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Crimson Tide
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray ALL - America - Buena Vista Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Noor Razzak (17th February 2007). |
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The Film
 "Crimson Tide" was an excellent movie when it was first release, and time has not dulled its edge- although it's hard to see the value in its DVD re-release unless you don't already have a copy. Its story is simultaneously small-scale and epic, following the impact two top officers on a US nuclear submarine can have on the rest of the world. Denzel Washington is Lt. Commander Ron Hunter, a family man assigned to the submarine U.S.S. Alabama. The Alabama is commanded by Gene Hackman's Captain Frank Ramsay, who is in many ways Hunter's polar opposite. Ramsay is not prepared to be undermined by Hunter in front of his men due to the risk it would pose to the chain of command- and in a private meeting, tells Hunter that while Hunter has been taught to ask "why" about certain orders, Ramsay has been told only where the button is and when to push it. By far the most interesting and important quote of the film comes from Hunter, who observes to Ramsay that "in the nuclear world the true enemy is war itself"- a motif that is echoed in the film. In one dryly hilarious scene, Hunter breaks up a fistfight that has begun on the Alabama between two crewmen who disagree over the best authors of the Silver Surfer comic, pointing out firstly that this sort of behavior is counterproductive to their extremely important mission, and secondly that Stan Lee's Silver Surfer is clearly superior. More importantly, the Russian insurgents- the nominal reason for the Alabama actively patrolling where it is- are not so obviously a group of "bad guys" to be overcome, but rather an objective to be achieved or not. The enemy to be defeated is not the insurgents, but a war with them- and it's a question of whose outlook is the best to prevent war from breaking out. The Alabama receives an EAM, an emergency action message, instructing the Alabama to ready its missiles for a pre-emptive launch against the Russians, who are ready to fire their missiles. As the missiles ready, an enemy submarine engages the Alabama- and as it loses radio contact, the Alabama receives a partial EAM that may or may not countermand the first order. The tension in the film then rises to its maximum as the two commanding officers disagree about what to do. Predictably, Ramsay is on the side of following Navy regulations, which state that unless the EAM is explicitly countermanded, the orders stand, including situations like this one, where communications have been cut off. Hunter sees nuclear war as being too high-stakes and wants to pursue further contact. Mutiny ensues. Though this drama verges on melodrama, the cast and crew help to make the entire encounter believable. Surprisingly articulate directing by Tony Scott maintains the tension from the beginning of the film, and allows the main characters to develop- if at the expense of the supporting characters in the film. Strong performances from James Gandolfini and Viggo Mortensen before they were famous as well as other strong actors like George Dzundza and Matt Craven are almost overshadowed by the overbearing drama that stems from the difference in attitudes between the two men- and indeed, their struggle for dominance becomes more important to the viewer than the possibility of starting WWIII. The movie is also strengthened by a sweeping, heroic score from Hans Zimmer and a well written script that does tend towards exposition over characterisation, but is also realistically filled with technical terms and slang, creating a gripping and realistic depiction of life on a submarine. Crimson Tide is not a complex film, but it is certainly one worth watching. The simple tension between the two sides provokes thought and debate: Wait for more information at the cost of enemies deploying nuclear weapons against your country, or deploy your own nukes even when there's a significant chance your orders have been changed? It's not a question that's easy to answer, as a coda at the film's end emphasizes.
Video
Presented in a widescreen ratio of 2.40:1, this high-definition release is presented in 1080p 24/fps and has been created using AVC MPEG-4 compression. Being a catalogue release this film makes it's way to Blu-ray in a fashion similar to other titles such as "Con Air" (1997), the film has seen a couple of DVD releases including an 'Unrated Cut' on DVD which featured an updated transfer, this edition is of the original 'Theatrical Cut' and it appears the transfer for this release was taken from the one struck for the digital scan created for the film's initial DVD release. While it would have been better had Buena Vista released the more recent 'Unrated Version' this cut makes its debut on the high-definition format with a decent looking image. The picture is generally sharp although some soft spots are evident, detail is good and holds up well for a film over a decade old, colors are bold and skin tones appear natural. Some grain is seen especially amid black levels which appear a bit murky and not as bold as they should be, some edge enhancement was also spotted and a few scattered bits of dirt and specks popped up as well.
Audio
Three audio tracks are included in English PCM 5.1 uncompressed audio at 48kHz/16-bit/4.6 Mbps as well as standard Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks in English and French. For the purposes of this review I chose to view the film with its PCM 5.1 track, The audio transfer is 'ok' at best but this audio track is awesome, to start with dialogue is clear and distortion free, the track is filled with ambient sounds that place you inside the submarine, it's totally immersive in that sense and the more intense sense pick up with a balanced aggressiveness to them. The film's score also sweeps through the sound space in the usual Bruckheimer fashion. Optional subtitles are included in English for the hearing impaired, French and Spanish.
Extras
> Buena Vista has included a series of deleted scenes, two featurettes and bonus trailers as extras on this disc. Below is a closer look at these supplements. First up is a collection of 7 deleted scenes, these can be viewed individually or with a 'play all' option and include: - "Movie Trivia on the Bus" which runs for 30 seconds, sees Weaps (Viggo Mortensen) and Dougherty (James Gandolfini) playing some trivia as they board the bus before they are to report to the sub for briefing. - "Sara Interviews Radchenko" runs for 1 minute 31 seconds, and sees a reporter interviewing the Russian President Radchenko (Daniel von Bargen) who appears to be taking a hard line stance. I can see why this scene was dropped, considering von Bargen's Russian accent is the worst I've seen since Harrison Ford in "K-19: The Widowmaker" (2002). - "Radchenko Debriefing" runs for 16 seconds, the crew take a crack at the interviewer's endowment. - "Ramsey Asks Hunter to Talk to Cob About His Weight" runs for 12 minutes, the captain is concerned about Cob's weight. - "Hunter and Cob Chat" runs for 1 minutes 57 seconds, Hunter brings up Cobb's weight problem and they also talk about the Captain's speech. - "Cob's Joke" runs for 34 seconds, Cob tells an amusing joke about two sailors having sex. - "Awaiting the Naval Hearing" runs for 1 minute 12 seconds, in this scene Hunter waits patiently outside the hearing as other officers are called in before him. There is also a featurette on the making of "Crimson Tide" entitled 'The Making of Crimson Tide", which is predictably enough mostly promotion for the film and runs for 19 minutes 55 seconds. Although the second featurette, an "All Access: On The Set Of Crimson Tide", features some horsing around between various members of the cast which is quite fun, even if it makes you yearn somewhat for a commentary. This clip runs for 10 minutes 17 seconds. Also featured on this disc are a collection of bonus trailersfor: - "Disney Blu-ray" spot which runs for 1 minute 43 seconds. - "Wall-E" which runs for 1 minute 23 seconds. - "Gone Baby Gone" which runs for 2 minutes 36 seconds. - "Dan in Real Life" which runs for 2 minutes 32 seconds. Finally the disc also includes a "Movie Showcase", which jumps to three key reference scenes that show off the high-definition quality.
Overall
This film has been reviewed by Tom Williams. The Blu-ray specifications and extras have been reviewed by Noor Razzak.
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