Men Of Honor (Blu-ray)
Picture:
B+ Sound: B+ Extras: C Film: C
If there
is one more rendition of An Officer
& A Gentleman, massive nervous breakdowns are guaranteed. George Tillman, Jr.’s Men Of Honor (2000) arrived a year before the events of 9/11, but
probably would not have been changed that much and might have received a
different reception at the box-office had it not been overshadowed by Pearl Harbor and Black Hawk Down (both reviewed on Blu-ray elsewhere on this site).
Robert De
Niro is the tough trainer and Cuba Gooding, Jr. is the trainee trying to make
it as a U.S. Navy Master Diver. Though
it does not differentiate itself from so many such films we have seen like it
since the 1980s, it is still far better than lamer attempts to do such formula
War genre work like The Guardian
(also reviewed on Blu-ray elsewhere on this site) which offers dated Top Gun slickness and no real serious
attempt at showing the military or similar outfit seriously to the audience.
Both
actors were Oscar winners going in, which may have seemed like awards-baiting
to some, but the film is still competent, but never exceeds its Scott Marshall
Smith screenplay adaptation of the Carl Brashear book enough to cut new ground
despite acting talent and opportunities that would exceed the situation. Being inspired by a true story is no excuse
to be lazy or less ambitious, since you can repeat that until you are blue in
the face and that will not improve the film.
As a mater of fact, that has made for some of the worst films in recent
years, though this is better than many bombs using that and similar
monikers. Given that, Men Of Honor is worth a look, but has
limited rewatchability.
The 1080p
2.35 X 1 digital MPEG-2 @ 18 MBPS High Definition transfer looks better than
expected, with solid video black, some good depth, better color consistency
than usual for a Super 35mm film on video and a usually clean image. The #1 reason this look so good is thanks to
Director Of Photography Anthony B. Richmond, A.S.C, B.S.C., who was Nicolas
Roeg’s cameraman for years and brings the visuals above the usual gutted and
flat look too many films in this cycle have had. The DTS HD 5.1 Master Audio track is also
better than expected, despite being a dialogue-based film. Though the DTS HD chip is not on the market
yet, you can hear the clarity throughout and when the sound kicks in, it kicks
in well. The combination is what we
should always expect from HD, even when the film is not totally successful.
The only
extras here include full length audio commentary by Cuba Gooding, Jr., George
Tillman, Jr., producer Robert Teitel & screenwriter Smith, trivia track and
the original trailer in HD. Extras like
the alternate ending plus 11 deleted scenes with commentary by director George
Tillman, Jr., animated storyboards with commentary by director George Tillman, Jr.,
Carl Brashear documentary, HBO First
Look featurette on the film and the Brian McKnight Music Video for Win intended to promote the film could
not fit this 25GB Blu-ray and were dropped, so fans will still have to keep
their standard DVD version of the film if they want those extras.
- Nicholas Sheffo
