Since
I already knew the outcome of the Cuban Missile Crisis, I wasn't expecting
THIRTEEN DAYS ($27) to be one of the most compelling and suspenseful
movies that I'd seen in a very long time. Since I hadn't been born when
the events depicted in the film actually transpired, I don't know if many
people actually realized how close the world came to nuclear war during
a two-week period in October 1962. THIRTEEN DAYS offers a bird's
eye view of the political, military and diplomatic wrangling that took
place in the Kennedy White House after a spy plane took photographs of
Soviet nuclear missiles being installed on the island nation of Cuba.
To recount the entire story would be a waste of time for those already
familiar with the complete history, and it would do a disservice to those
experiencing THIRTEEN DAYS for the first time.
THIRTEEN
DAYS is told from the vantage point of Kenny O'Donnell (Kevin Costner),
a high ranking member of Kennedy's inner circle, who personally made sure
that the President’s directives were carried out as intended, as well
as insulating JFK from certain political eventualities. Costner certainly
gives one of his better performances as O'Donnell, although his Massachusetts
accent does waiver somewhat. Bruce Greenwood does a great job of embodying
John F. Kennedy during the toughest crisis that almost any American President
had to face. Kennedy truly had to perform a hire wire balancing act- having
to come up with a solution that would compel the Soviets to remove their
nuclear weapons from Cuba, without forcing the Russian’s into an all out
war. Steven Culp bares a marked resemblance to Robert F. Kennedy, with
lends additional weight to what is already a solid performance.
THIRTEEN
DAYS truly benefits from David
Self's incredibly taut script, which takes a cut and dried incident from
history and turns it into a compelling political thriller. Director Roger
Donaldson maintains a sense of tension throughout the film, which almost
becomes unbearable towards the end of the crisis, despite the audience
already knowing the outcome. In addition to the three leads, the fine
cast of THIRTEEN DAYS also features Dylan Baker, Henry Strozier,
Frank Wood, Len Cariou, Janet Coleman, Stephanie Romanov, Bill Smitrovich,
Ed Lauter, Dakin Matthews, Walter Adrian, Peter White, Tim Kelleher and
James Karen.
New
Line Home Video has selected THIRTEEN DAYS as the film to usher
in their new Infinifilm line of DVDs, which is a step up from their already
incredible Platinum Series. As with almost any other New Line DVD release,
THIRTEEN DAYS looks terrific. The film is presented in its proper
1.85:1 aspect ratio and the DVD features the anamorphic enhancement for
16:9 displays. THIRTEEN DAYS employs various cinematic tricks that
skew the look of the movie at various points. There are black and white
sequences that slowly fade to color, as well as stock footage from the
1960s that has been digitally cleaned and colorized to mesh better with
the rest of the movie. Obviously, new photography looks better than stock
footage, plus the shots that go from black and white to color aren't as
impressive as the main body of the film. Still, the transfer does manage
to bring out the best from the varying picture quality of the movie. Most
of the film is very crisp and finely detailed. In general, colors are
well saturated and completely stable. Certainly, there is some fluctuation
in the intensity of the hues, but this is due to a stylistic choice made
by the filmmakers. Additionally, flesh tones maintain an appealing quality,
despite manipulations to the film's photography. Blacks are fairly velvety,
plus the picture produces a good level of shadow detail in a majority
of the darker scenes. Again, stock footage and stylized sequences don't
fully match the characteristics of the main body of the film. Digital
compression artifacts are nowhere to be seen on this finely authored dual
layered DVD.
For
a dialogue driven drama, THIRTEEN DAYS includes a very clean, very
precise sounding Dolby Digital 5.1 channel sound mix. Directional and
surround effects are employed only during key moments during the film,
but when they do occur they are completely convincing and never take the
audience out of the moment. The bottom end is completely authoritative
and the higher end never comes across as shrill. Composer Trevor Jones
contributes an understated, but highly effective musical score that is
beautifully integrated into the soundtrack. The score maintains a fully
musical presence throughout the film and the superlative sound design
prevents music from drowning out the dialogue. The dialogue itself is
faithfully reproduced with excellent intelligibility, despite the heavy
Massachusetts accents of certain characters. No other language tracks
are included nor are subtitles.
Animation
and sound enhance the interactive menus, which supply access to the standard
scene selection and set up features. Supplements can also be selected
through the menus, although can be viewed in the standard manner or through
the new Infinifilm option, which adds a new dimension to the film watching
process. Selecting the Infinifilm option makes the movie watching process
more interactive, because it allows one access to supplemental material
throughout the course of the movie. When an icon appears on screen, the
viewer can check out ancillary materials that pertain to a particular
moment in the film and then are whisked back to the point in the movie
where they left off. As I previously indicated, the supplements are also
accessible in the standard manner, which allows the viewer to enjoy the
film first and watch the supplements later.
