Syriana (2005)

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General		Extras
Category	Drama	Main Menu Audio Interviews-Character-Conversation With George Clooney Deleted Scenes Featurette-Make A Change Make A Difference Theatrical Trailer
Rating
Year Of Production	2005
Running Time	122:29
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (62:00)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Language Select Then Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	2,4,5	Directed By	Stephen Gaghan
Studio Distributor	Warner Home Video	Starring	Kayvan Novak George Clooney Amr Waked Christopher Plummer Jeffrey Wright Chris Cooper Robert Foxworth Nicky Henson Nicholas Art Matt Damon Amanda Peet Steven Hinkle Daisy Tormé
Case	Amaray-Opaque-Secure Clip
RPI	$31.95	Music	Alexandre Desplat

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) English Descriptive Audio Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.40:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.40:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English Arabic Hebrew Icelandic English Titling English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

'Everything is Connected'

    An intelligent, thought-provoking film from America about international terrorism and its links to oil, big business and US intelligence agencies, involving big name actors? Who'd have thought it would happen in the post 9/11 world of the US? Well, it does happen and, certainly in this case, that is definitely a good thing. This film from the writer of Traffic, Stephen Gaghan, is an excellent film and one of the best I have seen recently. I saw this film at the cinema and was amazed at how frank and honest it was but also what a well made film it was. It's a fictional story based on a non-fiction book by ex-CIA operative Robert Baer which is certainly an interesting genesis. It has obviously caused problems for award givers as the screenplay has been nominated in different categories for different awards. For example, it was nominated for an Academy Award for screenplay written directly for the screen but then for adapted screenplay by the Writer's Guild. Regardless, Gaghan has fashioned an excellent screenplay which shows the confusing and duplicitous nature of the global oil business and how it links to intelligence agencies and terrorism.

    The plot follows multiple threads in a similar way to Traffic and then over the course of the movie we see how all those story threads are connected as per the catch phrase of the movie I included at the top of this review. Although this structure means that we have to think, it also provides a more rewarding movie experience that only increases during repeat viewings. The threads include:

• World weary CIA agent Bob Barnes (George Clooney who won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for this role) is involved in an arms deal which does not go well and in reporting it back to his superiors he earns their displeasure by being too noisy about the issue. They decide to send him back to Beirut (where he was an operative in the 80s) to arrange an assassination. William Hurt also appears as an ex-colleague of Bob's who now provides him with a sounding board.
• A corporate lawyer, Bennett Holiday (Jeffrey Wright), is assigned the job of clearing the way for the merger of two large American oil companies, Connex and Killen. The problem is that there have been dodgy deals done in the past by both companies to obtain oil rights in various countries. He must uncover the truth and give government officials a scapegoat to assure approval of the merger. Also involved in this thread are the head of Killen, Jimmy Pope (Chris Cooper) and one of the partners of Holiday's law firm, Dean Whiting (Christopher Plummer).
• Bryan Woodman (Matt Damon), a partner in an oil industry analysis and consulting firm based in Geneva gets invited to a party at the Spanish home of Emir Al-Subaai which includes an opportunity to pitch his ideas to the Emir. The Emir is the ruler of an oil rich state in the gulf region. His family tag along and a tragedy occurs which brings him closer to the Emir. Amanda Peet appears as Bryan's wife Julie.
• The Emir's two sons, Nazir (Alexander Siddig) & Meshal (Akbar Kurtha) are both manoeuvring to take over as Emir once their sick father dies. Nazir wants to do the best thing for his country and people and Meshal wants to do the best thing for himself and his cronies.
• A young Pakistani man works with his father in an oil refinery in the gulf state run by the Emir. Despite their harsh existence they have hopes of bringing the young man's mother to live with them. As the other threads play out their effect on this family and how it moves the young man towards religious extremism and terrorism is revealed.

