Hard Country (Blu-ray Review)
Director
David GreeneRelease Date(s)
1981 (February 25, 2026)Studio(s)
ITC Entertainment/Associated Film Distribution (Imprint Films/Via Vision Entertainment)- Film/Program Grade: C+
- Video Grade: B+
- Audio Grade: B+
- Extras Grade: B
Review
[Editor’s Note: This is a Region-Free Australian Blu-ray import.]
Kim Basinger is Jodie, in her first major film role, a young woman who dreams of moving from her Texas town to the big city. Relegated to a routine job as a telephone operator, she wants something bigger. Jan-Michael Vincent is Kyle, in one of his last legit Hollywood roles before being knocked down to TV and genre fare, he is a galvanizer at a fence company who only looks forward to his evenings at the honky tonk with his pals and endless drafts of Lone Star beer. He likes things just the way they are. Hard Country is an interesting time capsule because it’s two types of movies that really aren’t made anymore—especially for theatrical release. First, it’s a 70s slice-of-life story about average people doing salt of the Earth things. (Of note, Hard Country, released in 1981, was actually made in ’79/80 but held because of the breakout success of the similarly themed Urban Cowboy). Secondly, it’s one of the last movies made specifically based on an existing song, this one written by and played by the film’s co-writer Michael Martin Murphey at the famed Los Angeles country bar Palomino Club where it proved to be so popular it was optioned for development based solely on patron’s love. And yes friends, movies based on a song was really a thing. See: Take This Job and Shove It, Ode To Billy Joe, Convoy and The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia to name just a small few. Is it as good as the other films in these genres? It’s fine. Basinger is great, Vincent is fine. Daryl Hannah is featured as an aw-shucks little sister type to Basinger and she shines bright, and an always outstanding Michael Parks plays Vincent’s shady trailer salesman brother.
This Region-Free release of Hard Country comes from Aussie releasing company Imprint (#534) and is a stable 1080p presentation in 1.78:1—showcasing a nice cinematic grain and pleasing colors, but it looks like an early master, not an upgrade to anything previously released, but for me that’s okay. Not every movie needs a 4K release. The LPCM 2.0 track is equally solid. Extras include a video essay by Chris O’Neill focused on and entitled The Theatrical Films of David Greene which presents a few films from the British filmmaker that I may have to track down. Some of his earlier films seem quite interesting, and I had no idea that they were out there. Hard Country isn’t a great film, but it is an interesting watch.
- Todd Doogan