It's tough to give a description of Legends of the Fall that really captures what it's like. In one way, it's a historical epic covering the lives of the Ludlow family, beginning before World War I, and in another way it's a very character-focused drama, with its portrayal of the tortured relationships among the Ludlow brothers (Brad Pitt, Aidan Quinn, and Henry Thomas), their father (Anthony Hopkins), and Susannah (Julia Ormond), the woman all three of the brothers love. But no matter what category it's placed in, it's a film with genuine energy and substance.

Legends of the Fall is about people who are capable of intense love and devotion to their family, but who nonetheless find happiness slipping through their fingers at every turn. With so many films opting for feel-good endings, or with tragedy-as-character-motivation shoehorned into the first ten minutes of a film, it's quite satisfying to settle down with a solidly tragic film, as Legends of the Fall is.

Tragic, yes... but not in the least depressing. The ancient Greeks had a specific term, "catharsis," for the effect of a good tragedy on the audience. As the viewer fears for the characters and pities them, the intense and painful emotions felt by the characters are shared by the viewer; the result is a cleansing effect on the viewer, in essence purging him of negativity. Now, I don't necessarily think that this is how tragedy works in general, but it's a reasonable explanation of why a film like Legends of the Fall works as well as it does. At the end of a film like Requiem for a Dream, I felt horrified and rather depressed; but at the end of Legends of the Fall, I felt enriched, a bit ennobled by the events. The events of the story are tragic, yet we can admire the strength and courage of all the characters in the face of adversity (both mental and physical), and we can appreciate a certain grandeur in the scope of the events.

But the secret to Legends of the Fall is really in its superb construction. First of all, it's an excellent adaptation of the original novella by Jim Harrison: excellent not in the sense of reproducing it in every detail, because the film actually handles the material quite differently, but in the sense of drawing out those aspects of the story that would be most effective on the screen, and building on them. The novella is tersely written, focusing more on Tristan's adventures than on the relationships among the characters; in fact, some of the most effective scenes in the film actually take place offstage in the original. The result is a story that's quite different in its focus and overall tone than the novella, in ways that allow it to succeed as a film.

It's interesting that the war that forms the central point of Legends of the Fall is World War I, known as the Great War; though it's often eclipsed in film by World War II, in many ways the first world war was far more devastating than the second. With its trench warfare, the introduction of poison gas, and machine guns, World War I was incredibly deadly, slaughtering almost an entire generation of Europeans. Although the war scenes take up only a small portion of the film overall, they are essential to everything that comes afterwards. Tristan's ultimate horror, perhaps, is not just the personal tragedy that occurs during the war, but the entire way in which the war goes on. Far from being a conflict based on ideals, this war is a great machine that is determined to proceed to its goals even if fueled by the ground-up bodies of the men in the trenches. While he is physically unhurt, the experience of being an individualist forced to be a helpless cog in this deadly machine seems to shape many of Tristan's later actions.

One of the things I admire most about Legends of the Fall is its handling of pacing. Not only does the film cover an entire lifetime, but an amazing number of important events take place over the course of the film. Part of the way this is brought off is that the pacing is varied. Much of the film moves along at a fairly brisk pace, but whenever the story requires it, the pace slows way down. At the same time, it never feels rushed, and never feels too slow: the pace is always right for the part of the story that's being told at that moment. The narrative frame of the elderly One Stab telling the story of the Ludlows is very nicely done; it offers just the right amount of additional structure to develop the story effectively.

The award-winning cinematography also plays a crucial role in the storytelling: it's not just pretty backdrops of mountains, though the scenery is certainly spectacular. Many of the most important scenes, those that narrate what happens to the characters over the passing of time, are presented by a series of short, effective scenes, carried largely by visual impact. Some narration is supplied by the characters reading the letters they have written or received, but this is not overdone, and acts mainly as a framework for the visual storytelling. The sequences of Tristan's self-imposed exile, in particular, are marvelous, conveying eloquently his attempt to silence inner torment by throwing himself into wild and dangerous surroundings, seeking new and strange sensations to try to replace his painful memories.

The DVD

Now that so many films are coming out as two-DVD sets to give the film ample room for an outstanding transfer, the Superbit series starts to look a lot more like an exercise in brand-name creation rather than a bold new venture in DVD transfers. This new release of Legends of the Fall doesn't reach the caliber of spectacular non-Superbit transfers like Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, and of course it doesn't have any special features. Nonetheless, considered on its own merits, this DVD offers an excellent video and audio experience.

Video

This Superbit release of Legends of the Fall is presented in its original 1.85:1 widescreen aspect ratio. The anamorphically-enhanced image is quite lovely, with excellent detail and an overall crisp, noise-free appearance. Contrast is handled very well throughout the film, which offers a number of challenging situations, from the near-dark of some of the war scenes, to very brightly lit outdoor scenes at the ranch. Colors are also presented well, always appearing natural and clean. The lovely landscapes of the film come off particularly well in this transfer.

The transfer doesn't quite make the "as good as it can be" cut, though. A very small amount of edge enhancement is visible in a few scenes, but more noticeably, a significant number of print flaws appear throughout the film. These take the form of small dark speckles, and appear both singly and in "spatters" in a number of scenes, including some brightly lit scenes in which the flaws are particularly evident. If some additional cleanup of the print had removed these flaws, the video rating would have notched up to four and a half stars.

Audio

Viewers have the choice of a Dolby 5.1 or a DTS soundtrack for the film. While the Dolby 5.1 track, as included on earlier releases of the film, is very good, the highlight of the Superbit edition is of course the DTS soundtrack.

The strength of the DTS track is in its exceptional clarity. All the dialogue is completely crisp; the balance of all the elements of the track, from music to sound effects, is perfect; and the overall sound is extremely clean. One strong point is the excellent musical score, which complements the emotional story, and lingers in the viewer's mind, without ever being too intrusive. Surround effects are used very well in some scenes, most notably in the battle scenes, but not consistently throughout the film; it sounds very good, but it's not quite as impressive as it could have been with full use of the DTS capability.

Extras

Since this is not a "Superbit Deluxe" (that is, it's a single-disc rather than double-disc set), there are no special features included. I would like to mention the extremely simple menu as a point worth praising, though. After sitting through endless animated, unskippable, and badly designed "creative" menus, I found the simplicity of the menu here to be refreshing.

The packaging is a bit odd. The DVD itself is in a plastic keepcase, which is in a cardboard cover. It's not really a slipcase, since it's open on both sides; it's just a decorative wrap that repeats the information on the keepcase's cover. This wrap is obviously a generic "Superbit" wrap, as the Legends of the Fall information is presented by labels stuck on to the cardboard. I recycled it and gave Columbia a mental black mark for wasteful packaging.

Final thoughts

Beautifully photographed, exquisitely structured, and very well acted, Legends of the Fall is simply an outstanding film. While the Superbit edition lacks the special features (most notably the commentary tracks) of the special edition of the film, the DTS track and excellent transfer make it an easy choice for an initial purchase or for an upgrade of the first, non-SE release of the film. With excellent repeat viewing value to boot, Legends of the Fall is highly recommended.