Pistoleros (DVD)

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Which leaves us with the framing device. Point blankly, it´s a cliché by this point. We start out, more or less, in a seedy bar with two students looking to make their own film about the "treasure." Crazy Uffe begins to recite the tale and, as far as I can tell, there is no compelling reason for them. Much like "The Princess Bride" (the Peter Falk and Fred Savage segments), they add nothing substantial to the proceedings, only serving to elongate the running time and grind the action to a halt. (And the coda, where the fate of the hunters is revealed? Take it or leave it. The entire endeavor is better left as an urban legend or tall tale than a definitive event.

VIDEO:
The anamorphic 1.85 transfer looks like a disappointment upon first glance, yet, in the final analysis, the perceived problems may actually be the intent of Gonzalez in order to create a mood. Yes, I´m talking about film grain. From beginning to end, there is a layer of grain over the entire picture. Without any conclusive evidence from Gonzalez, I have to speculate it is there on purpose, helping to show a grimy and dingy Copenhagen. While it might be distracting in some respects, it adds attitude to the production, an aura, if you will, benefiting the subject matter.

Colors also appear washed out, though that issue can also be justified as a creative choice by Gonzalez. What can´t be anything but a problem in the transfer process is a smattering of white dots and other artifacts at various times through the film. Black levels are acceptable, a casualty, I believe, of the grain and washed out look. They occasionally appear just a hair too brown for my taste. All in all, not bad, if my assumptions are correct.

AUDIO:
A single track here, Danish 5.1, and some English subtitles. (Again, to TLA´s credit, they do not bother with a dubbed version to appeal to a broader base.) It´s a pretty good mix of quiet moments with the usual action standards. And that´s how I´d classify what we hear: standard. Nothing makes us sit up and take notice one way or the other. Dialogue comes across cleanly and all the speakers are utilized to some extent by the score. None of the video touches (like the grain) are carried over in audio form here. The subtitles are bold enough in striking yellow to eliminate any potential problems with reading them throughout the film.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
A sad lot here consisting of an image gallery and some trailers. Twelve publicity pictures are included, running one minute in a automatically advancing feature. And the trailers are all for previously released TLA product: "The Living and the Dead" (2:05); "Rapturious" (1:02); "Strange Circus" (2:09); and "The Wedding Party" (1:55). Despite what the package says, "Pistoleros" doesn´t get a theatrical trailer.

PARTING THOUGHTS:
I was unsure what I´d get when I plugged "Pistoleros" into my player. Not being a fan of shoot ´em ups, would this foreign shoot ´em up hold my attention? Yes…and no. Around the hour mark, I could feel the boredom creeping in. Too many time shifts to contend with while making sure to keep up with the story and characters was just a bit too much for a 95 minute running time. I won´t fault the intentions or production values; it comes down to being more work than I was willing to do. And if I feel that way, I´d bet others do, too.