    This film is beautifully shot and wonderfully acted by a great ensemble cast, which was recognised with many ensemble cast nominations and awards. The sound design is wonderful, featuring excellent use of silence along with an evocative and tension filled score by Alexandre Desplat, rewarded with a Golden Globe nomination. Some of the stunning imagery will stay with you, particularly the final shot. The film tries to open up the issues raised rather than show glib and simple answers. This is certainly not a film for the squeamish as it contains one fairly graphic torture scene.

     For those particularly annoyed by anti-piracy ads this disc has one which can be fast-forwarded but not skipped.

    This is a wonderful, intelligent film which I would highly recommend.

Video

    The video quality is excellent.

    The feature is presented in a 2.40:1 aspect ratio 16x9 enhanced which is the original aspect ratio.

    The picture was very clear and sharp throughout, with no evidence of low level noise. Shadow detail was excellent, with darker scenes showing all required detail, even those obviously shot using natural lighting.

    The colour was excellent, very accurately replicating the look of the film as I remember it at the cinema.

    The only noticeable artefact was one spot of extremely minor aliasing on a patterned couch at 40:58. I know it's pedantic but I mention it for completeness.

    There are six subtitle streams. If you do not actively choose a subtitle stream, an automatic stream displays specific captions replacing those included in the original film. These are for place names, people's names and foreign language translation. The other streams are English, English for the Hearing Impaired, Arabic, Hebrew and Icelandic. The subtitles are clear and easy to read.

    The layer change occurs at 62:00 and was well placed between scenes.
    

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    The audio quality is very good.

    This DVD contains three audio options, an English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack encoded at 384 Kb/s, an English Dolby Digital 2.0 surround soundtrack encoded at 192 Kb/s and an English Descriptive Audio track surround encoded at 192 Kb/s. It is slightly disappointing that the 5.1 track is not encoded at the full bitrate, however, considering the nature of the soundtrack this is certainly not a major issue.

    Dialogue was clear and easy to understand and there was no problem with audio sync.

    The score of this film by Alexandre Desplat is excellent, evocative, tension-filled and very memorable. It sounds excellent in this transfer.

    The surround speakers added some mild atmosphere. The nature of this film does not lend itself to overt surround effects.

    The subwoofer added bass to the music.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

    Whilst this disc only includes a small selection of extras, they are all interesting and worth seeing. All extras are 4x3 except for the trailer.

Menu

    The menu included music, stills and the ability to select scenes, languages and subtitles.

A Conversation with George Clooney (9:12)

    An interesting interview with Clooney where he discusses the ensemble approach to the casting, the screenplay, location issues, the story, the politics, his physical appearance changes for the film, language training and other topics. Also includes scenes which are not in the final film. Worthwhile.

Make a Change, Make A Difference (11:20)

    This featurette focuses on the political issues raised by the film and includes interviews with George Clooney, Matt Damon, Stephen Gaghan, Jeffrey Wright, Robert Baer and other cast and crew members. They discuss their own views about the film and the issues raised. Interesting.

Deleted Scenes

    Three deleted scenes are included all involving the Bob Barnes character. Two of them include a character which was cut from the final film, Bob's wife, played by Greta Scacchi. They are worth watching, however, there is no explanation about why they were cut. The scenes included are:

• #8 Bob, Margaret & Robbie at the Cafe (2:14) - Gives some more background into Barnes' life. The scene takes place in Pakistan.
• #58 Bob & Fred Walk & Talk (1:25) - Bob and his supervisor at the CIA discuss intelligence work.
• #123 Margaret Visits Bob (2:21) - More of Bob's wife visiting him.

    This movie is available in Region 1 in either a very similar form to our release or in a HD-DVD release. The normal release has the same extras as our with some different audio and subtitle options. It does not include the audio descriptive option. The HD-DVD release also includes some more extras including a documentary and an extra interview with Matt Damon. On a direct comparison basis I will have to call this a draw. If you have a HD-DVD player then the Region 1 release is the only one currently available.

    The video quality is excellent.

    The audio quality is very good.

    The extras which are included are certainly worthwhile but there are not that many.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall