Traffic
(HD-DVD)
Picture:
B Sound: B- Extras: C+ Film: B
Originally
a British TV mini-series called Traffik
(reviewed elsewhere on this site, see link below), Steven Soderbergh took on
all the material and ambitiously made it into the feature film Traffic in 2002. An award winning film, critical success and
decent box office hit, it weaves the story about the problems with illegal
drugs, the war against it that has been fought wrong and therefore has failed,
as well as showing us the inside world of all the sides involved as they come
closer and closer to clashing.
Michael
Douglas (in a role Harrison Ford turned down, who would have also worked in)
plays a judge who is fighting the war on drugs, but just as he is about to get
a big promotion, finds out his daughter Caroline (Erika Christensen) is an
addict and her behavior is going to be come increasingly high-risk in ways that
could become irreparable. She is enabled
by her slick, smart-ass friend Seth (Topher Grace playing to type) who does not
know when to quit and may have to face the consequences of his actions sooner
than he thinks.
Then
there is the wife of the drug kingpin Helena (Catherine Zeta-Jones in a smart
performance as a not-necessarily-nice lady) who shocks the macho world of
male-dominated distribution elites with her crazy new plan to smuggle their
valued “product” into the country, even while she is with child. Two DEA agents (Don Cheadle and Luiz Guzman)
do everything they can to bust the operation, but it is not easy. Though they are having a picnic of a time at
their work, compared to a counterpart over the border in Mexico with a similar
moral center.
He is
Officer Javier Rodriguez, played by Benicio Del Toro in an Oscar-Winning role
for Best Supporting Actor as the cop who is trying to do his job and faces
corruption both from the kingpins and within his own government. He does what he can to survive, do his job
and try to make a difference. Suddenly,
in the thick of the connection of the drug and government corruption via the
military, the CIA secretly approaches him and wants his help to nail a
kingpin. Javier is listening, but has
some requirements of his own, the most important point of which makes for the
big statement the film makes when all is said and done.
Unlike
the issues with oil and corruption writer Stephen Gaghan later addressed in Syriana (reviewed in high definition
formats elsewhere on this site), which he also directed, the drug problems and
issues are much more obvious. That does
not make them any less painful or disturbing.
If anything, this film has become truer in what it says, shows and who
it portrays what is going on with the “war on drugs” situation. Some of the answers it offers still hold true
and Universal (especially after the positive response to the Syriana HD-DVD) were smart to issue
this title so soon in the format. The
other great thing is that this is not another Gangster film, with many who went
to see it expecting something like Brian De Palma’s Scarface, but it still portrays some of that same world. Though its nearly
2.5 hours looses some of the events from the original TV Traffik, Traffic holds
up well, holds its own and remains an important film in our time about our time
willing to deal with current problems.
That is all too rare these days.
The 1080p
1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image like Syriana varies in quality on purpose between scenes and locations,
using monochromatic signatures, slight degradations and overexposures in
various combinations to create a unique atmosphere. Some of this is too fancy for its own good,
while other aspects just never gel or hold up after repeat viewing. However, the clarity of this version makes
the differences more interesting.
Soderbergh did his own camerawork under a pseudonym, and though it works
just well enough, it makes for a strong argument for why you need to keep
Director Of Photography a separate job.
The Dolby
Digital Plus 5.1 is a bit of an improvement overt the previous DVD editions,
including Criterions, but all of them have the limits of the sound mix being
done on a computer with rough audio results.
Cliff Martinez’s score is a plus, but the clarity sometimes helps some
dialogue, and makes the problem with other dialogue more apparent. Extras are no where as plentiful as that of
the Criterion version, but does include stills, trailers, TV spots and a behind
the scenes featurette. You can read
about the original TV mini-series on DVD at:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/2136/Traffik+(Mini-Series)
- Nicholas Sheffo
