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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.
The Fog of War (2003)

The Fog of War (2003)

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Released 17-Aug-2004

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Documentary Dolby Digital Trailer
Notes-Robert S. McNamara's Ten Lessons-With Introduction
Additional Footage-24 Scenes
Credits
Theatrical Trailer
TV Spots-2
Rating Rated PG
Year Of Production 2003
Running Time 102:41
RSDL / Flipper RSDL (83:50) Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 2,4,5 Directed By Errol Morris
Studio
Distributor

Sony Pictures Home Entertain
Starring Robert McNamara
Fidel Castro
Barry Goldwater
Lyndon Johnson
John F. Kennedy
Curtis LeMay
Richard Nixon
Harry Reasoner
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Woodrow Wilson
Case ?
RPI $29.95 Music Philip Glass
John Kusiak


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.85:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English
French
Spanish
Dutch
Arabic
Croatian
Czech
Danish
Finnish
Greek
Hindi
Hungarian
Norwegian
Polish
Portuguese
Slovenian
Swedish
Turkish
English for the Hearing Impaired
Smoking Yes, Incidental only
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

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

Plot Synopsis

"In war-time, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies."
                          - Winston Churchill

     Churchill's infamous quote could be taken as a primer for this examination of Robert Strange McNamara, Secretary of Defence for several US Presidential administrations, wunderkind of the Ford Motor Company and, apparently, champion of world poverty with the World Bank. Filmmaker Errol Morris conducted a number of interviews with the 80+ year old McNamara over the course of a two year period, with the Big Mac taking great pride that he could remember precisely where he finished off his last sentence and continue on the protracted conversation.

     Certainly his mental faculties and acuities are impressive for a man of this vintage as he sits, hale and animated, straight to camera, presenting eleven lessons he's learned through a lifetime of controversy and war planning. We are taken, through his eyes and remembrances, through some perilous moments in history - World War II, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Cold War and the Vietnam War. He's a formidable interviewee, never losing control of the questioning process, and answering only what he chooses to answer. It is an impressive performance by a master manipulator and consummate communicator, and it isn't difficult to see how he rose to such prominence in his professional life.

     It is interesting to see these musings of an old man. Traditionally, we expect to see a mellowing of view as time tempers life experience and distils it, but, in truth, it is difficult to see much mellowing here. Still fiercely protective and self-aggrandising, McNamara justifies his actions in spite of his acknowledgement that had he lost any of the engagements in which he was embroiled, he surely would have been convicted as a war criminal. His memory has some convenient lapses when asked direct questions about certain incidents.

     The film intersperses some remarkable historical footage with extreme close-ups of the man in question. Yet one feels the stamp of the master puppeteer is present. McNamara is so perfectly controlled that even his occasional moist eyed "confessions" appear markedly contrived. This is a man who knows how to engineer and image and market himself.

      In the past, commentators made much of his arrogance and self-promotion, and one can certainly see where that objection has its origin. Even as an elder statesman we get to see only what McNamara wants us to see. The prevailing sensation one feels from listening to his musings is just how amazingly fragile we truly are - some of the greatest "victories" he experienced were balanced on razors' edges of total defeat. Interestingly, in the extras package, the 10 principal lessons he describes in the film are displayed. They look far more benign in text than they do once he starts explaining the background to each lesson.

      The Fog of War is a timely piece of film making. What it mostly reveals is how well the protagonist still conceals his real efforts and actions, and how masterly his spin tactics remain. In our age of uncertainty and aggression it asks what we really know of our leaders' characters and agendas. This film will never enjoy the broad accessibility that someone like Michael Moore (thankfully) brings to our screen, but it is equally compelling in its character study of a shadowy architect of war, who, after 92 minutes, remains an enigma.

       Disturbing but recommended viewing.

Don't wish to see plot synopses in the future? Change your configuration.

Transfer Quality

Video

     The transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 16x9 enhanced.

     The overall quality of this transfer is very very good - with a crisp transfer of very good quality. The lighting of the filmed scenes is wonderfully direct and it is extremely sharp and well defined with no low level noise.

     The colours were excellent with perfect skin tones and good range.

     Obviously, the archived footage has all the hallmarks of dust, scratch and grain that one would expect, but the transfer itself appears remarkably pristine with only the tiniest hint of aliasing on McNamara's pin stripe shirt. A very good transfer indeed.

     This is an RSDL disc, with the layer change between Chapters 23 and 24 at 83:50. It is an imperceptible change.

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

Audio

     The soundtrack is delivered in English Dolby Digital 5.1 and is pin sharp throughout.

      The dialogue is always clean, clear and fully audible. Subtitles are timely, accurate and very legible. Audio sync is mercifully accurate - as this would have been disastrous had it been out.

      The music by Philip Glass is haunting and perilous - setting the perfect tone for the events being described.

      There is surprisingly good surround presence, with plenty of atmospheric sound effects introduced into the archival footage.

      Subwoofer activity is also well deployed, enhancing the experience of "being there" during the archival scenes.

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

Extras

Menu

     The menu is static and silent, which seems appropriate for this presentation.

Robert S McNamara's Ten Lessons:

     A text version of the lessons presented on screen. This comes with an optional voice-over introduction by Mac himself. As previously discussed, they look far more tender as text than they do once he starts explaining his position.

Additional Scenes

     When you go to the Special Features section, there are 7 additional scenes noted. They are:

      1. The Palace (01:22); 2. Shanghai (02:01); 3. K.B. Wolfe (01:38); 4. Khakis for Huts (01:48); 5. The Guns of August (00:54); 6. Commander X (01:25); 7. Ford's Accounting (01:23). However, if one selects the Play All option, one discovers that there are an extra 17 scenes available, totalling 24 scenes with an overall time count of 37:39 minutes. These are exceptionally revealing scenes and well worth a look. These extra 17 glimpses are untitled but to give some indication of the content I have provided some working titles:

      8. Johnson, Me & The World Bank; 9. 1974 - Ouagadougo; 10. World Bank Demonstrators 2000 - A Lesson for a Young Lady; 11. Kennedy's Campaign; 12. The Kennedys' Development; 13. Kennedy's Vietnam; 14. Lyndon's Advertisement; 15. The First Strike Policy; 16. Ho Chi Minh & Pugwash; 17. The Hotline; 18. Job, God and Mac; 19. Kennedy & The Cabinet Wives and Marg's Medal of Freedom; 20. Why He Went All the Way With LBJ; 21. Johnson's Vietnam; 22. Mac's Reticence; 23. Wilson's Dream; 24. "The Hand That Signs the Paper" - Musings on Dylan Thomas.

Trailer & TV Spots

     One trailer (01:58) and two 30 second TV spots.

R4 vs R1

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

      In terms of extras, the only apparent difference between the R1 & R4 versions of this film is the addition of a trailer for Travelling Migration. I see this as no compelling reason to prefer R1 over R4 so the R4 version gets my vote.

Summary

     Well presented and chillingly portrayed, this is a fascinating piece of cinema that will probably only reach a relatively minor audience, but is entirely worthy of a viewing.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Mirella Roche-Parker (read my bio)
Sunday, July 25, 2004
Review Equipment
DVDSinger SGD-001, using S-Video output
DisplayTeac 76cm Widescreen. Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials.
AmplificationTeac 5.1 integrated system
SpeakersTeac 5.1 integrated system

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