The Ranown Westerns: Five Films Directed by Budd Boetticher (Criterion Collection) (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)

The five briskly entertaining, vividly performed westerns made by director Budd Boetticher and strapping star Randolph Scott in the second half of the 1950s transcend their B-movie origins to become rich, unexpectedly profound explorations of loyalty, greed, honor, and revenge. Often grouped under the name Ranown (after producer Harry Joe Brown and Scott’s production company) and colorfully scripted by Burt Kennedy and Charles Lang, these films seem to unfold in a world unto themselves, staking a claim between traditional westerns and the subversive genre revisionism of the 1960s—and representing the crowning achievement of the underappreciated auteur Boetticher.

Includes: The Tall T (1957), Decision at Sundown (1957), Buchanan Rides Alone (1958), Ride Lonesome (1959) and Comanche Station (1960).

SIX-DISC 4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

• New 4K digital restorations by Sony Pictures Entertainment, with uncompressed monaural soundtracks
• Three 4K UHD discs of the films presented in Dolby Vision HDR and three Blu-rays with the films and special features
• Introductions to the films by filmmakers Martin Scorsese and Taylor Hackford
• New program featuring film critic Farran Smith Nehme on actor Randolph Scott
• Three audio commentaries, featuring film scholar Jeanine Basinger on The Tall T, film historian Jeremy Arnold on Ride Lonesome, and Hackford on Comanche Station
• Archival programs featuring interviews with director Budd Boetticher
• Audio conversation with Boetticher and film scholar Jim Kitses
• Super 8 home-movie version of Comanche Station
• Trailers
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• PLUS: Essays by film scholar Tom Gunning and critic Glenn Kenny
• New cover by F. Ron Miller