Crash (Warner) (2004)

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General		Extras
Category	Drama	Menu Animation & Audio Introduction-Paul Haggis (Writer/Producer/Director) Audio Commentary-Filmmakers' Featurette-Behind The Scenes Music Video-"If I..." By Kansascali Theatrical Trailer
Rating
Year Of Production	2004
Running Time	112:24
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (66:13)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Paul Haggis
Studio Distributor	Warner Home Video	Starring	Sandra Bullock Don Cheadle Matt Dillon Jennifer Esposito William Fichtner Brendan Fraser Terrence Dashon Howard Ludacris Thandie Newton Ryan Phillippe Larenz Tate Tony Danza Keith David
Case	?
RPI	$29.95	Music	Paul Haggis Mark Isham Oliver Nathan

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Not to be confused with David Cronenberg’s psycho-sexual masterpiece of 1997, Paul Haggis’ Academy Award winning masterpiece Crash is an entirely different sort of film. Conceived by Haggis after being carjacked one night by two black youths, Crash was devised upon one premise only – let’s say what everybody really thinks about race, culture and contemporary society. In order to explore these themes, Haggis devised a number of characters as vehicles to explore the various aspects of racial divide and cultural divide:

• Jean (Sandra Bullock), the neurotic wife of an ambitious District Prosecutor (Brendan Fraser) with political ambitions, who is carjacked one night,
• Graham (Don Cheadle), a black police detective investigating the shooting of a black cop by a white cop,
• Anthony (Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges) and Peter (Larenz Tate), a pair of carjackers who inadvertently hit an Asian man with a stolen car,
• Officer Ryan (Matt Dillon), a white patrol cop whose young partner Officer Hanson (Ryan Phillipe) is uncomfortable with his racial slant on justice,
• Cameron (Terence Howard) and Christine (Thandie Newton), an affluent black couple coming apart at the seams after Christine was assaulted by a white patrol cop,
• Farhad (Shaun Toub), a Persian grocery shop owner who had been repeatedly robbed and who thinks arming himself is the answer, and
• Daniel (Michael Pena) a hard working locksmith trying to care for his young daughter Lara (Ashlyn Sanchez) after moving out of a crime infested neighbourhood.

    Like vehicles on a freeway without rules, these lives collide across the space of 48 hours, each one triggering a harsh look at how race and culture are perceived and used in Los Angeles.

    I read somewhere that it was not so much of a miracle that Crash was made as a good film – and it is a good film – but that it was a miracle that it was even made at all. Given its subject matter, it's not hard to see why. A blunt and honest attempt to look at race in Los Angeles is a tough thing to do, and a contentious thing. Yet, despite its flaws, in that respect at least it is unflinching, saying with as much honesty as it can muster exactly what a lot of people feel deep down.

    Certainly, some of the ‘coincidences’ of intersecting lives are a little contrived, but that is hardly the point. The opening lines of the film make it apparent that the characters are vehicles “smashing into each other”, stereotypes put in situations for an ulterior purpose, not true representations of people. Nevertheless, Crash remains for all its conveniences an extremely engaging, thought-provoking and challenging film that deserved the accolades it received, despite being a small budget film. The scripting is excellent, the dialogue superb (it’s been a while since a film has been this quotable), and the acting is without exception outstanding. If you have not yet seen Crash, I highly recommend that you do.

Video

    Presented in its original aspect ration of 2.35:1, 16x9 enhanced, I watched this transfer in regular standard definition and upscaled to 1080i at 50Hz.

    All in all, this transfer is a little soft. Some of that may have been an intentional choice by the director, or a result of the low budget and the post production technology used. It is never blurry or smudged, but it is not quite as defined as I like it.

    Colour saturation is good, although there is a slight shift to the red that makes the picture look a tad ‘browner’ than it should. I was able to correct this fairly easily, but it was annoying to have to alter my setup to get the best picture.

    The transfer is excellent as far as MPEG artefacts and film-to-video transfer artefacts go, which are non-existent. There is some dirt on the print, but nothing distracting – you have to look for it to see it.

    There are subtitles available in English and Italian. I checked the English for the Hearing Impaired subtitles. They are quite accurate.

    The dual layer pause is at 66:13. It occurs during a scene change and is barely noticeable.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    Audio is available in English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround (448Kb/s) and English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo (224Kb/s).

    The audio tracks are quite good, although in some respects the stereo soundtrack (apparently the film’s original soundtrack) had better clarity. Given the nature and the budget of the film, that is hardly surprising.

    Dialogue is clear and easy to understand, if slightly easier in the stereo track.

    Surrounds are not very aggressive and generally only get put into action with the score.

    The subwoofer was used to good effect in a couple of spots, but largely lay dormant.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Menus

    The main menu is presented in 1.78:1, 16x9 enhanced with a 2.0 Dolby Stereo audio track. The submenus are static with the theme in 2.0 Dolby Stereo.

DVD Introduction by Writer/Director/Producer Paul Haggis (0:18)

    Presented in 1.33:1, Full Frame, 2.0 Dolby Stereo, this is an introduction to the film.

Audio Commentary – Paul Haggis (Writer/Director/Producer), Bobby Moresco (Co-writer/Producer) and Don Cheadle (Actor/Producer)

    Presented in 2.0 Dolby Surround, this is an extremely engaging and interesting commentary, and probably one of the best I’ve listened to in a while. Well worth the time.

Featurette – “Behind The Scenes” (10:08)

    Presented in 1.78:1 inset in a 1.33:1 Full Frame, 2.0 Dolby Digital Surround audio, this is a decent behind-the-scenes doco for the film.

Music Video – “If I...” by Kansascali (4:22)

    Presented 1.78:1, 16x9 enhanced, 2.0 Dolby Surround.

Theatrical Trailer (2:25)

    Presented in 1.78:1 inset in a 1.33:1 Full Frame, 2.0 Dolby Surround.

    There is censorship information available for this title. Click here to read it (a new window will open). WARNING: Often these entries contain MAJOR plot spoilers.

    There are three R1 editions:

1. A generic version with the same content as the R4 release;

2. A version with a “best buy” bonus disc containing the following features:

• Storyboard Compares – “Westwood Carjacking” and “Chinatown”
• Script-to-Screen Compares – “I Just Had A Gun” and “Helping Hand”
• Music Montage
• Photo Gallery

3. A 2-disc Special Edition with the following additional special features:

• Director’s Cut Version with additional 2 minutes of footage and dialogue
• English DTS-ES 6.1
• English Dolby Digital 5.1 EX
• Featurette "Behind The Metal And Glass: The Making Of Crash"
• Featurette "On Paul Haggis"
• Featurette "L.A.: The Other Main Character"
• Featurette "Unspoken"
• 8 Deleted Scenes
• Script-to-Screen Comparison – “SC 26 INT. Cameron And Christine's Room - Night” and “SC 78 INT. D.A.'s Conference Room - Day”
• Storyboard-to-Screen Comparison – “Ryan, Christine And The Crash Site” and “Farhad Shows Up At Daniel's”
• Music Video - "In The Deep" by Bird York
• Music Montages – “Metal Music Montage” and “Glass Music Montage”
• Photo Gallery

    From what I have read on the Internet, the picture quality sounds about the same all over, so if you just want the film, I’d buy locally for cost reasons. It is very disappointing that we were not provided with the DTS 6.1 or the Dolby digital EX track, however, and I would be curious to hear them.

    If you really want all those other special features, the R1 two disc Special Edition is the way to go, given the audio options, although it does not have all the features that are available on the “Best Buy” disc.

    Paul Haggis’ Crash is an exceptionally engaging film that nevertheless manages to deal with some very contentious subject matter. I highly recommend this film.

    This DVD transfer is good, but not perfect, and the R1 Special Edition certainly contains more in terms of special features and remastered audio.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall