The Four Feathers (2002)

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General		Extras
Category	War	Main Menu Audio & Animation Featurette-The Friendship Of Abou Fatma Featurette-Surviving The Prison Featurette-A Journey Of Self Discovery Featurette-The Mystery Of The Desert Featurette-The Sounds Of East And West Featurette-The Battle Of Abou Clea Featurette-A Journey From Within Featurette-A Historical Perspective
Rating
Year Of Production	2002
Running Time	120:06 (Case: 126)
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (86:55)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Shekhar Kapur
Studio Distributor	Walt Disney Studios Home Ent.	Starring	Wes Bentley Mohamed Bouich Campbell Brown Daniel Caltagirone James Cosmo Andy Coumbe Angela Douglas Karim Doukkali Lucy Gordon Megan Hall James Hillier Nick Holder Djimon Hounsou
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	?	Music	James Horner

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Four Feathers (2002) is the latest adaptation of A.E.W. Mason's novel of the same name. It is a lavish, epic movie that tells a compelling story of courage, loyalty, friendship, redemption, and the triumph of the human spirit.

    A.E.W. Mason's novel Four Feathers has been adapted a few times into film. There are previous film versions made in 1915, 1921, 1929, 1939, 1955, and 1977. This points to the timelessness of the story, as it explores the human spirit in distress. This 2002 version has been described by the screenwriter as a "period film with modern sensibilities", and it is clearly made within the context of our modern world.

    The story is set in the late nineteenth century. By 1884, over a quarter of this planet had been conquered by a tiny island, England. England had grown to be an industrial super-power, and the British arrogance of the Victorian era was devoted to Empire building, and thus to war. In order to maintain this Empire, a Spartan culture of warfare and sacrifice was needed, and during this era, it was considered a great honour to fight and die for Queen and Country. Those young men who did not enlist were considered cowards, and anyone who actively avoided fighting brought shame and dishonour on themselves, their friends, and their family. These men were often given white feathers by their friends and family as symbols of their cowardice.

    Harry (Heath Ledger) is a young British Officer, and the son of a British General. When "Mohammedan fanatics" attack a British fortress in the Sudan, the resident British soldiers are "slaughtered to a man". A few regiments, including Harry's, are advised that they are to be sent to the Sudan to replace these fallen soldiers, and to revenge their deaths. All the young officers greet this news with great excitement, except for Harry, who has growing doubts. Harry has always viewed his training and military service as a gentlemanly sport, and the idea of real combat terrifies him. Harry resigns his commission a week before he is to be shipped out, and he is instantly expelled from polite society. He later receives four white feathers, including one from his former best friend Jack (Wes Bentley), and one from his former fiancé Ethne (Kate Hudson).

    Harry is confused and lost, and embarks on a journey of self discovery that will take him from the crowded back streets of London to the windswept, barren deserts of the Sudan, as he attempts to track down his former friends, and struggles to find a way to prove his courage, and himself.

    An epic film on the scale of Lawrence of Arabia, this movie boasts superb writing, great acting performances, beautifully paced and subtle direction, wonderful cinematography, and a brilliant score.

Video

    Overall, the transfer of this movie to DVD is excellent.

    The transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, 16x9 enhanced.

    The sharpness is excellent. For example, consider the detail in the uniform at 25:30. The film is rather harshly lit, and has a high contrast, resulting in very dark, dark scenes. That said, the shadow detail is still good, such as the background detail in the dark room at 15:43. The colour is brilliant, which is important in this film.

    There are no major problem with MPEG artefacts, but some minor pixelization does appear at times. There are also no problems with film-to-video artefacts. Film artefacts appear throughout, but they are just tiny flecks. There is some noticeable edge enhancement at times, but I did not find it distracting.

    There are only English subtitles present, and they are accurate. This is a RSDL disc, with the layer change placed at 86:55.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    This DVD boasts one of the best surround sound experiences that I've enjoyed in a long time.

    Although released theatrically with both Dolby Digital and dts encoded audio, there is only one audio option on this DVD: English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s).

    The dialogue quality and audio sync are excellent.

    The wonderful musical score is credited to the very talented James Horner, and it is a very clever and beautiful score, at times juxtaposing and at other times blending Arabic and Western styles of music. This stylistic approach reminded me a little of the magnificent score for Gladiator.

    A completely immersive soundscape is created by the excellent surround mix, and by its use of the surround channels. The rears are used very effectively to carry the ambience, the score, and the many directional sound effects. There is very effective panning between the speakers, such as during the cacophony of the battle scene at 69:40. The LFE track gets plenty of work throughout, supporting both the score and the many effects, such as providing the thunder of the cavalry charge at 11:19.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

    The extras are comprised of eight short Featurettes (each running for just a few minutes). This is a bit cheeky, as they are basically one featurette (with one set of interviews) that have been divided into eight short 'chapters'. I was disappointed that there was no trailer, and no audio commentary, especially as the director, Shekhar Kapur, is one of the most literate and intelligent film directors that I've seen interviewed. All the extras are presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, with Dolby Digital Stereo audio, and contain interviews, historical and production stills, and some behind the scenes footage.

Menu

    Animated with audio.

Featurette-The Friendship Of Abou Fatma

    Comments by key cast and crew members about the theme of friendship within the story of the film.

Featurette-Surviving The Prison

    Comments by key cast and crew members about the theme of re-birth through suffering that appears within the story of the film.

Featurette-A Journey Of Self Discovery

    Key cast and crew members discuss the character Harry's journey of self discovery.

Featurette-The Mystery Of The Desert

    Comments by key cast and crew members about filming in the desert, and the effect it had on both the cast and crew.

Featurette-The Sounds Of East And West

    An interesting discussion of the score by the director. Sadly, the film's composer does not appear.

Featurette-The Battle Of Abou Clea

    This battle appears in the movie, and according to some historians, it marks the first failure of the British Square, and the beginning of the end of the British Empire.

Featurette-A Journey From Within

    The director notes that many huge epic films deal with an internal journey within the protagonist.

Featurette-A Historical Perspective

    This is the one featurette which is separate from the others in that it features interviews with a few historians who discuss both the time period and the movie's fairly accurate portrayal of it.

    Four Feathers was released on DVD in Region 1 in February, 2003.

    The Region 4 DVD misses out on:

• Theatrical trailer
• Audio Commentary by director Shekhar Kapur

    The Region 1 DVD misses out on:

• nothing

    I would favour the R1 for the audio commentary

   Exceptionally well made, with a great attention to detail, I was genuinely surprised at the short run Four Feathers had at the cinemas. I also notice it didn't seem to get a lot of publicity, even with its release on DVD. However, if like me you love Lawrence of Arabia, Zulu, or epic movies generally, then this is definitely one for you (at least to rent). As a big-screen epic, I enjoyed this movie both on my widescreen television and with my projector. I must add that if you're fortunate enough to see this DVD projected in a home theatre you will not be disappointed.

    The video quality is excellent.

    The audio quality is remarkable in its surround presence and depth.

    There are limited extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall