Distributed by

Columbia TriStar

Cat.no: CDR 94773

Cert: 15

Running time: 107 minutes

Year: 1997

Pressing: 1998

Region(s): 2, PAL

Chapters: 20 plus extras

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Surround

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Icelandic, Hindi, Hebrew.

Widescreen: 2.35:1

16:9-Enhanced: Yes

Macrovision: Yes

Price: £19.99

Extras : Scene index, Theatrical trailer

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Director:

Alan J. Pakula (All The President's Men, Klute, The Pelican Brief, Presumed Innocent, Sophie's Choice)

Producers:

Lawrence Gordon and Robert F. Colesberry

Screenplay:

David Aaron Cohen, Vincent Patrick and Kevin Jarre

Music:

James Horner

Cast:

Tom O'Meara: Harrison Ford (Air Force One, Blade Runner, Clear And Present Danger, Hunt For Red October, The Indiana Jones Trilogy, Patriot Games, The Fugitive, Sabrina, Working Girl)
Rory Devaney: Brad Pitt (Seven)
Sheila O'Meara: Margaret Colin (The Butcher's Wife, Independence Day, In The Shadow Of Evil, TV: "Legwork")
Billy Burke: Treat Willams (Hair, In The Shadow Of Evil, Mulholland Falls, Things To Do In Denver...)
Edwin Diaz: Ruben Blades (Color Of Night, Criticial Condition, The Josephine Baker Story, The Two Jakes)
Megan Doherty: Natascha McElhone (Ronin, Mrs Dalloway, Surviving Picasso, What Rats Won't Do)
Harry Sloan: Simon Jones (TV: "The Hitch Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy")

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The film tells the story of a dangerous terrorist, Frankie Maguire (Brad Pitt) who escapes capture by the government authorities in Ireland and makes his way to America under the assumed name of Rory Devaney, where he is innocently harboured by New York cop, Tom O'Meara (Harrison Ford), who thinks he is just helping a young Irishman get on his feet while he starts a new job in a new town.

However, when Rory's terrorist mission comes calling and Tom realises what's going on, there'll be irrecoverable losses on both sides before the situation is resolved.

What I found surprising, though, was that while the trailer makes it seem like a run-of-the-mill thriller, the film plays out in a much more interesting and intriguing way than I thought it would.

The picture quality is mostly excellent, although on occasion the bitrate drops below 4 Mb/s and the artifacts come out, quite obviously to me, for 2-3 minutes at a time. This isn't a reason to put you off buying this, but it is something that, with a bit more care, could have been avoided in the mastering process.

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 a middling 4.33 Mb/s.

The widescreen ratio really serves this film well, with director Pakula, adding tension by utilising the frame better than a lot of his kind could, such as sometimes having things happen on both sides - all of which would be completely destroyed by a pan-and-scan transfer.

As per usual now, there are two sound flavours: Dolby Digital 5.1 for those with a penchant for giving their neighbours headaches and Dolby Surround for everyone else. There's no complaints with the sound at all, but apart from a few action scenes, there's nothing that will crack the plaster in the walls.

Extras :

Chapters/Theatrical Trailer :

The theatrical trailer is included here and is framed at approximately 16:9.

Languages/Subtitles :

There's just the one language on this disc - English - plus subtitles in English, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Icelandic, Hindi and Hebrew. The dialogue is brought across well in the English subtitles.

Menu :

The menu works well and looks good, emulating the cover artwork. As the tone of the film is about the IRA, the marker highlighting each option is a gun's target-sight, but you have to click the left-hand side of the option to access it. On playing the disc you see the Columbia TriStar logo before the main menu appears.

When you select the "Start Movie" option, you simply get the copyright logo before the film begins.

Overall, I enjoyed this film a lot more than I thought I would do, even if Harrison Ford looks as if he's about to break into Jack Ryan-mode every time he gets angry at someone or something, but if I had one query, it would be that the film has a 15-certificate. I don't think it has been cut, but the amount of bad language and violence would normally necessitate an 18, so perhaps the BBFC have gone for a 15 on the grounds that since it contains realistic-type violence, with the IRA situation being involved, this brings it above the level of the typical Hollywood blockbuster and may be of some educational benefit to those aged 15-17.

On an aside, Treat Williams and Margaret Colin never get to share a scene in this film, but both starred in In The Shadow Of Evil.

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

Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 1998.