Brubaker (1980)

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General		Extras
Category	Drama	None
Rating
Year Of Production	1980
Running Time	125:13
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (67:10)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Stuart Rosenberg Bob Rafelson
Studio Distributor	Twentieth Century Fox	Starring	Robert Redford Yaphet Kotto Jane Alexander Murray Hamilton David Keith Morgan Freeman Matt Clark Tim McIntire Richard Ward Jon Van Ness M. Emmet Walsh Albert Salmi Linda Haynes
Case	?
RPI	$24.95	Music	Lalo Schifrin

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) French Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) German Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	Dutch English for the Hearing Impaired French German Greek Italian Spanish Swedish French Titling German Titling Italian Titling Spanish Titling	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	Yes, A written epilogue

    Trying to make movies based on true stories can present a problem for filmmakers. Unfortunately, true stories generally do not have the unequivocal endings that most fictional films do and just 'tacking one on' doesn't work. Sometimes, as is the case with this film, this means that despite an interesting story and good acting, nothing really changes during the film and you wonder whether this story really meant anything to the wider community.

    Brubaker tells the story of Henry Brubaker (Robert Redford), a prison warden in Arkansas in the 1970s who sets out to reform the way Wakefield Prison Farm is run. He has been appointed by the new state Governor who has been elected on a platform of prison reform amongst other things. However, like most politicians, the Governor is happy for that to occur as long as it only produces good press and doesn't ruffle the feathers of voters or business. The film opens with Robert Redford entering the prison farm disguised as an inmate, Stan Collins, in order to get a better understanding of the way the place operates from the inside. What he sees shocks him, including brutality, corruption and the prison being run by convicts who have been designated 'trusties', that is prisoners who are trusted to do the day to day running of the prison. Once his identity is known, he sets out to change the way things are done but quickly comes up against resistance from the 'trusties', the local business people and politicians. He soon realises that the corruption he sees involving local business merely scratches the surface of what has been going on at the prison farm and as he begins to uncover more details the resistance against him becomes stronger, including violence and murder.

    Interestingly, prisons at this time set out to be money making ventures for the state, which obviously encouraged corruption. Changes only occurred some time after the film ended as the result of a number of court cases involving prisoners. Supposedly, this film had a difficult production including a change of directors part way through from Bob Rafelson to the man responsible for Cool Hand Luke, Stuart Rosenberg.

    The quality of the acting is quite high with most players doing a good job. Redford is excellent as the determined Brubaker and quality support is lent by Yaphet Kotto as the trusty Coombes, Tim McIntire as one of the leading trusties, Huey and in a small cameo Morgan Freeman as a prisoner on death row.

    The film is entertaining and interesting but leaves something to be desired because it finishes rather abruptly at what is really only a mid point of the bigger story about how the goings on in the film affect the cause of prison reform generally. I feel this would have been a much better film if it had followed the story through to the conclusion which is outlined in an epilogue during the credits.

    So, an interesting film based on a true story, featuring good acting. Fans of Robert Redford would certainly enjoy this.

Video

    The video quality is pretty good for a film of this age.

    The feature is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio 16x9 enhanced which is the original aspect ratio.

    The picture was clear and sharp throughout, with no evidence of low level noise, although there was some light grain. Shadow detail was good with most details being easily discernible, without approaching the shadow details available in most newer films.

    The colour was generally pretty good and well saturated however it was slightly washed out as films of this age tend to look.

    The only visible artefacts in this presentation were some minor specks from time to time.

    There are subtitles in 8 languages including English for the hearing impaired. The English subtitles were clear and easy to read.

    The layer change occurs at about 67:10 but is extremely well hidden.
    

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    The audio quality is reasonable but mono.

    This DVD contains five audio options, an English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono soundtrack encoded at 192 Kb/s and the same in German, French, Spanish & Italian.

    Dialogue was generally clear and easy to understand , although was somewhat muffled in some scenes which meant that the subtitles came in handy.

    The score of this film by Lalo Schifrin does its job, but does not really stand out. It was a little distorted from time to time.

    The surround speakers and subwoofer are not used.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

    Nothing........

Menu

    The menu includes a scene selection function.

    This film has been released in Region 1 in a similar package with some extra TV spots and trailers, although reviews I have read are mixed about the video quality. It has been released in Europe but not in the UK. I will give the nod to Region 4 accordingly.

    The video quality is very good for a film of this age.

    The audio quality is only reasonable.

    The disc has no extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall