DVD Zone: June 2009
Revolutionary Road
20th Century Fox
After taking a trip to the Middle East with Jarhead, director Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Road To Perdition) returns to the fertile ground of middle-American dysfunction with Revolutionary Road. Teaming up again are Titanic co-stars Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio as April and Frank Wheeler, but there are no “king of the world” moments this time around. Instead, the pair find themselves living lives of quiet desperation in the mid-’50s.
As we meet them, she’s a wanna-be actress whereas he doesn’t know what he wants to be. A quick fast forward to a few years later finds the couple married with children, Frank working the grey-flannel-suit life of a salesman, and April revealed to be a less-than-stellar actress.
After setteling into their run-of-the-mill suburban lifestyle, April decides the couple should shake things up and get back to their free-spirit roots by chucking the whole hum-drum experience and moving to Paris, in the hopes that their lives will have the meaning they once thought they’d have. Until, that is, a complication — that so often happens to couples in the movies — arrives to throw a wrench in the plans.
While not as devastating an indictment of suburban malaise as Amercian Beauty, Road manages to holds its own. After a somewhat ponderous middle section, Mendes, DiCaprio, and Winslet manage to pull out a surprisingly gripping third act.
The disc includes a sparse set of features, with only commentary from Mendes and screenwriter Justin Haythe, a few deleted scenes, and a making-of segment.
Film: *** Features: **1/2
Defiance
20th Century Fox
Based on the story of the Bielski brothers, Defiance tells the tale of a group of Belarusian Jews fleeing to the forest to hide from the Nazis during the early days of World War II.
Led out of the Jewish slums by the Bielski brothers, the ever-growing group stays one step ahead of the soldiers by constantly moving over the course of two years. While one of the brothers, Tuvia (Daniel Craig) stays with the group, brother Zus (Liev Schreiber) takes up with the Russian resistance. Of course, double crosses ensue as each side fights for what is best for them.
Director Edward Zwick knows his way around oppressed minorities taking up arms for what is right, having helmed the brilliant Glory. Here, while maintaining an even hand for the most part, the film does get a little heavy with the Biblical symbolism at points. While the Exodus parallels are natural and unmistakeable, Defiance practically beats you over the head with them near the end. The only thing missing from the scene of the group crossing a river to escape is the river actually parting.
The cast is uniformly strong, with Craig showing he’s not one to get typecast as James Bond easily, and the always solid Schreiber delivering another strong performance.
Features include commentary by Zwick, a making-of segment, and a good piece with the family members of the survivors.
Film: *** Features: ***1/2
The Star Trek Motion Picture Trilogy
Paramount
With the re-booting of the Star Trek franchise still raking in cash hand-over-fist in theaters, Paramount comes through with the inevitable re-release of the original films. Plucking the three flicks in the series with the most consistant story arc, The Motion Picture Trilogy covers the era where Spock dies, then gets reborn, then swims with whales.
While all the films Messrs. Shatner, Nimoy, and the rest made have been re-released, Trilogy offers your best option by serving up the two best films with the original cast — The Wrath Of Khan and The Voyage Home, along with the underrated The Search For Spock.
All three films look and sound great, and the set comes loaded with special features.
Now, if Paramount would get around to giving the best of all the Trek flicks, First Contact (let the letters begin), the full re-release treatment, then we’d be on to something.
The Wrath Of Khan: ****
The Search For Spock: ***
The Voyage Home: ***1/2
Trilogy Special Features: ***1/2
— Timothy Hiatt