Under
the supplemental section titled "All Access Pass" we
find an audio commentary featuring director Roger Donaldson, producer/star
Kevin Costner, producer Armyan Bernstein, executive producer Michael De
Luca, screenwriter David Self, and visual effects supervisor Michael McAlister.
Although edited together, the commentary track is highly informative about
the production and what hurdles had to be overcome to get THIRTEEN
DAYS up on the screen. Bringing History To The Silver Screen
is an eleven-minute featurette that looks at the challenges of making
a historically accurate and entertaining motion picture. Visual effects
supervisor Michael McAlister introduces a special effects featurette,
which employs multiple angles to look at the breakdown of one of the film's
impressive CGI sequences. A theatrical trailer, filmographies and nine
deleted sequences that feature optional director commentary are also present
under the "All Access Pass" section.
The
"Beyond The Film" section features all of the DVD's supplements
that deal specifically with the Cuban Missile Crisis. Starting things
off is the Historical Figures Commentary Track, which feature
portions of recordings from individuals involved in the Cuban Missile
Crisis, including John F. Kennedy, Kenneth O'Donnell, Pierre Salinger
and Robert McNamara. Also interjecting comments on the audio track are
Sergei Khrushchev (son of the Soviet leader), plus historians Ernest R.
May and Philip D. Zelikow. This is an incredibly interesting and educational
track because in its way, it makes history come alive. Equally informative
is the historical information subtitle track, which presents the viewer
with a steam of additional historical facts that they can read while watching
the film. Also included are nineteen biographies on historical figures
that were directly associated with the Cuban Missile Crisis. Closing out
the "Beyond The Film" section is the forty-eight minute
documentary Roots Of The Cuban Missile Crisis. Utilizing
archival footage and new interview sequences, this is the type of first-rate
educational entertainment program one normally sees on The History Channel
or PBS. THIRTEEN DAYS is also DVD-ROM enabled, allowing viewers
access to the film's screenplay and theatrical web site.
THIRTEEN
DAYS is an entertaining and suspenseful political thriller based upon
historic fact. In fact, this is one of the best films that I've seen in
the last year. With that said, it’s a shame that THIRTEEN DAYS
wasn’t seen by a much larger audience than those who paid to see it in
theaters. Hopefully, the tremendous DVD release will rectify that situation.
If you have even the slightest interest in the film, please take the time
to check it out- you won't be disappointed. Additionally, New Line Home
Video deserves tremendous credit for introducing their Infinifilm
series of DVDs. Infinifilm truly takes New Line DVDs beyond what the company
already achieved with their superb Platinum Series. This fantastic DVD
is absolutely recommended.
Since
I already knew the outcome of the Cuban Missile Crisis, I wasn't expecting
THIRTEEN DAYS ($27) to be one of the most compelling and suspenseful
movies that I'd seen in a very long time. Since I hadn't been born when
the events depicted in the film actually transpired, I don't know if many
people actually realized how close the world came to nuclear war during
a two-week period in October 1962. THIRTEEN DAYS offers a bird's
eye view of the political, military and diplomatic wrangling that took
place in the Kennedy White House after a spy plane took photographs of
Soviet nuclear missiles being installed on the island nation of Cuba.
To recount the entire story would be a waste of time for those already
familiar with the complete history, and it would do a disservice to those
experiencing THIRTEEN DAYS for the first time.
THIRTEEN
DAYS is told from the vantage point of Kenny O'Donnell (Kevin Costner),
a high ranking member of Kennedy's inner circle, who personally made sure
that the President’s directives were carried out as intended, as well
as insulating JFK from certain political eventualities. Costner certainly
gives one of his better performances as O'Donnell, although his Massachusetts
accent does waiver somewhat. Bruce Greenwood does a great job of embodying
John F. Kennedy during the toughest crisis that almost any American President
had to face. Kennedy truly had to perform a hire wire balancing act- having
to come up with a solution that would compel the Soviets to remove their
nuclear weapons from Cuba, without forcing the Russian’s into an all out
war. Steven Culp bares a marked resemblance to Robert F. Kennedy, with
lends additional weight to what is already a solid performance.
THIRTEEN
DAYS truly benefits from David
Self's incredibly taut script, which takes a cut and dried incident from
history and turns it into a compelling political thriller. Director Roger
Donaldson maintains a sense of tension throughout the film, which almost
becomes unbearable towards the end of the crisis, despite the audience
already knowing the outcome. In addition to the three leads, the fine
cast of THIRTEEN DAYS also features Dylan Baker, Henry Strozier,
Frank Wood, Len Cariou, Janet Coleman, Stephanie Romanov, Bill Smitrovich,
Ed Lauter, Dakin Matthews, Walter Adrian, Peter White, Tim Kelleher and
James Karen.
