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Flags of Our Fathers
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Blu-ray Disc REVIEW
Flags of Our Fathers
Blu-Ray 2-Disc Special Edition
Studio: DreamWorks/Warner Brothers
Film Year: 2006
Film Length: 2 hours 12 minutes
Genre: Drama/Action/Combat/Period Epic
Aspect Ratio:
• 2.35:1 Theatrical Ratio
Film Resolution: 1080p
Special features: 1080p/480i
Video Codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Colour/B&W: Colour
Audio:
• English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
• French Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
• Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish
Film Rating: R
Release Date: May 22, 2007
Film Rating: 4/5
Starring: Ryan Phillipe, Jesse Bradford, Adam Beach
Screenplay by: William Broyles, Jr. and Paul Haggis Based on the book by James Bradley with Ron Powers
Directed by: Clint Eastwood
FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS is an impressive film – a period piece on a large scale that takes the viewer all the way from the Iwo Jima campaign to the massive bond tours across the US that it inspired. And yet, it’s a more intimate film than that description would have you believe. The film is centered on the three US soldiers who participated in the celebrated flag-raising atop Mount Suribachi and lived to come home after the battle. The events of the film are mostly seen through their eyes as they navigate the crowds which call them heroes and remember the horrors of what really happened back on the island.
There is a disjointed feel to the narrative, as the story shifts from present to past to future in the same manner that memories tend to overlap. This works for the most part, but somehow in the final act of the film, the narrative shifts to the son of one of the soldiers – the author of the book, James Bradley. When this happens, the film shifts from showing us what has happened to TELLING us. This is unfortunate, as the film doesn’t need the heavier hand. Thankfully, it doesn’t completely diminish the power of this powerful and moving elegy to the thousands of young men who died at Iwo Jima.
VIDEO QUALITY 5/5
FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS is presented in a 1080p MPEG-4 AVC transfer that is stunning to behold. It is easily the equal of the amazing DREAMGIRLS transfer seen last month. The colors on display depend on what period is being shown. The combat sequences, as has been mentioned by other reviewers, are presented in the same desaturated manner as those in SAVING PRIVATE RYAN. However, it should also be noted that the sequences shown in FLAGS tend to be more intimate, and there is far less use of slant-focus lenses or overt camera trickery than one usually sees in combat or action sequences these days. The US bond tour and the present-day sequences are richly colored, with abundant details visible throughout, from the texture of drums in a marching band to the plainness of the Midwest households who receive the news of what has happened to their sons.
AUDIO QUALITY: 5/5
FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS is presented in a 640kbs 5.1 Dolby Digital in English, French and Spanish. All the speakers in the home theater get a good workout here with surround activity throughout. This is heard not only in the music but in countless directional effects of voices calling from all sides or from the atmospheric effects of gunfire or the pops of flashbulbs. Dialogue is fairly clear throughout, even when some of it is coming from the surround channels.
SPECIAL FEATURES 4/5
The Blu-Ray release of FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS is a 2 disc affair. The first disc contains the feature itself. The second disc contains over an hour and forty minutes of special features, completely in HD, although only the theatrical trailer is presented in 1080p. The video codec for the extras is MPEG-2.
• Introduction by Clint Eastwood (5:06): This a brief introduction to the project by Eastwood, presented in 1080i. He basically sums up his interest in the material and his wish to explore the impact of the flag-raising photo.
• Words on the Page (17:03): This is a fairly in-depth discussion of the book and the screenplay it inspired. James Bradley discusses how he wrote the story of his father, “Doc” Bradley, a corpsman (medic) who participated in the flag-raising but never talked about it when he came home to his family. Following his death, his son began making calls to other survivors and families, and realized there was a worthwhile story to tell here. William Broyles contributes his own observations as a retired Marine in writing the initial adaptation, but admits that the picture didn’t really happen until Paul Haggis came aboard. Haggis himself tells some interesting anecdotes about going from writing the script for MILLION DOLLAR BABY to finding himself in a room with Clint Eastwood and Steven Spielberg discussing how to make this book into a film. This is presented in 1080i HD.
• Six Brave Men (19:52): This mini-documentary focuses on the 6 soldiers who participated in the pictured flag-raising on Mount Suribachi. Interviews with James Bradley and the cast members playing each role are intercut with archival footage, behind-the-scenes footage and photos of the real men. This is presented in 1080i HD.
• The Making of an Epic (30:14): This is a fairly standard, though affectionate, look at the making of the film, presented in 1080i HD. Several key production staffers are interviewed, including Eastwood, producer Robert Lorenz, cameraman Tom Stern and late production designer Henry Bumstead. More behind-the-scenes footage is presented, intercut with the appropriate moments from the actual film. The location filming for the Iwo Jima beach work in Iceland is presented, with some interesting notes about how they created the black lava sand look. (There is a quick aside about the COLD ocean water which relates to a swimming scene in the film that makes one really feel for the actors who had to do it…) The mini-doc closes (as does the film itself) with dedications to Henry Bumstead and casting director Phyllis Huffman, both of whom passed away before the film premiered.
• Raising the Flag (3:26): This is a quick 1080i HD look at the staging of the flag-raising for the film. Archival footage of the actual flag-raising is intercut with interviews with the cast and on-set video. (It’s interesting to note that the celebrated photo is actually of the SECOND flag-raising on Mount Suribachi – the first one wasn’t photographed)
• Visual Effects (14:55): This 1080i HD mini-doc focuses on the work of Digital Domain to transform location footage from the set into the completed period material seen in the finished film. In many cases, the VFX guys had to completely rotoscope out the backgrounds and put in vistas of the required setting. In other cases, existing combat scenes were augmented with additional explosions, vehicles, soldiers, etc. From what can be seen here, only a minimal amount of work was done with greenscreen – something almost unheard of these days.
• Looking into the Past (9:27): This is an edited collection of archival footage from the 1940’s, including reportage during the invasion of Iwo Jima, the second flag-raising, and the bond tours back in the US. The footage hasn’t been restored as far as I can tell – it’s just presented in 1080i HD in all its grainy glory. If anything, this is a barometer of what an unrestored 1940’s film will look like on Blu-Ray.
• Theatrical Trailer (2:27): The full theatrical trailer is included here in 1080p HD, albeit with the MPEG-2 codec, and 640kbs 5.1 sound.
Subtitles are available in English, French and Spanish on the feature itself and in English for the featurettes. A generous scene index has been included here. The usual pop-up menu capability is available here as you watch the film, but not the featurettes. The usual Paramount Blu-Ray trailer plays when you first put the disc in, but you can skip it with the menu button. (Given that Dreamworks is part of Paramount now, the trailer makes sense…)
IN THE END...
FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS is moving and intimate film, set on a grand period scale. The 1080p AVC transfer it gets here is truly breathtaking. If you haven’t seen the film, this is a terrific way to experience it.
Kevin Koster
May 22, 2007.
