Diplomatic Siege

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General		Extras
Category	Action Thriller	Menu Animation & Audio Dolby Digital Trailer: City Cast Biographies Theatrical Trailer (Full Frame, Dolby Digital 2.0)
Rating
Year Released	1999
Running Time	90:33 Minutes
RSDL/Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region	4	Director	Gustavo Graef-Marino
Studio Distributor	Trimark Pictures Universal Home Video	Starring	Peter Weller Daryl Hannah Tom Berenger Adrian Pintea Uwe Ochsenknecht
Case	Transparent Amaray
RPI	$36.95	Music	Terry Plumeri

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English (Dolby Digital 5.1, 448Kb/s) English (Dolby Digital 2.0, 224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Macrovision	Yes	Smoking	No
Subtitles	None	Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    The film's premise is so utterly ridiculous that it makes makes me wonder exactly what the writers were smoking, even though it is quite interesting when one hits their disbelief with a hammer repeatedly. It seems that the United States has been putting nuclear bombs underneath its embassies in the Soviet Union and other such Eastern Bloc countries in order to give them an edge where first-strike capability is concerned. Of course, now that the Cold War has come to an end, men like Steve Mitchell (Peter Weller) are being called upon to go from embassy to embassy and disarm these secret weapons. He and Erica Long (Daryl Hannah) meet up in the US embassy within Serbia shortly before it is taken over by terrorists who are bent on the release of an important Serbian political figure who is about to undergo trial over the practise of ethnic cleansing. Of course, along the way we are treated to numerous shots of things exploding for no particularly good plot reason, and enough ridiculous moments to turn the whole affair into an Action Comedy. At some point, the screenwriters must have remembered that this film was also supposed to star Tom Berenger, as his character, General Buck Swain, is introduced about halfway through the film.

    I cannot even begin to describe the haphazard way in which this film was put together, with enough bad photography and abysmal dialogue to keep such gems as Plan 9 From Outer Space! looking good. Among the most hilarious moments is one at 20:06, when Steve puts a wet towel over his head in order to hide from an infra-red sensor. The tender moment at 32:20, when Steve and Erica stop to make out while hiding from the terrorists in an air shaft is priceless in and of itself. Films with this much unintentional comedy value don't come by often, so I heartily recommend at least renting the disc to get a dose of the hilarity contained within.

Video

    The transfer is presented in the aspect ratio of 1.78:1, with 16x9 enhancement. The transfer is very sharp, in spite of the film having a distinct made-for-television look about it that is enhanced by some of the poorly chosen camera angles. The shadow detail is very good, with plenty of subtle details discernible in the occasional dark portions of the film, and there is no low-level noise present.

    The colour saturation is somewhat dull, although whether this is the fault of the film stock or simply inherent in the locations is difficult to determine. Since most of the film takes place in such places as an ageing US embassy and the Pentagon, it is fair to call the colour palette on offer a fair reflection of the locations, although I am only guessing in the case of the Pentagon since I don't recall any filmmakers being allowed to take a camera in there.

    MPEG artefacts were not a problem in this transfer, with the film looking as smooth and natural as you could reasonably expect from a single-layered disc. The bitrate usually stays above seven megabits per second, giving the video plenty of room to breathe when the general lack of inspiration in the photography is borne in mind. Film-to-video artefacts were not a specific problem with this transfer, either, with only the occasional display of shimmer in one or two pieces of car chrome that I expect would disappear altogether on a progressive display. There is a dot-crawl artefact in a shot of a computer display at 70:41, but I suspect this to be inherent in the source material rather than a fault of the transfer, as the whole thing really looks like a cheap effects shot. Film artefacts are a similar non-issue in this transfer, with this transfer obviously being taken from a very clean source. I counted maybe a handful of small white flecks in the entire picture.

Audio

    There are two soundtracks included in this audio transfer, both of them being different mixes of the original English dialogue. The first soundtrack, which is also the default, is a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix, while the second is a Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo mix. I listened primarily to the 5.1 mix while sampling a passage or two in the stereo mix for curiosity's sake. The dialogue is clear and easy to understand at all times, save for the limits posed by the thick accents of the Serbian characters, which are relatively minor in nature. There are no discernible problems with audio sync, save for one obvious instance of ADR.

    The score music in this film is credited to Terry Plumeri, and an especially B-grade effort it is, too. Much of this score consists of militaristic themes that give the whole film a gung-ho "them versus us or vice versa" feel, which suits the unintended comedy of the film quite well. Were there any dramatic tension to be sustained in this film, I am sure that the score music would have done so, but even then I wouldn't count upon it.

    The surround channels are aggressively utilized to support the music and ambient sound effects, creating a very enveloping sound field that makes the film a little more immersive than it probably should be. While the soundtrack is a little front-heavy at times, the six discrete channels are used well to put the viewer right in the midst of the action. The subwoofer was used constantly to support the music, explosions, and gunshots, as well as some other bass-heavy sound effects that are spread constantly through the film.

Menu

Theatrical Trailer (2:02)

Cast Biographies

• 16x9 Enhancement

    The video transfer is very good, although you can't make a reference quality transfer out of poor cinematography.

    The audio transfer is very good, with plenty of subwoofer and surround channel usage.

    The extras are minimal.
 

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall