Movie:
High Noon, originally aired on the TBS Superstation in the summer of 2000, was directed by Rod Hardy. The film is a remake of the original High Noon, which was released in 1952. The film stars: Tom Skerritt (Will Kane), Randy Birch (Fellows), Susanna Thompson (Amy Kane), Reed Diamond (Harvey Pell), Dennis Weaver (Mart Howe), Maria Conchita Alonso (Helen Ramirez), August Schellenberg (Antonio), and Michael Madsen (Frank Miller).

On the day of his wedding and last day as Marshal, Will Kane gets word that Frank Miller has been pardoned. Miller swore that one day, he'd be back to kill Kane, and today is that day. His friends urge him to leave, which Kane does with his new wife, Amy. However, Kane soon realizes that he feels an obligation to protect his town and goes back, much to the disappointment of his wife and his friends. With only an hour before the noon train arrives with Miller, Kane tries desperately to round up a posse of men, but no one is willing to stand with him. When high noon comes, can Kane survive against the incredible odds stacked against him?

I have never seen the original picture, so I was totally new to the story of High Noon. Even though the film aired on TV originally, it definitely has a cinematic feel to it. I found it to be a decent western, but the film definitely has some slow areas. I did think that Skerritt did a great job as Kane, though some of the other performances were a bit lacking.

Picture:
High Noon is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. The transfer has only a few specks throughout the film, but they aren't too distracting. There is also a small bit of shimmer that I noticed as well. Colors throughout the film intentionally monochromatic, to give the film an older feel. Colors are, for the most part, well saturated and crisp, though flesh tones seem a bit overly red in a few scenes. Blacks are decent throughout the film as well.

Sound:
High Noon is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 in English, Dolby 2.0 Surround in English, and Dolby 2.0 Mono in Spanish. The film is dialogue driven until the climax of the film's final (and only) shootout. There is some directionality in the front surrounds, though the rear surrounds are used mainly for the film's music. Dialogue throughout the film is crisp and clean with no distortion that I could detect. Optional subtitles are available in English and Spanish.

Extras:
Much to my surprise, the disc for High Noon has a fair amount of extras. The main extra is the commentary with David Rosemont (Producer) and Robert McLachlan (Director of Photography). The track is mainly technical in nature: the two mainly provide information on how certain scenes were shot and how the movie was filmed. They also get into some comparisons between this film and the original, though the main focus of the track is the technical aspects of shooting the film. To be honest, I really didn't find the track that entertaining, though some of it was fairly interesting. Next up are three behind the scenes featurettes, each of which runs between one and two and a half minutes in length. They are titled, "Vignette," "Wardrobe," and "On Location." Though short, they do provide a few interesting tidbits of information into their respective topics. There are individual interviews with Skerritt, Diamond, Weaver, Thompson, Alonso, Madsen, and Hardy, each of which is one to one and a half minutes in length. The interviews mostly cover the actor's motivation for being in the film, as well as sharing some insight into the film. Biographies are also present for Skerritt, Diamond, Weaver, Thompson, Alonso, Madsen, Schellenberg, Hardy, T.S. Cook (Writer), Ted Bauman (Producer), Carl Foreman (Writer), and Rosemont. There is also a photo gallery, the film's theatrical trailer (?) and two TV spots.

Summary:
High Noon is a decent western that's worth checking out as a rental or on TV if you're a fan of the genre or Skerritt. If you're already a fan of the film, definitely consider picking it up, as Artisan has packed it with some decent supplements and gave it a great transfer. Rent it.