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Miracle At St. Anna
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray A - America - Buena Vista Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Noor Razzak (16th March 2009). |
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The Film
 From the trailers it seemed like "Miracle at St. Anna" would become Spike Lee's first major epic masterpiece since 1992's "Malcolm X" and could have potentially earned the activist/filmmaker his first Oscar nomination for 'Best Director' (a nomination that's been a long time coming). However, the film disappointed as it quickly didn't meet expectation, earning negative reviews claiming Lee's film was riddled with cliches, that the film's message was lost and the reference to a "miracle" in the title was never explained, of being a messy film without structure. To add further insult to injury the film underperformed at the box office and is considered a bomb. One thing is evident however, and that is Spike Lee is a competent filmmaker and capable of delivering an excellent movie going experience. It's this reason (combined with some beautifully captured moments in this film) that leads me to believe that critics and audiences may have been too hard on "Miracle at St. Anna," sure the structure seems messy (but it all comes together in the end), and it may not have been based on true events (a criticism which doesn't make sense to this reviewer... so what if it's not a real event?) but it's not a terrible film and if given the chance there are some rewards to be found. "Miracle at St. Anna" tells the story of the Buffalo Soldiers, a black regiment in the US Army serving in Italy during World War II. The story is told from the perspective of a surviving member of the group, Corporal Hector Negron (Laz Alonso) who is arrested for shooting a man at his work point blank with a Nazi Luger pistol, the arrest and investigation from a reporter, Tim Boyle (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and the discovery of a priceless Italian artifact from his home sparks his memory to what happened during the war and how he came to possess the artifact, a head from a statue that went missing after the destruction of a bridge by the Nazis. The story weaves a tale of the soldiers as they seek refuge in an Italian village, surrounded by Nazis, they encounter a small child, Angelo (Matteo Sciabordi) who talks to his dead brother, some partisans whom one is a traitor and must capture a Nazi for information while they wait for reinforcements. From this point things start to get a little convoluted. Firstly, there are flaws and most of them are blatantly evident, as mentioned before the plot is convoluted and can be hard to follow, there are so many threads being laid that it tends to take up a lot of time (accounting for the fact the film runs for 160 minutes), there are story elements that also laughable, like the manner in which the adult Angelo has the newspaper virtually fall into his lap, you'll find yourself asking what the point of setting up such a silly premise (aside from offering a cameo to John Leguizamo) for him seeing the paper, why could he not have just bought the newspaper? Often the easiest way to get from "A" to "B" is a straight line, there's no need to take side roads! This is just one of a few moments in the film that'll have you questioning why. Additionally, there's no need for the reporter character played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt to exist (his scenes could have easily been given to one of the detectives investigating Hector's case) and there was no explanation as to who the man was that Hector shot among other moments littered throughout that can be frustrating to viewers. I have to agree with the criticism that characters were all very cliched, in fact they often seemed like generic characters like "racist commanding officer" or generic "religious Italian villager" or generic "African American with strong opinions" etc. At first glance, there's very little in terms of unique characterization that separates the Buffalo Soldiers aside from how they look. But once you're invested in the story, and you get past this, there's plenty of character development that'll eventuate which adds layers to these characters. While the lead cast members are simply "Ok" in their performances, the supporting cast are fantastic, especially Matteo Sciabordi who plays the young Angelo delivers an incredible performance for such a young man. His scenes were not only touching but truly moving at times and occasionally funny. For all the moments that leave you questioning the direction of the film, or its cast there are heaps of glorious moments in the film that at the very least make it a good film (just not great), the chemistry between the lead cast is well developed, the war time battle scenes are well executed and the drama that unfolds between these men, their situation as well as the film's ending are shining moments. Lee knows how to craft dramatic scenes that feel engaging, but they often lack direction story-wise. "Miracle at St. Anna" is worth getting through the flaws... but it's up to you whether you want to sit through the 160 minute investment to get to the pay day.
