City after trying to get his daughter Teresa (played by: Cara Buono from Stranger Things, Supergirl, The Sopranos, and Third Watch) back from smugglers ran by the powerful Manny Huerta (played by: Tomas Milian from Don’t Torture a Duckling, Almost Human, Django Kill… If You Live, Shoot!, and The Big Gundown). His psychotic and ambitious right hand man John Stark (played by: Dylan McDermott from American Horror Story, Olympus Has Fallen, Hardware, and Wonderland) is not taking any chances and he wants every potential witness killed. They get assistance from the horse riding cop Sam ‘Mad Dog’ Shaw (played by: Ernie Hudson from Ghostbusters franchise, The Crow, OZ, Airheads, and Sugar Hill) as the two outsiders dig deeper into the dark world of human trafficking. Can these cowboys survive the deadly East? or Are they out of their league when it comes to this dangerous world????
The Cowboy Way didn’t perform good at the box office when it was originally released. At the time, the public wasn’t very interested in seeing two cowboys from the wild west take on the brutal crimes of the east in this buddy action flick. Over the years from television and home video, The Cowboy Way has got a second life. It has a nice balance of drama, comedy, action, crime, and a little touch of a western thrown in for good measure. The script is so much fun and the two lead characters are fully developed here. They both get into some hilarious situations in this. Woody Harrelson and Kiefer Sutherland have amazing chemistry here. Woody Harrelson chews the scenery and goes a little over the top as Pepper.
Kiefer Sutherland is the more responsible one and the brains between the two as the stubborn Sonny. Dylan McDermott is great as the main villain, he is only out for himself here and no one is safe when it comes to John Stark. Ernie Hudson was hilarious as the city cop that grabs attention of the cowboys because he rides a horse while on patrol. The Cowboy Way had a strong cast with some impressive supporting roles/cameos by Cara Buono, Tomas Milian, Joaquín Martínez, Marg Helgenberger (CSI), Luis Guzmán (Carlito’s Way), Allison Janney (Juno), John Ventimiglia (The Sopranos), Rance Howard (Universal Soldier), Emmanuel Xuereb (Bad Boys), Matthew Cowles (Slap Shot), and José Zúñiga (Money Train). The Cowboy Way does have a few serious moments but for the most part it’s just a mindless entertaining buddy action feature. So turn off for brain for a little bit and enjoy this one, RECOMMENDED!!!!
Let’s talk about the high definition presentation from Mill Creek Entertainment! This 1080p (1.85:1) transfer is better than the previous DVD and VHS home video releases but it’s what you would expect for an older catalog title. This is clearly an older HD transfer and it can be a little rough at times for being on blu ray but it’s still an upgrade compared to the past. This is honestly the best it’s ever going to look. The English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is solid. It does shine during the action scenes here. All of the dialogue is very clean and the music has a nice boost to it. It also has English SDH subtitles. There’s no extras on the disc. Mill Creek always has great and bargain prices on their home video releases. This one is definitely worth adding to your collection. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!
