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| Short
Takes on Recent Films Released on HD-DVD |
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| Black
Rain is a fairly gripping crime thriller that focuses on
a New York detective (Michael Douglas) under investigation for
corruption who, along with his partner (Andy Garcia), is tasked with
returning a cold-blooded killer back to his native Japan. There he
manages to hand his prisoner over to the wrong people and must then
recapture him with the help of a straight-laced Japanese cop (Ken
Takahura) and a beautiful club hostess (Kate Capshaw). The location
shooting in Osaka adds a measure of the exotic to what is otherwise
a pretty conventional police story with a protaganist we've seen
many times before. Michael Douglas, however, elevates the
character's interest with the same effective air of barely
controlled anger that his father Kirk so often accomplished in
similar material. In director Ridley Scott's hands, the plot does
move along reasonably briskly and the action scenes are well blended
with the more character-driven sequences. A quarter hour excised
from the running time would have produced a tighter package more
appropriate to the familiar material, though. The best thing in the
film is the work by Ken Takahura and the worst is the script's
condescending approach to Japanese police procedures reminiscent of
past such filmic atrocities. The film may not be the best, but the image transfer is in the upper ranks. The image is virtually spotless and offers a very film-like appearance with spot-on colours and fleshtones. Sharpness and image detail are very good with the exception of a few of the night-time sequences. There are DTS 6.1 and Dolby Digital Plus EX options for the sound, and while there is nice dynamicism across the front, none will blow you away as surround and LFE have minimal impact. The supplementary package is identical to that on the standard DVD two-disc release which appeared at about the same time and overall is very good, including a new and very thorough four-part documentary, one of Ridley Scott's usual fine audio commentaries, and the theatrical trailer (presented in HD). If you're a fan of the film and somehow don't have a home video copy yet, this is the version to have, but if you already have the very fine recent two-disc standard DVD SE, an upgrade isn't really necessary. |
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| With
Martin Scorsese currently vying to win a directing Oscar for The
Departed after five previous failed nominations, it's a
pleasure to revisit one of his 1990s successes, Casino.
In many ways a follow-up to Goodfellas,
Casino goes beyond that film's men's world and adds in a female
dimension in the person of Sharon Stone. She plays the gold-digging
Ginger who comes between Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci in Las Vegas.
Despite Stone's presence though, Casino
retains much of the Goodfellas
ethos and the De Niro character's fate parallels that of Ray
Liotta's in many ways. As always, Scorsese is a master in recreating
an era and a way of life, and the film bears repeated viewings for
that reason alone. All three principal players deliver superb
performances and the film is riveting throughout. Typically for
Scorsese, it will prove to be a little violent for some but averting
the eyes at a few appropriate moments won't hurt one's appreciation
of a master at work. Casino has been well served on HD-DVD by Universal. The image is crisp, clear and colourful, and generates many scenes with a real three-dimensional pop. The sequences in the casino are particularly effective in this regard. Skin tones appear correct and source material defects are practically non-existent. The Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 sound track consisting of contemporary songs is a pleasure to experience, both in terms of the music itself as well as the energy the disc's audio imparts to them. Noticeable directionality and effective ambience characterize the soundtrack. The best of the extras is a four-part documentary that includes participation by virtually everyone involved with the film, but also included are some deleted scenes and an artificial audio commentary cobbled together from interviews with Scorsese, Stone, and writer Nicholas Pileggi. Recommended, even for those who already have the recent standard DVD SE. |
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| "If
you build it, he will come" is one of those lines from the
movies that has made its way into the general consciousness over
time. In this case, we have the marvelous tribute to the restorative
quality of baseball that is Fields of
Dreams to thank. Based on a short story by W.P. Kinsella,
the film is a fantasy in which an Iowa farmer is inspired by a
persistent voice to plow under part of his corn crop in order to
build a baseball field. The voice then leads him on a voyage that
links a 1960s protest writer, Shoeless Joe Jackson of the 1919 "Black
Sox" scandal, and a baseball-player-turned-Minnesota-doctor.
The film is ideally cast and performed in the persons of Kevin
Costner starring as the farmer and James Earl Jones, Ray Liotta, and
Burt Lancaster as the linked characters. Although the film focuses
on baseball, Field of Dreams
is not a baseball film, but one that blends past and present with
assurance, creating a timeless atmosphere that allows baseball to
act as a metaphor for the regaining of that which seemed
irretrievably lost. A film to treasure and to enjoy with people you
love. Universal's HD-DVD presentation is also a pleasure to behold. Just don't expect too many scenes that really pop off the screen. Instead, this one offers just a smooth continuum of bright and precise images that creates an atmosphere of comfort and virtually never takes you out of it. That's in accord with my recollection of the film's theatrical look. There are a few soft sequences, but their impact is minor. Overall, the image is an improvement over the standard DVD available, but not remarkably so. The Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 audio is sufficient unto the day, but that's about all. Making up for that, however, is a wheelbarrow full of extras all of which were found on the recent standard DVD Anniversary Edition. They include just about everything you could want to know about the film from an audio commentary and over two hours of documentaries/featurettes to deleted scenes and a large photo gallery. If you don't have Field of Dreams on disc at all, you should have and the HD version is the one to get. If you already have the 2004 standard DVD Anniversary Edition, the HD version is one you could probably pass up. |
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| This
is a star-driven political thriller set in the United Nations, with
a story that revolves around information that an interpreter there
(Nicole Kidman) overhears concerning a potential assassination
attempt. The matter is investigated by a federal agent (Sean Penn)
who begins to wonder if the interpreter is more deeply involved than
seems on the surface. Although the story is not particularly novel,
the setting and actual location filming at the U.N. elevate one's
interest. Both Kidman and Penn are excellent in their roles and the
intensity that they bring to their characters, particularly in their
scenes together, really come across on the screen. It helps that the
characters are well-written and exhibit significant emotional
development during the course of the story. Veteran director Sydney
Pollack really has a knack for getting the most out of such material
and the result is a polished piece of Hollywood entertainment. The use of MPEG-4 rather than Universal's usual VC-1 encoding choice may or may not be responsible, but The Interpreter looks very nice indeed with considerable pop to the sharp image throughout. Colours are intense, almost oversaturated, but not excessively so. The Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 mix complements the film very well. The sound is clear and vibrant, and there is effective though generally subtle use of the surrounds to enhance the ambience of the exterior sequences. The disc's supplements, the same as on the standard DVD, are well conceived ranging from a very informative and typically well-presented audio commentary by Pollack, an interview with Pollack that provides some career context relative to The Interpreter, a featurette with Pollack that provides a good argument against pan & scan, a featurette on shooting in the United Nations including cast and crew interviews, interviews with real U.N. interpreters that give a sense of the difficulty of the job, and some minor deleted scenes and alternate ending. The Interpreter is an intelligent and entertaining film that's been very well served on HD-DVD and is recommended. |
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| Peter
Jackson's remake of the classic 1933 King
Kong movie shows a lot of love for the original. It
remains reasonably faithful to the story line and features a cast
(Naomi Watts, Jack Black, Adrien Brody) that successfully creates a
measure of continuity with the original's style and degree of
theatricality. The special effects in the original were stunningly
good for the time, but over 70 years later one would expect that
aspect of the new film to represent a major step forward, given the
capabilities of CGI. In many respects it does, yet the CGI
utilization in the film is at times one of its mis-steps. The
creation of Kong himself is quite well done, but somehow he lacks
the sympathy of the stop-motion figure of the original. One major
set piece (the stampede of the dinosaurs) is also a notable failure
- not because the dinosaurs are poorly rendered, but because the
juxtaposition with the escaping humans is so unrealistic. Many
people have also criticized the film's length and that is a valid
comment. The original was barely an hour and three-quarters long,
yet the new version takes an additional hour and a quarter to tell
the same story. Much of the extra time is used to linger on CGI
effects that, while good, don't merit that much extra attention. The
idea of an extended version of the film adding another 13 minutes
(available on standard DVD, but not on this HD version) boggles the
mind when Jackson would be doing us a favour by cutting the film by
a half-hour. The presentation of King Kong on HD-DVD is superb. The image is wondrously sharp and detailed with lush colours and visual pop throughout. The Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 track is all a surround experience should be - dynamic and completely enveloping with ample engagement of the surrounds and LFE. The disc is probably the best HD-DVD demonstration material available to date. On the down side, Universal has ported over virtually none of the supplements available on the previously issued standard DVD three-disc SE. I say virtually, because we are given one of the studio's "U-Control" features that provides access to various materials from Peter Jackson's King Kong Production Diaries on an interactive basis during the course of the film. It's a rather cumbersome business for my liking, but I guess it's better than nothing. There's no doubt the HD version of the film itself improves somewhat on the standard DVD rendition, but if you like the film enough to have the latter already, I'd wait to upgrade until an inevitable SE comes to HD. |
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| Despite
director Oliver Stone's reputation for films depicting extreme and
sometimes unsentimental views of major events and people, this
latest film of his is a model of decorum. Probably recognizing that
any other approach to the traumatic events of 9/11 would be
counterproductive, he delivers a very intimate story drawn from
within the major happenings of that fateful day. The story is that
of two New York Port Authority policemen who become trapped in the
rubble of the collapsing towers and the subsequent events that lead
to their rescue. Stone handles the material respectfully and with
great restraint, yet he manages to impart tension remarkably even
though we know the outcome. The strength of the film lies as much in
what is not shown but implied, as in what is. Nicholas Cage does
some of his best acting work in ages as policeman John McLoughlin
while Michael Pena is equally as effective as the other officer Will
Jimeno. Much of the film focuses on the two men as they are trapped
in the rubble and it is superb at conveying the claustrophobic
nature of the situation as well as the emotional reactions of the
men. Stone intercuts these scenes effectively with the events
happening with the men's families in their homes. The men's wives
are given very fine portrayals by Maggie Gyllenhaal and Maria Bello.
World Trade Center has not
tended to get quite the same respect as 2006's other 9/11 drama -
United 93, but it is equally
deserving of it. As has been a tendency of late, Paramount provides the film with a two-disc presentation on HD. The film, with two commentaries and deleted/extended scenes, are found on the first one while a generous selection of supplements is contained on the second. The film's image looks very good indeed. The sharpness and level of detail are particularly notable with the latter really shining during the dark scenes that characterize much the time during which the men are trapped. Colours are vibrant and skin-tones are accurate, with the typical three-dimensional pop of HD frequently apparent. The Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 audio is also very appealing. There are ample opportunities for subtle surround effects and LFE with the movement of the rubble and other falling debris, and they are conveying very convincingly. Otherwise the sound is clear and crisp with the dialogue-driven movie rooted in the centre with only occasional directional forays. The presentation's package of supplements is impressive not only for its volume and depth of materials, but also for the fact that most are presented in HD as well. The participation of the actual men portrayed in the film as well as others from the day's events is an emotional and compelling aspect of much of that material. Highly recommended. New Classic HD Announcements I wish I had lots of exciting new announcements of classic titles coming to HD for you, but to be honest, the first five months of 2007 are looking pretty sparse so far. Were I restricting myself to pre-1965 titles, there'd be nothing to report, but allowing a little more leeway, here are some titles that should be of interest All these titles are also included in the classic release database that I maintain in conjunction with my Classic Coming Attractions column. January 16th - The Sting (1973) from Universal in HD-DVD February 27th - Bullitt (1968) and The Getaway (1972) both from Warner Bros. in both HD-DVD and Blu-ray May 8th - Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) from Fox in Blu-ray, Battle of Britain (1969), A Bridge Too Far (1977), and The Graduate (1967) all from MGM in Blu-ray June - A Fistful of Dollars (1964) from MGM in Blu-ray Classic titles expected in 2007, but for which there are no concrete announcements include The Bridge on the River Kwai (Blu-ray), Forbidden Planet (Blu-ray), The Guns of Navarone (Blu-ray), Lawrence of Arabia (Blu-ray), The Maltese Falcon (HD-DVD and Blu-ray), The Music Man (HD-DVD and Blu-ray), Mutiny on the Bounty (1962, Blu-ray), North by Northwest (HD-DVD and Blu-ray), The Professionals (Blu-ray), and Star Trek: The Original Series, Season One (HD-DVD, Blu-ray to follow in early 2008). Barrie Maxwell barriemaxwell@thedigitalbits.com |
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