There
you have it. Now back to the review.
"Pagoda?
Shred my contract for this film. Thanks."
Behind
Enemy Lines appeared
to stretch reality for its own ends. There were scenes when
Burnett avoids situations from which no one could escape, I
honestly thought that the whole plot point in which the NATO
chiefs hold back the rescue was so that John Rambo would step up
for the “one man mission” and go get our pilot back! Come on
people, it’s a movie have fun with it, sure Behind Enemy Lines is about action without much room for logic, and
character development , but once again it’s a MOVIE - must I
bring up Mission Impossible 2, speaking of which, I noticed a
lot of slow motion shots in this film, was John Woo on the set?
Behind
Enemy Lines
appears in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 on this
single-sided, double-layered DVD; the image has been enhanced
for 16X9 televisions. This was a terrific picture that
had no concerns.
Sharpness
consistently appeared excellent. At all times, the movie
remained crisp and well defined, with virtually no signs of
softness. I didn’t see signs of jagged edges and no detection of edge enhancement. There was however a couple of
grains on a few occasions, other then that there were no other
defects.
"They
got me out of soccer practice for this?"
The
colors appeared clean and accurate, and they showed no signs of
bleeding, noise, or other problems. Even during blue-lit scenes
on the ship, the colors stayed tight and solid. Black levels
looked deep and dense, while shadow detail was appropriately
heavy but not excessively thick. Overall, the
movie presented a simply "topflight" (no punt
intended) image.
Also,
“topflight”, was the film’s audio. Behind Enemy Lines
offered both Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1. I
thought the DTS mix outdid the Dolby Digital 5.1 and offered the
superior experience. (When doesn’t it?)
Behind
Enemy Lines
featured an active and vibrant sound field. All five of my
speakers received an intense workout on this flick, the sound
used the entire spectrum to terrific advantage. Of course, the
action sequences made the strongest impact. The Jet take offs
alone filled the environment with a pretentious impact.
If
you want to impress your friends with the DTS sound experience,
may I suggest the scene in which Burnett and his co-pilot try to
evade the missiles, as well as the ending rescue scene. Talk
about impressive! Each your heart out Top Gun! (Speaking of
which, when is Paramount jumping on the DTS band wagon? Hello
Paramount, where are you?)
The
soundtrack on this DVD showed good stereo presence, and the
track always provided a solid sense of atmosphere. The mix fits
together at all times.
Now
when you have a loud soundtrack and great surround sound action
occasionally dialogue may become buried
under sound, but this happens in a couple of scenes, it
all makes sense when you see and hear it, so no major problem.
All in all the audio sounded clean and crisp, and the loudest
jet sequences packed a serious blast!
Audio
Commentary With Director John Moore and Editor Paul Martin Smith
Audio Commentary With Producer John Davis and Executive Producer
Wyck Godfrey
Extended/Deleted Scenes With Optional Commentary
Behind the Scenes Featurette
Pre-Vis Ejection Sequence
Trailer (Teaser for Minority Report)
I
personally thought Behind Enemy Lines provided a very
satisfying experience. The film itself has some flaws but
nonetheless seems exciting and stimulating, and the DVD provides
a strong picture and sound, especially the DTS version! The
special features on the other hand weren’t so impressive. I
love movie trailers and so when I clicked under Special
Features/ Bonus Materials and I didn’t see the trailer, that
was a major letdown.
As
much as I thought Behind Enemy Lines
was entertaining and fun, the
movie at times doesn’t make a strong impression. Should you
buy it or rent it? Bottom line, if you know you already like the
flick, it’s probably worth your purchase, but for anyone on
the fence, it’s worth a rental.
TOP
