HD-DVD Review: The Kingdom
By
Brad Pipkins
Video Format: 2.35:1 1080p (VC-1)
Audio Formats: English, French Dolby Digital Plus 5.1
Starring: Jamie Foxx, Chris Cooper, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman
Directed By: Peter Berg
Release Date: 12/23/07
General
Half a year ago, I was at the movie theater getting ready to enjoy a movie. I remember seeing this preview and thinking, “Great. Another war movie in an already saturated market…” After seeing the preview, I completely forgot about the movie. It wasn’t until the HD-DVD was released that I took notice again and decided to give it a rent. With the same mindset as before, I expected another typical Middle-East war movie. What I got was something else…
The Kingdom opens on a note that should make literally everyone feel a sense of sorrow and pain. Kids playing a game of little league baseball. Parents watching their kids, cheering them on and smiling. While it may look like an American town, it’s actually an American Embassy housing unit, developed for American oil workers. Something doesn’t seem right as the baseball game is being over watched by a few Saudi onlookers from atop a building far away. A Saudi police officer steps out near the field and presses the detonator in his hand. And explosion rips through the ball field, killing and injuring hundreds of innocent adults and children. This was no accident… This was an act of terrorism.
Jamie Foxx plays Ronald Fleury, an FBI agent in charge of seeking out who did this crime and bringing them to justice. The problem is that the Saudi government doesn’t want American FBI agents in their Country as it appears that the Saudi’s are losing control of their people. Fleury secures a plane and a landing, and also secures a team of specialists to accompany him and to ensure that they find the people responsible.
After the initial event, the movie starts off kind of slow until the team gets to Saudi Arabia, which is where the film really takes off. It’s a frantic fight against time as the team only has five days to do their work before they must return to American soil. What they uncover is something worse than they imagined.
Tech Specs
Video:
Universal puts out another top notch transfer. While not as color-less as the third Bourne movie, both have a lot in common in terms of overall look. Contrast is searing hot while we follow these FBI agents through the ruin in Saudi Arabia. Again, blacks are crushed limiting shadow detail, but this never really affects the movie in a negative way. Crushing blacks is a growing trend in filmmaking techniques that yields a much more dynamic image but hinders overall shadow detail.
There really isn’t any need to worry though. Everything about this transfer is superb. Colors, those that are there, literally jump off the screen at times. Skin tone is natural if not a bit orange, while detail is high enough to count the stubble on those who haven’t shaved in a few days. The nighttime scenes have a bit of a different look than the daytime exteriors, almost like the night shots were done with a HD camera instead of film. It never detracts from the viewing, and the overall transfer will leave you very satisfied.
Audio:
Another awesome audio track from Universal. While it doesn’t feature a TrueHD track, it does feature a Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 track at 48Khz/24-bit, meaning it should sound inline with a TrueHD track encoded at 48Khz/16-bit. Honestly, the track will impress even without the TrueHD moniker. Dynamics are very well represented. Guns have a natural yet foreboding presence that has to be heard to be believed. RPGs sound just as menacing and obviously pack more of an “after-punch” than an AK-47. The low end of things really heats up in the later half of the movie, but the opening made me duck for cover… literally. The only problem was understanding some of the dialogue. Provided this was watched late at night when listening at reference levels was not an option. Bumping the center channel up a couple of decibels fixed the problem.
Extras
Standard features apply here including deleted scenes, featurettes and behind-the-scenes footage and an audio commentary with director Paul Greengrass.
The Kingdom also features Universal’s signature U-Control feature. Picture-in-picture allows you to access cast interviews and behind the scenes footage while watching the movie. The Mission Dossier allows you to view investigative notes and background info on Middle-Eastern culture, government and religion. Lastly, Character By Character: The Apartment Shootout lets you follow each of the four characters while they fend for their lives in the films final scene.
Menus/Navigation
Fairly straight-forward as is the case with any Universal release. Everything is laid out logically and it is very simple to get around.
Overall Impressions
I didn’t really know what to think of The Kingdom when going in, but it more than impressed me. When theaters are filled with countless films based on war, it can get a bit tiresome treading through them all. Luckily, that feeling is lost when watching The Kingdom. It’s a breath of fresh air on a touchy topic such as this.
Linear Mode
