Spy Game
HD DVD Title: Spy Game Rated: R Screen format: 1080p 2.35:1 Studio: Universal Studios First theatrical release: 2001 Previously released on DVD: Widescreen and Fullscreen DVDs on 4/9/02 Director: Tony Scott Starring: Robert Redford, Brad Pitt, Catherine McCormack, Stephen Dillane, Larry Bryggman Sound Formats: English, Spanish, French Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 Length: 2 Hours 7 Minutes Subtitles: English, Spanish, French |
Plot: 2.5/5
Spy Game is a convoluted tale about two American spies. Robert Muir (Redford) is tipped off that his ex-protégé Tom Bishop (Pitt) has been captured while infiltrating a Chinese prison. As it’s his last day in the CIA, Muir must work with and against the system to help Bishop before Bishop is executed, the agency will not admit his involvement, nor work to rescue him. Viewers are kept guessing about Muir’s motives and past as Muir is interviewed about recruiting Bishop, Bishop’s involvement with local ‘asset’ Elizabeth Hadley (McCormack) and the operations the two have worked. Ultimately, while this film has some slick cinematography, the story fails to ignite and we are left with an average but mildly interesting show.
Sound Quality: 3.5/5
Spy Game features a pretty decent surround mix that spreads the score and a few remixed classic rock songs nicely along across all five speakers and the sub. There are a few notable directional effects from bullets and other environmental elements. Sadly, the environmental bass is very drab, even in the big explosive sequences it is barely sufficient. This is strange as the bass in the score is well done. While this isn’t a reference quality mix it gets the job done, just don’t come looking for deep bass.
Visual Quality: 3.5/5
The good news on the visual side of things is that the picture quality is very sharp with a deep palette. The bad news is that whatever ‘cleanup’ was done to the print used was wildly insufficient. Quite a bit of dirt and scratches popped up during my viewing and each was very distracting given the otherwise pristine quality of the film’s transfer. Grain was only distracting in a few skies. In many scenes the depth of field was minimized to highlight the sharp focus on the areas of interest. In those, the ‘out of focus’ areas also showed off film grain, but this was not nearly as distracting as the grain in the sky. Both are artifacts of the original film and not of this transfer. I did not notice much edge enhancement or other digital trickery, however some of title sequences (particularly the end credits) did appear uncharacteristically fuzzy. Overall this is a great looking film, and the transfer did it justice, however the cleanup could have been a lot better.
Extra Features: 3/5
This disk contains both a full length commentary track and an interactive ‘Behind the Scenes’ look at the world of the CIA through the use of the HD-DVD menu system, neither of which I explored. I did however watch the 6 deleted scenes and 4 alternate takes (all in non-anamorphic standard def) and found them interesting but of very poor audio and visual quality. As I noted in the plot overview, the story is a mess and it its clear that what DOES work for the plot was crafted in the editing room through some judicious cuts. Rounding out the extras are the theatrical trailer, a short look at Scott’s use of storyboarding (easily the best extra on the disk) and a 3 screen write-up on the requirements the CIA has for all hires.
Overall: 3/5 (not an average)
Overall, Spy Game didn’t really hit my interest too high, as a movie or as an HD-DVD. The plot fell a bit short of captivating me and the hit and miss on the audiovisual quality had me rooting for this movie to take it up a few notches and be a winner, but it just never got there. As a spy thriller there are tons of better quality stories, and as HD-DVD disks go there are already quite a few others ahead in the queue that I would use over this as demo material. Again, not that any of it was bad, it just fell a few feet short of perfect on all aspects for me. I would recommend it as a rental if you are a fan of the spy genre or big fans of either Redford or Pitt, as both are excellent and are featured in roles that they really nailed. The supporting cast was also very good, definitly believable as CIA brass.
PS: One thing that seemed odd to me was the R rating on this movie, the violence it didnt seem to merit more than a PG-13 to me. The box claims 'bried sexuality' but that is REALLY stretching it. Even the language didnt seem too bad to me, maybe I really have been desensitized to it! =)
