Glory (Region 2 PAL Superbit Edition)

 

Picture: B+     Sound: B+     Extras: D     Film: A-

 

 

Glory still to this day remains a hugely popular film, and not just to Civil War buffs like the case with Gettysburg or God’s and Generals.  First released by the original Tri-Star Pictures in 1989, the film would garner lots of attention, especially for Matthew Broderick and also two superb performances by today’s top two African-Americans actors: Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman.  Both are equally at the top of their game in this film and their on-screen moments have energy that seems to stem from their personal experiences of being colored. 

 

The film seems to stage it’s action similar to that of two direct sources and that comes from 1927’s epic Napoleon, which is famous for it’s large battle sequences and being shot with a 3-camera setup making it a revolutionary film for the widescreen innovation.  The other direct influence comes from Akira Kurosawa and films like Ran or Kagemusha, which director Edward Zwick took more influence from for his spectacular The Last Samurai.  Zwick would establish himself as a solid filmmaker with Glory and go on to make a few hit or miss films during the 90’s including the indifferent Legends of the Fall, the underrated Courage Under Fire, and a film that was lost in the 1998 shuffle The Siege.  Keep in mind that these three films are worth mentioning also for the fact that they are all available in DTS in the U.S.  Starting with Courage Under Fire and The Siege, both Fox films, were released in clearly marked DTS editions, while Legends of the Fall received Superbit status after a few earlier non-DTS issues. 

 

This tells us that Zwick would probably prefer going DTS for his films, unfortunately Warner released The Last Samurai, which had extras to boot, but was sorely lacking DTS.  When will Warner U.S. learn?  Well, Columbia TriStar U.S. is also to blame for not taking advantage of their Superbit possibilities and they release some of the worst titles in content imaginable instead as Superbits, which only make the DVD market more confusing than it needs to be.  They also have a tendency to release multiple versions until getting things just right, instead of doing it right the first time around, which is what has consumers the most confused and irritated. 

 

Columbia TriStar’s 2-Disc Special Edition of the film is a classic example of this released in the U.S., which sadly missed a huge opportunity by not including a DTS audio option.  It would probably be wise for Columbia TriStar to re-release this film again as a Deluxe Superbit giving it the royalty in both quality and extras, but will that day ever come?  In the meantime the best way to experience the film for quality standards is through the Region 2 Superbit Edition released in Japan that blows away ANY of the U.S. releases for the film. 

 

If you are interested in seeing the film it was meant to be seen and heard than this is the closest way at this point in time.  While you may not get all those extras like the terrific 2-Disc set, the experience is much more solid in this presentation.  First, the 1.85 X 1 anamorphic transfer comes much closer to what the 70mm blow-up prints for this film would offer, despite the film typically having a dirtier appearance to give it an authentic look, the image looks stunning.  Grain can be a bit too much at times, but black levels are deep and dark, whites are never fully blown out, and color saturation looks fantastic giving true life to Freddie Francis’s superb cinematography.  Francis has a huge range of skill, often working with David Lynch as the case with The Elephant Man, Dune, and The Straight Story (another superb use of color), and even Martin Scorsese on his fine remake Cape Fear.  It was smart for the film to be shot in a 1.85 X 1 frame since the film would make it’s way to Television and schools, where it would be shown 1.33 X 1 cutting off information, but not nearly as bad as if the film was shot in scope 2.35 X 1.  The production behind Glory most likely knew this would be the case and chose the right path. 

 

The DTS 5.1 mix for Glory is quite the experience as it provides fresh sound to the dialogue and James Horner’s memorable score.  Sound is primarily in the front soundstage during dialogue and lighter action scenes, but the surrounds become engaged fully during the bigger battles and such.  Canons roar, shots zing around the sound mix, and bass becomes actively engaged making the film sound full and powerful, more closely connected to the 6-track magnetic stereo mix that would have been from the 70mm blow-up prints.  Those prints were also far better than the many “tissue paper” 35mm prints the film was sadly saddled with before Tri-Star went bankrupt over Red Heat and Rambo III, causing its merger with Columbia.

 

Here at FulvueDrive-in.com, we will always try to provide the best information for films and always want the consumer to have the upper hand when selecting DVD’s.  It’s unfortunate that the U.S. market is plagued with poor DVD’s, or multiple versions of films making it impossible to choose sometimes without knowing what you are getting.  Glory is without a doubt one powerhouse movie that is worth seeing and experiencing time to time, which makes it a very recommended title, but at this time the only way to truly get the best performance-wise is through the Japan Region 2 disc, which means you will need an All Region player here in the U.S. to do so.  However, the extras on the Region 1 Special Edition are quite appealing as well and make that version also a good recommendation, so owning both might be the best route depending on your disposition.

 

 

-   Nate Goss