Video
Presented in the film's original theatrical ratio of 2.35:1 this image is delivered onto Blu-ray in high-definition 1080p 24/fps and mastered using AVC MPEG-4 compression. Buena Vista continues their tradition of offering top notch transfers for recent films. This film shows off the striking locations and production design with it's unsurpassed sharpness and attention to detail. The image is crisp and vibrant with just the right amount of grain to add texture to the overall look of the film. Matthew Libatique's photography is given ample breathing room on this 50GB disc, the image also features vivid colors, accurate skin tones and deep blacks. Shadow detail is consistent throughout the print, and there are no blemishes to speak of, no dirt, specks, compression problems or edge-enhancement. It's a flawless and striking image that only Blu-ray can deliver.
Audio
There are three audio tracks present on this disc in English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround mixed at 48kHz/24-bit as well as French Dolby Digital 5.1 and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 surround tracks. Buena Vista seems to have recently dropped their support for uncompressed PCM audio, previously every Buena Vista release boasted one of these tracks, now it seems like they are favoring DTS-HD, which is just as good (although lossless as apposed to uncompressed), while PCM displays a broader range, the DTS-HD tracks can compete and in this case it's an exceptional audio track that presents the complex and intricate mix with stunning scope and depth. Dialogue is clear and distortion free, ambient sound is exceptionally well presented throughout the sound space in all its subtlety, the action scenes boom with a clear aggressive nature and the film's music adds further layers to the impressive audio. Optional subtitles are included in English for the hearing impaired, French and Spanish.
Extras
Buena Vista includes a few extras by way of two featurettes, deleted scenes plus a collection of bonus trailers. Below is a closer look at these supplements. "Deeds Not Words" is the first featurette and runs for 17 minutes 8 seconds and is a round table discussion with the real men of the Buffalo Soldiers along with author and screenwriter James McBride and director Spike Lee as they comment on the difficulty of World War II and of being a black soldier in the army. There's insights into the research undertaken for the book, the men share their memories of that time and provide a good historical background. "The Buffalo Soldier Experience" is the second featurette which runs for 21 minutes 36 seconds, and is a first hand account of the Buffalo Soldiers as told from the perspective of the author and screenwriter James McBride as well as from the director, a historian and those that survived the war. The feature includes some incredible archival footage and photographs that help recount that time and those that served in the army. Next up are a collection of nine deleted scenes, these can be viewed individually or with a 'play all' option and include: - "Co-Workers" runs for 34 seconds, Hector clocks in and talks to his co-workers at the post office. - "Joe Louis!" runs for 2 minutes 44 seconds, Higgins blows up the Axis Sally truck and fights a German in the river. - "Extended Barn Scene" runs for 1 minute 58 seconds, Stamps talks to to Train about the boy. Stamps and Hector argue about giving first aid. - "Extended General Almond" runs for 1 minute 56 seconds, Col. Driscoll tries to tell General Almond about the gun that needs to be taken out by the destroyer. - "Extended Ludovico's House" runs for 5 minutes 2 seconds, this is an extended scene in Ludovico's house. - "Extended Eichholz" runs for 1 minute 48 seconds, Eichholz tells Claussen about Hitler descending from the clouds. - "Stamps Plan" runs for 1 minute 10 seconds, Stamps walks his men around the village and plans for the Nazi attack. - "Fabiola" runs for 3 minutes 45 seconds, Fabiola tells the story of the Sleeping Man. She begs for the rabbit and Train shows up with more food. - "Dead Villager Montage" runs for 1 minute 14 seconds, a montage of those that died in the battle. Rounding out the extras are a collection of bonus trailers for: - "Anti Tobacco" spot which runs for 32 seconds. - "Disney Blu-ray" spot which runs for 1 minute 1 second. - "Confessions of a Shopaholic" which runs for 2 minutes 34 seconds. - "Doubt" which runs for 2 minutes 2 seconds. - "Blindness" which runs for 1 minute 41 seconds. - "Miramax Films" spot which runs for 2 minutes 36 seconds. - "Lost: The Complete Fourth Season" which runs for 54 seconds.
Overall
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