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COURAGE UNDER FIRE
COURAGE UNDER FIRE is a solid piece of entertainment that has been given a first class presentation on DVD by Fox. If you are a fan, or even remotely interested in the film- this DVD is well worth picking up. |
This DVD review 
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DVD
reviews are Copyright © 2001 THE CINEMA LASER and may not be copied
or reprinted without the written consent of the publisher. |
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The
Gulf War is something that Americans watched every evening on the nightly
news. We saw our military might drive the Iraqi forces out of Kuwait in
neat little segments, then as quickly as it started- the war was over.
The media coverage ended with the war, and the attention of the American
public turned to the next late breaking story. Like any good war movie,
COURAGE UNDER FIRE ($30) depicts the fighting in the gulf in more
vivid than any news camera could, plus it's intriguing story deals with
the aftermath of the confrontation. Denzel Washington stars as Lieutenant
Colonel Nathaniel Serling, an officer who is having difficulty dealing
with a tragic mistake during a battle that cost the lives of some of the
men in his unit. Reassigned to desk duty after the war, Serling finds
himself a position to place a rubber stamp on a piece of high profile
PR work for the military that would award a Medal of Honor for bravery
in combat to its first female recipient. Serling is assigned to investigate
the actions of Captain Karen Emma Walden (Meg Ryan) during the battle
that cost her life.
While
the initial investigation bears out Captain Walden's worthiness, inconsistencies
in the accounts of several soldiers force Serling to dig deeper to get
at the truth. Although under pressure from the "higher ups"
to finish his probe quickly, Serling is determined to do his duty and
make sure that his actions honor of all the men and woman who lost their
lives during combat in the gulf. Although basically a war movie wrapped
in mystery, COURAGE UNDER FIRE has a strong emotional center thanks
to the first rate performances of both Washington and Ryan (who appears
throughout the film in flashback). Edward Zwick's direction is tight and
he stages the battle sequences very effectively. COURAGE UNDER FIRE
also features a solid supporting cast that includes Lou Diamond Phillips,
Michael Moriarty, Matt Damon, Bronson Pinchot, Seth Gilliam, Regina Taylor,
Zeljko Ivanek and Scott Glenn.
20th
Century Fox Home Entertainment has made COURAGE UNDER FIRE available
on DVD in a THX certified wide screen presentation that has been enhanced
for 16:9 displays. Framed at 1.85:1, COURAGE UNDER FIRE features
a superb transfer that produces a wonderfully crisp image with marvelous
detail. Colors are strongly saturated, yet the flesh tones are completely
natural. Intense red lighting is used during one of the combat sequenced
and it is solidly reproduced without any signs of breakup. Additionally,
there is no chromatic distortion or smearing anywhere in the picture.
Blacks are deep and inky, plus the image boasts excellent shadow detail
and depth. The film element used for the transfer is virtually pristine,
although a bit of grain does crop up from time to time. Overall, another
excellent transfer from Fox. Digital compression artifacts are well concealed
on this finely authored dual layer DVD.
Like
the visual quality, the Dolby Digital 5.1 channel soundtrack is a complete
winner as well. The combat scenes are aggressively mixed, making use of
the entire 360° sound field with roaring choppers, blaring gunfire and
ground shaking explosions. Split surround effects are very well deployed,
in case my previous comment didn't make that fact clear. There is a good
balance between the front and the rear channels, with the realistic panning
of sounds in all directions. Dialogue reproduction is clean, crisp and
fully intelligible. The bass channel is strong and forceful, adding the
necessary kick to all of the film's sound effects. James Horner's score
is nicely mixed and maintains its full musical integrity. A DTS 5.1 channel
soundtrack is also offered on the DVD and it adds another layer of resolution
to an already excellent sound mix. While the DTS version of COURAGE
UNDER FIRE has stronger bass, as well as slightly better defined sound
effects and music, one shouldn't feel short changed with the Dolby Digital
track. English and French Dolby Surround soundtracks are also encoded
onto the DVD, as are English and Spanish subtitles.
Full
motion video, plus animation and sound have been utilized to enhance the
interactive menus. Through the menus, one has access to the standard scene
selection and set up features, as well as a few supplements. Director
Edward Zwick is featured on a running audio commentary that imparts a
lot of detail, which makes his talk quite interesting for fans of this
particular movie. Also included on the DVD is a short featurette on the
making of COURAGE UNDER FIRE. This is pretty much a straight PR
piece, but is worth a few minutes of your time because it includes interviews
with the cast and crew. Three theatrical trailers and three TV spots fill
out the disc's supplements.
