Home Of The Brave (Blu-ray + DVD-Video)
Picture:
B+/B- Sound: B+/B Extras: C- Film: C+
Before
Hollywood was able to deal directly with the Vietnam fiasco, it had an entire
“he’s coming home” cycle of films that barely noted the events overseas and
dealt with the aftermath of (trying to re-)integrate back into society. The Iraq fiasco has had many common
denominators with that event, but a similar film cycle has not been one of
them. Producer-turned-director Irwin
Winkler attempts to do one of the first “coming home” films with Home Of The Brave.
Mark
Friedman’s screenplay actually is brave enough to start in The Middle East,
then the rest of the film tries to deal with the emotional and psychological
implications of returning home for good.
As ambitious as the film is and as good as the cast including Samuel L.
Jackson, Jessica Biel, Brian Presley and even Curtis Jackson (the Rap Music
world’s “50 Cent”) are and well-meaning the film itself is, it does not manage
to break any new ground. It is still an
important enough film for those who have not seen the best of its Vietnam era
equivalent, but for those who have seen this before, they will not find it too
memorable. Still, if interested, it is
worth a look.
The 1080p
MPEG 2 @ 18 MBPS 2.35 X 1 image, looking better than the DVD, shot in a
combination of 35mm (Super 35mm shooting) and High Definition video, the latter
of which becomes obnoxious quickly despite the best efforts of the great
Director of Photography Tony Pierce-Roberts, B.S.C. with different situations
to capture. The anamorphically enhanced
DVD-Video looks good for lower def, holding the image well enough, but is no
match for the Blu-ray. The DTS HD MA
(Master Audio) lossless 5.1 mix is better than Dolby Digital 5.1 on the DVD,
but both have good character at times when the sound really kicks in. Otherwise, all is clearly recorded. The extras include a trivia track and Winkler
audio commentary on the Blu-ray, while the DVD adds deleted scenes which should
be on this 25GB disc.
- Nicholas Sheffo
