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War Horse
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray ALL - America - Buena Vista Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Andy James & Noor Razzak (28th April 2012). |
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The Film
 I initially had absolutely no intention of seeing Steven Spielberg's adaptation of the World War I set novel & play, "War Horse". Almost nothing about it appealed to me; in fact the only things that did were the WWI setting and "The Beard" himself. However, after reading a number of positive reviews and reactions online, I decided to give the film a chance. This was Spielberg after all, and World War I is a war far less cinematically enshrined than it's sequel, WWII. Unfortunately, after the two-and-a-half hours of runtime my reaction to the film was very under-whelmed "Meh". Which is not to say there aren't moments of sheer beauty, horror and genius. Moments that use the full array of camera, editing, performance and music tools at Spielberg's disposal to brilliantly moving effect. But those moments, as fantastic as they are, could not get me to connect with this film. Essentially World War I through the eyes of a horse, I found myself unable to connect emotionally. Spielberg does his utmost to invest the horse, Joey, with a surfeit of personality even going so far as anthropomorphizing him at times. But, as great as these efforts were, I couldn't connect to the horse and, by extension, the story. I certainly couldn't connect to Joey like lead human character Albert Narracott (newcomer Jeremy Irvine) does. The love this young man has for this horse is... well, intense. He's there at his birth and, when his father (Peter Mullan) drunkenly outbids their landlord (David Thewlis having oodles of scheming bastard fun) for Joey young Albert is overjoyed. However, to keep the farm afloat Albert's pa ends up having to sell Joey to a young officer in the Army. The young Army officer, a kind eyed Tom Hiddleston, is the picture of upper class English politeness. The Great War was a new kind of warfare; old rules of engagement were becoming obsolete as new, more advanced weaponry, made a mockery of them. When the English charge a German machine-gun nest it is a massacre, Spielberg masterfully cutting around the bloodshed with shots of riders in a field and riderless horses leaping over machine-guns. Young Joey then ends up in German hands being looked after by two young brothers. From there he's taken in by a young French girl and her grandfather before being re-drafted by the German army. In this way he criss-crosses the borders of the war, his story giving all-too brief glimpses into different lives and experiences of the War. And that's what they are - glimpses. Spielberg knows how to get a lot out of them, but I was still left with no central character I felt connected to. Not all of the images are immediately striking - or at least, not in a good way. Spielberg's usual cinematographer Janusz Kaminski saturates the film, laying the soaked in syrup tones a bit much at times. And one of the things I found myself most annoyed, perturbed and a little confounded by was the continuing cinematic trend of having foreigners speak to one another in perfect English; something that is especially noticeable when there are English characters in the film as well. It is a cinematic tendency I understand - the folk are talking to one another in their own language but the audience are "hearing" it as English - but I think it's long past time we moved on from it. It really is a piece of arch theatricality that only served to take me out of the film and, frankly, I would have expected different from Spielberg. I can see what was being aimed for with "War Horse" and, for a number of people, it definitely worked. I just wasn't one of those people. I never felt nakedly manipulated by Spielberg; it simply never connected with me and thus there was no emotion to pull on.
Video
Presented in the film's original theatrical ratio of 2.40:1 this HD image comes to Blu-ray in 1080p 24/fps and mastered using AVC MPEG-4 compression. Fantastic, that's the best way to describe it. The image is sharp and wonderfully detailed, the sets, locations and costumes all shine in this HD image. Colors are excellently represented here, vibrant and bold, especially blacks. The war sequences shine, this is where the HD images are really appreciated. Depth and clarity are second to none, film grain is light but necessary to maintain that filmic aesthetic. Overall it's reference quality.
Audio
Four audio tracks are presented here, in English DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 surround mixed at 48kHz/24-bit, French DTS-HD High-Resolution 5.1 surround 48kHz/24-bit, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 surround and an English Descriptive Dolby Digital 2.0 surround track. For the purposes of this review I chose to view the film with its DTS-HD 7.1 track, much like the image the soundtrack is equally impressive. Dialogue is clear and distortion free, ambient sounds are excellently mix and sound natural and never out of place. The film's soundtrack is robust, vibrant and immersive. As with the image, the sound's war sequences are where this track shine. The sound is aggressive and robust. Additionally the score by Spielberg regular John Williams adds a further layer of depth that overall works in a terrific way to encapsulate the viewer. Optional subtitles are included in English for the hearing impaired, English, French and Spanish.
Extras
Buena Vista has released this film in a 4-disc combo, included as extras are six featurettes, a documentary, plus the packaged includes a DVD version that features a standard definition version of the film as well as a disc that includes a digital copy version as well. Sadly, and as expected from a Spielberg production no audio commentary is included... he's never recorded one, and he's probably one of the director's most film fans want to hear from. Below is a closer look at these supplements. DISC ONE: BLU-RAY First up is the "War Horse: The Journey Home" (1080p) featurette which runs for 19 minutes 34 seconds, is a discussion with Spielberg, the film's producer Kathleen Kennedy, other key crew and the cast of the film. They comment on the story, themes and what drew them to the project as we get the usual behind-the-scenes footage as well in this rudimentary EPK clip. "An Extra's Point Of View" (1080p) is the next featurette which runs for 3 minutes 6 seconds, taking a different approach (but not exactly original) is a look at being involved in this production from the perspective of an extra. This clip is a waste of time to be honest, there isn't anything interesting about it, it just briefly shows viewers a different perspective on the film making process from one of the least interesting jobs on a film set. DISC TWO: BLU-RAY The second disc in this platter is the feature-length "A Filmmaking Journey" (1080p) documentary which runs for 64 minutes 14 seconds, having sat through two mediocre featurettes I was ready for something with more meat to it, something more in-depth and interesting. Thankfully the disc's extras producers where able to deliver, this is a fantastic look at the production from the early development and storyboarding to casting and shooting. The feature also has an ample amount of behind-the-scenes footage and more in-depth interviews with key cast and crew. Next up is the "Editing & Scoring" (1080p) featurette which runs for 8 minutes 53 seconds, this clip should have just been incorporated with the above documentary. In any case, this is a great look at the post-production process the film underwent as the shots are edited to create the final cut and Williams working on his Oscar nominated score. "The Sounds Of War Horse" (1080p) featurette follows and runs for 7 minutes 13 seconds, more on the film's post-production we get a closer look at the sound design that helps immerse viewers in this epic World War I tale, the complexities of the sound and on making sound as natural as possible. "Through The Producer's Lens" (1080p) is the next featurette which runs for 4 minutes 4 seconds, The film's producer Kathleen Kennedy takes time to share her photos she took while the film was in production with viewers. DISC THREE: DVD This is the standard definition DVD version of the film, and it includes a single featurette exclusive to the DVD (it's not featured on the two Blu-rays), entitled "War Horse: The Look" featurette runs for 6 minutes 29 seconds, delves into the film's aesthetic from the choice of locations, costumes, and production design. DISC FOUR: DVD his is a digital copy version of the film.
Packaging
Packaged in a 4-disc Blu-ray case housed in a cardboard slip-case.
Overall
The film review was originally published on the blog Rockets and Robots are Go! by Andy James. The A/V and supplements were reviewed by Noor Razzak.
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