New
Line Home Video has selected THIRTEEN DAYS as the film to usher
in their new Infinifilm line of DVDs, which is a step up from their already
incredible Platinum Series. As with almost any other New Line DVD release,
THIRTEEN DAYS looks terrific. The film is presented in its proper
1.85:1 aspect ratio and the DVD features the anamorphic enhancement for
16:9 displays. THIRTEEN DAYS employs various cinematic tricks that
skew the look of the movie at various points. There are black and white
sequences that slowly fade to color, as well as stock footage from the
1960s that has been digitally cleaned and colorized to mesh better with
the rest of the movie. Obviously, new photography looks better than stock
footage, plus the shots that go from black and white to color aren't as
impressive as the main body of the film. Still, the transfer does manage
to bring out the best from the varying picture quality of the movie. Most
of the film is very crisp and finely detailed. In general, colors are
well saturated and completely stable. Certainly, there is some fluctuation
in the intensity of the hues, but this is due to a stylistic choice made
by the filmmakers. Additionally, flesh tones maintain an appealing quality,
despite manipulations to the film's photography. Blacks are fairly velvety,
plus the picture produces a good level of shadow detail in a majority
of the darker scenes. Again, stock footage and stylized sequences don't
fully match the characteristics of the main body of the film. Digital
compression artifacts are nowhere to be seen on this finely authored dual
layered DVD.
For
a dialogue driven drama, THIRTEEN DAYS includes a very clean, very
precise sounding Dolby Digital 5.1 channel sound mix. Directional and
surround effects are employed only during key moments during the film,
but when they do occur they are completely convincing and never take the
audience out of the moment. The bottom end is completely authoritative
and the higher end never comes across as shrill. Composer Trevor Jones
contributes an understated, but highly effective musical score that is
beautifully integrated into the soundtrack. The score maintains a fully
musical presence throughout the film and the superlative sound design
prevents music from drowning out the dialogue. The dialogue itself is
faithfully reproduced with excellent intelligibility, despite the heavy
Massachusetts accents of certain characters. No other language tracks
are included nor are subtitles.
Animation
and sound enhance the interactive menus, which supply access to the standard
scene selection and set up features. Supplements can also be selected
through the menus, although can be viewed in the standard manner or through
the new Infinifilm option, which adds a new dimension to the film watching
process. Selecting the Infinifilm option makes the movie watching process
more interactive, because it allows one access to supplemental material
throughout the course of the movie. When an icon appears on screen, the
viewer can check out ancillary materials that pertain to a particular
moment in the film and then are whisked back to the point in the movie
where they left off. As I previously indicated, the supplements are also
accessible in the standard manner, which allows the viewer to enjoy the
film first and watch the supplements later.
Under
the supplemental section titled "All Access Pass" we
find an audio commentary featuring director Roger Donaldson, producer/star
Kevin Costner, producer Armyan Bernstein, executive producer Michael De
Luca, screenwriter David Self, and visual effects supervisor Michael McAlister.
Although edited together, the commentary track is highly informative about
the production and what hurdles had to be overcome to get THIRTEEN
DAYS up on the screen. Bringing History To The Silver Screen
is an eleven-minute featurette that looks at the challenges of making
a historically accurate and entertaining motion picture. Visual effects
supervisor Michael McAlister introduces a special effects featurette,
which employs multiple angles to look at the breakdown of one of the film's
impressive CGI sequences. A theatrical trailer, filmographies and nine
deleted sequences that feature optional director commentary are also present
under the "All Access Pass" section.
The
"Beyond The Film" section features all of the DVD's supplements
that deal specifically with the Cuban Missile Crisis. Starting things
off is the Historical Figures Commentary Track, which feature
portions of recordings from individuals involved in the Cuban Missile
Crisis, including John F. Kennedy, Kenneth O'Donnell, Pierre Salinger
and Robert McNamara. Also interjecting comments on the audio track are
Sergei Khrushchev (son of the Soviet leader), plus historians Ernest R.
May and Philip D. Zelikow. This is an incredibly interesting and educational
track because in its way, it makes history come alive. Equally informative
is the historical information subtitle track, which presents the viewer
with a steam of additional historical facts that they can read while watching
the film. Also included are nineteen biographies on historical figures
that were directly associated with the Cuban Missile Crisis. Closing out
the "Beyond The Film" section is the forty-eight minute
documentary Roots Of The Cuban Missile Crisis. Utilizing
archival footage and new interview sequences, this is the type of first-rate
educational entertainment program one normally sees on The History Channel
or PBS. THIRTEEN DAYS is also DVD-ROM enabled, allowing viewers
access to the film's screenplay and theatrical web site.
THIRTEEN
DAYS is an entertaining and suspenseful political thriller based upon
historic fact. In fact, this is one of the best films that I've seen in
the last year. With that said, it’s a shame that THIRTEEN DAYS
wasn’t seen by a much larger audience than those who paid to see it in
theaters. Hopefully, the tremendous DVD release will rectify that situation.
If you have even the slightest interest in the film, please take the time
to check it out- you won't be disappointed. Additionally, New Line Home
Video deserves tremendous credit for introducing their 
