Dom Robinson reviews

Distributed by

Columbia TriStar

Cat.no: CDR 94593

Cert: 15

Running time: 132 minutes

Year: 1992

Pressing: 1998

Region(s): 2, PAL

Chapters: 24 plus extras

Sound: Dolby Surround

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Cantonese, Italian, Greek, Hebrew.

Widescreen: 2.35:1

16:9-Enhanced: Yes

Macrovision: Yes

Price: £19.99

Extras : Scene index, Columbia TriStar trailer (clips of many films coming to DVD).

---

Director:

Rob Reiner (The American President, Ghosts From The Past, Stand By Me, The Sure Thing, This Is Spinal Tap, When Harry Met Sally)

Producers:

David Brown, Rob Reiner and Andrew Scheinman

Screenplay:

Aaron Sorkin (based on his play)

Music:

Marc Shaiman

Cast:

Lt. Daniel Kaffee: Tom Cruise (Cocktail, Days Of Thunder, Far & Away, The Firm, Interview With The Vampire, Jerry Maguire, Legend, Mission: Impossible, The Outsiders, Rainman, Risky Business, Top Gun)
Col. Nathan R. Jessup: Jack Nicholson (Batman (1989), Blood And Wine, Chinatown, The Crossing Guard, Easy Rider, Hoffa, Little Shop Of Horrors (1960), Man Trouble, Mars Attacks!, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, The Shining, The Two Jakes, The Witches Of Eastwick, Wolf)
Lt. Cdr. JoAnne Galloway: Demi Moore (The Butcher's Wife, Disclosure, Ghost, G.I. Jane, Indecent Proposal, The Juror, Nothing But Trouble, Now And Then, The Scarlet Letter, Striptease)
Capt. Jack Ross: Kevin Bacon (Apollo 13, The Big Picture, Diner, Footloose, Friday The 13th, JFK, Murder In The First, The River Wild, She's Having A Baby, Sleepers, Tremors)
Lt. Jonathan Kendrick: Kiefer Sutherland (Bright Lights Big City, The Lost Boys, A Time To Kill, The Three Musketeers, Young Guns, Young Guns 2: Blaze Of Glory)
Lt. Sam Weinberg: Kevin Pollak (Casino, Grumpy Old Men, Grumpier Old Men, Ricochet, The Usual Suspects)
Pfc. Louden Downey: James Marshall (All She Ever Wanted, The Unspoken Truth)
Lt. Col. Matthew Markinson: J.T. Walsh (Backdraft, The Big Picture, Breakdown, Hoffa, Needful Things, Nixon, Red Rock West, The Russia House, Sniper, TV: "Dark Skies")
Dr. Stone: Christopher Guest (Little Shop Of Horrors (1986), The Long Riders, This Is Spinal Tap, TV: "The Simpsons")
Lance Cpl. Harold W. Dawson: Wolfgang Bodison (The Expert)
Capt. Whitaker: Xander Berkeley (Barb Wire, Candyman, The Killing Jar, Safe)
Cpl. Jeffrey Barnes: Noah Wyle (The Last Days Of Paradise, TV: "E.R.")
Cpl. Carl Hammaker: Cuba Gooding, Jnr. (Boyz In The Hood, Jerry Maguire, Outbreak, The Tuskagee Airmen)
Man in Bar: Aaron Sorkin

---

The type of 'punishment' dished out to Santiago was a 'Code Red' which went wrong resulting in the private's death. Those two marines are in trouble, but so is the officer who authorised the 'Code Red' and Lt. Daniel Kaffee has to find out who was responsible for this.

This is a strong drama with an engaging, coherent plot which unfolds at a steady pace. The opening credits are also a marvel to watch with a gun-twirling display that beggars belief on first viewing.

A great film has an equally-great cast with a three-strong lead from Tom Cruise, Demi Moore and Jack Nicholson, the latter of which has very few scenes, but steals all those that he appears in.

The supporting cast are certainly no small fry either compromising of Kevin Bacon, Kiefer Sutherland, Kevin Pollak, Twin Peaks' James Marshall and the late J.T. Walsh, one of the finest actors who never quite made the Hollywood A-list.

There's also support from This Is Spinal Tap's Christopher Guest, a fresh face to film from Wolfgang Bodison, Air Force One's presidential aide, Xander Berkeley, Noah Wyle aka Dr. John Carter in the award-winning TV series E.R., Cruise's Jerry Maguire co-star, Cuba Gooding, Jnr., plus a cameo from the film's author, Aaron Sorkin as 'Man in Bar'.

The picture quality is near-perfect with only a few small artifacts during the opening chapter while Santiago is murdered, plus in the establishing shot at the start of chapter 10, most of which would go unnoticed by most people. The film is presented in its original widescreen ratio of 2.35:1, is enhanced for 16:9 widescreen televisions - thus allowing for higher resolution - and the average bitrate is 3.93 Mb/s, which is quite low but still serves this release incredibly well.

The sound comes in one format: Dolby Surround. This being a drama, the sound is only really used for dialogue, Marc Shaiman's musical score and ambience.

Strangely, Chapter 21 has a couple of mins where the vocals are out of sync while Jack Nicholson is on trial, but it ends just before he gives an answer.

Extras :

Chapters/Columbia TriStar Trailer :

It's confusing that the main menu has a "Play trailer" option as you'd expect it to be the trailer for this particular film, but it's not. It's a collection of clips from various Columbia TriStar films coming soon to DVD.

Languages/Subtitles :

There's just the one language on this disc - English - plus subtitles in English, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Cantonese, Italian, Greek and Hebrew. The English subtitles condense the dialogue a fair amount, losing some of Cruise's sarcastic character.

Menu :

The interactive menu is excellent and just dragging the mouse pointer over an option highlights it.

The main menu also appears very quickly. However, on playing the film it is then that time is taken up with the Columbia TriStar logo and copyright info.

Overall, this is an excellent drama with a top-line cast, a gorgeous transfer and pleasing sound. It could have used some more extras, but what we have here is certainly worth the asking price.

FILM	 		: *****
PICTURE QUALITY		: ****½
SOUND QUALITY		: ****
EXTRAS			: *½
-------------------------------
OVERALL			: ****

Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 1998.