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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Buffalo Soldiers (2001)

Buffalo Soldiers (2001)

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Released 30-Dec-2003

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Drama Main Menu Animation
Dolby Digital Trailer-Rain
Theatrical Trailer
Rating Rated MA
Year Of Production 2001
Running Time 95
RSDL / Flipper No/No Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By Gregor Jordan
Studio
Distributor

Roadshow Home Entertainment
Starring Joaquin Phoenix
Ed Harris
Scott Glenn
Anna Paquin
Elizabeth McGovern
Michael Pena
Leon
Gabriel Mann
Dean Stockwell
Brian Delate
Shiek Mahmud-Bey
Amani Gethers
Noah Margetts
Case Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI $39.95 Music David Holmes


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

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

“War is hell, but peace ... peace is f***ing boring.”

    It is the dying days of the Cold War and American troops stationed in West Berlin are bored out of their minds with no war to fight. To pass the time, Specialist Ray Elwood (Joaquin Phoenix) runs army surplus on the German black market and cooks opium into heroin in the basement of his barracks for distribution by the African-American dominated Military Police who are in fact the local drug-running cartel. Sounds simple enough. But when a tank driven by smackheads goes awry on manoeuvres and kills the drivers of a couple of army trucks, Elwood finds himself in possession of two tons of military ordinance. In a daring move, he enters a bargain to trade the arms for more heroin. However, at the same time a new Company Sergeant, Lee (Scott Glenn), shows up and takes an instant disliking to Elwood and his unconventional military manner. The two begin a battle of wills that gets even more complex when Elwood decides to date Lee’s young daughter Robyn (Anna Paquin).

    Based on the novel by Robert O’Conner, Buffalo Soldiers is quite a nihilistic little jaunt of a film that, had it been released prior to 9/11, would have been somewhat less contentious than its release post the invasion (or ‘liberation’ depending on your political perspective) of Afghanistan and Iraq. With US troops now stationed all over the world, a film about corruption in the ranks of the US military is suddenly quite topical. Do not get me wrong – this is not an anti-American film. This kind of corruption happens everywhere and is apparently quite endemic to peacekeeping operations. But it does make you think a little more about how well disciplined and controlled the US Army actually is, particularly given that they are now all over the place.

    Director Gregor Jordan, who put together the Australian crime flick Two Hands and more recently Ned Kelly, has done a very good job here, infusing the film with just the right level of music video mayhem and artistic style that plays well for laughs, action, and tension. For a (relatively) low budget film, this also has a very polished look, and the performances – particularly by Phoenix and Paquin – are quite good, although ultimately they are limited by the space of their roles.

    Do not go to this film looking for a good vs. evil struggle or any conventional cinematic paradigms. These are all bad people doing bad things. There are just degrees of evil and incompetence. Buffalo Soldiers works best when viewed as a comedy in the Fight Club vein – while neither as funny nor as complex as Fight Club, it nevertheless amuses in many of the same ways. Ultimately, this is a very entertaining film, satisfying on many levels, even if lacking any real substance beyond some lateral inferences with modern day peacekeeping.

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Transfer Quality

Video

    Presented in 2.35:1, 16x9 enhanced, this is the original aspect ratio.

    This is a largely pristine transfer and I am struggling to find faults that are not errors in the source material. The image is richly detailed and finely rendered. Shadow detail is excellent. There is no apparent graininess and the whole film has a very glossy feel that works well for it. Colours are intensely saturated and well balanced.

    There were no MPEG artefacts, and film-to-video artefacts were non-existent. There was a little bit of dirt here and there, the odd hair, but nothing distracting. You have to be looking for it to notice.

    Subtitles are available in English for the Hearing Impaired only. They are white with a black border. I noticed no substantial deviation from the dialogue.

    This is a single-layered disc, ergo there is no dual-layer pause.

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

Audio

    The only soundtrack available is an English 5.1 Dolby Digital track, but it is (to use the vernacular) a rip-snorter.

    Dialogue is clear and easy to understand unless intentionally drowned out by explosions, gunfire or things breaking. I noticed no audio sync deficiencies

    The music by Free Association front-man David Holmes is seriously funky and plays to the movie incredibly well. It has a great dynamic range and really makes the floorboards rumble at times.

    The surrounds get a spectacular work-out, with aggressive use of rears and more directional cues than you could easily count.

    The subwoofer was used to add impact to explosions, gunshots, and music. The tank carnage is especially well rendered as is the training exercise using Elwood’s car.

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

Extras

Menus

    All menus are presented in 1.78:1, 16x9 enhanced, and silent. The main menu fades in and out of focus while a cloud of cooking heroin gas floats across the screen.

Theatrical Trailer (1:51)

    Presented in 1.85:1, 16x9 enhanced, 5.1 Dolby Digital. An impressive trailer, though it gives away far too much about the movie.

Dolby Digital Trailer

    The ‘puddle’ one. I don’t count this as an extra.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    The R1 release includes an Audio Commentary by Director Gergor Jordan, a Behind The Scenes Featurette, and an anatomy Of A Scene featurette. Compared to our nothing in the way of extras, the only thing you should concern yourself with is the outrageous price of the R1 release (though we are currently not doing much better), and any PAL/NTSC picture format differentials, which are likely to be minor for a film this recent – from everything I have read, the R1 release is fine.

Summary

    Buffalo Soldiers is a very entertaining film that brings in the laughs in its nihilistic black comedy kind of way. It is not as funny as Fight Club, but it definitely has its moments, and overall it is quite good.

    The video is excellent.

    The sound is one to show off to the crowds.

    A theatrical trailer does not really count as an extra in my book.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Edward McKenzie (I am Jack's raging bio...)
Thursday, February 05, 2004
Review Equipment
DVDPanasonic DVD-RV31A-S, using S-Video output
DisplayBeko 28" (16x9). This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver.
AmplificationMarantz SR7000
SpeakersEnergy - Front, Rear, Centre & Subwoofer

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