The Mission (Warner Region 1 vs. KD Media All Region DTS
Edition)
Picture: Sound: Extras: Film:
Warner
B+ B B+ A
KD Media
B B+ D A
Roland Joffe’s 1986 film The Mission remains one of the most powerful and truly authentic
films from that decade that is worthy of rediscovery. Even at the time of it’s original release it was critically
acclaimed, but never reached much status commercially despite having Robert
DeNiro and Jeremy Irons on top billing.
The film would win an Oscar for Best Cinematography and was nominated
for a handful of others, but somehow has been lost in the shuffle.
Our story is based on true accounts of the 18th
Century Spanish Jesuits who brought Christianity to the tribes of South America
and then tried to protect them under the slave trading done in Portugal. Jeremy Irons is a priest sent in to bring
peace to the people and to teach them the ways of Christ, and is successful in
doing so. He also encounters DeNiro a
man that lives by the sword and is in prison at the moment for killing a man,
but needs redemption more than anything.
He is a slave trader, but Irons character takes it upon himself to show
him redemption and forgiveness as he carries so much burden on himself. That burden is literally dragged to the top
of a cliff, as the DeNiro character must carry the weight of heavy armor up the
cliff as part of his cleansing process.
He is met at the top of the hill by the same Indian tribe that he once
hunted and traded, but they show forgiveness towards him knowing that he has
changed and wants to follow Christ, likewise they show that they are reformed
as well in becoming Christian people.
The
Mission’s first and only appearance to DVD to date in America came
via Warner’s 2-Disc special edition, which was long awaited. The DVD looked stunning and the wait seemed
worth it in every regard, evening getting some nice extras including a
feature-length commentary track by Director Roland Jaffe and a second disc
containing the documentary Omnibus,
which is a lengthy and in-depth look at transforming the tribal Indians into
the characters of the film, Jaffe insisted on not using real actors for the
parts, but authentic tribesman. The
result of doing so paid of handsomely, as this film looks so authentic and
real. Warner’s DVD also presented the
film with a Dolby 5.1 mix, which was marginally better than anything available
at this point for the film on home video and sticking with Warner’s typical
Dolby mix, instead of doing DTS like they rarely do, most were not
surprised. Warner has done DTS on a few
occasions, such as the director cut editions of the first three Lethal Weapons, Twister, and Interview with
the Vampire to name a few. The 2.35
X 1 anamorphic J-D-C scope transfer looked really great though preserving the
amazing cinematography, so that edition was worth the price. This film also received 70mm blow-up prints
during its initial run, but this print appears to have come from the 35mm
print, otherwise it would probably be closer framed to 2.20 X 1.
However, while the Warner edition is quite good, it came
to my attention that there is a DTS edition of the film available somewhere in
the world, so I had to track that done for comparison! I stumbled across an All Region DVD edition
of the film presented widescreen without extras, but with DTS! KD Media’s presentation of the film rivals
that of the Warner edition and firmly kicks it’s butt in the sound department.
A side by side comparison will show that the Warner
edition is a bit sharper picture wise and colors are a bit more saturated,
while the KD Media appears a bit darker at times, but where it loses out in
picture it makes up in the sound mix.
The KD Media edition has both Dolby 5.1 and DTS 5.1 mixes. The Dolby mix sounds identical to my ear,
but the DTS goes above and beyond in fidelity and power. The front three speakers become more
immerged and during the waterfall sequences you can hear more definition and
detail in the surrounds making the water more lifelike and real. Warner’s mix, despite being Dolby, is
actually one of their better Dolby mixes, but it cannot compete with the DTS
mix. The DTS mix makes the film sound
fuller and more like what the film would have been like on the 6-track magnetic
stereo mixes from the 70mm blow-up print.
Unfortunately there are NO extras on the KD Media edition
making the DTS audio track the real reason to want to pick this one up. The great thing though is that this disc is
All Region and will play anywhere in the world, so U.S. fans will be happy to
know that they don’t just have to settle for the Warner edition if they are
only able to play Region 1 discs on their DVD player. It’s great to have options and personally I will keep both
versions, but the consumer will have to ask which is more preferable: extras or
sound? Of course we would love to have
a definitive edition that takes the better Warner picture with the DTS sound
and still include extras, but that wait might take some time.
- Nate Goss
