Fast Food Nation (2006)

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General		Extras
Category	Satire	Trailer-Dendy Trailers
Rating
Year Of Production	2006
Running Time	108:19 (Case: 113)
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Richard Linklater
Studio Distributor	Magna Home Entertainment	Starring	Wilmer Valderrama Catalina Sandino Moreno Ana Claudia Talancón Juan Carlos Serrán Armando Hernández Greg Kinnear Frank Ertl Michael D. Conway Mitch Baker Ellar Salmon Dakota Edwards Dana Wheeler-Nicholson Luis Guzmán
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	?	Music	Friends of Dean Martinez

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

Do You Want Lies With That?

    From the outset it's pretty obvious that this film adaptation of Eric Schlosser's damning exposé on the American (and therefore worldwide) fast food industry should have been made as a documentary. Rather than a series of damning facts, figures and expert opinion about the gross excesses of the fast food industry and its effect on the unsuspecting consumer, what we get is almost a light-touch hodge-podge of ideas thrown together with little impact and certainly no knockout blow. Unlike a carefully constructed argument presented by a documentary, the dramatic narrative of this fictional account tells you little, reveals even less and certainly makes no ground-shaking impact. It is an opportunity lost because it seems to play out just like a movie and not a frightening exposé of the monuments that stand proudly on almost every corner in our suburbs. Director Richard Linklater obviously had his reasons not to adapt the best selling non-fiction novel into a fictional account, but whatever they were it has meant much credibility and immediacy has been removed. Eric Schlosser did have a hand in developing the screenplay, so all is not lost - and much of what you see will have you reassessing your takeaway eating habits very quickly, but this could have been so much more.

    As is the modern way of conveying these multi-layered stories we have a large ensemble cast, all seemingly going about their business in isolation, but such is the reach and influence of fast food they share much in common and all are connected without even realising it. Our first character is high-flying exec Don Anderson played by Greg Kinnear. Don works in marketing for the fictional burger chain featured throughout. It's called Mickey's in a not-too-subtle connection to the other famous burger chain that begins with the letter M. Don's based in head office, but he's been sent to cattle country in Cody, Wyoming to check out the burger meat supplier as lab tests have shown fecal matter in the patties - something that can't be good for business if anyone was to find out.

    Meanwhile, working at the meat plant in appallingly unsafe conditions are dozens of illegal Mexican immigrants including Raul (Wilmer Valderrama) and Sylvia (Catalina Sandino Moreno). The workers are routinely injured, maimed, dismembered and even killed by the abattoir machinery around them. And if the machinery doesn't get them, their unscrupulous sexual-predator supervisor will. The workers slave away all day, making patties out of the worst parts of the cattle imaginable, with some of it barely able to be described as meat it is that bad. While the abattoir workers are at the pointy end of Mickey's operation, fronting the customer side is teenager Amber (Ashley Johnson) who works away like many teens behind the counter in a Mickey's store, claiming minimum wage and putting up with all manner of demands from customers and bosses. But Amber has some morals and is beginning to feel guilty for working for a chain that exploits people and animals. As the story progresses, the characters come and go, occasionally crossing paths, but then disappearing again with little resolution to their problems. Don only gets partial answers to the problems with the tainted meat, the illegal immigrants keep on coming and Amber joins an action group to set about saving some cattle. I guess this partial story device is used to indicate no matter who comes and goes in the massive fast food industry, there will always be someone else to pick up the baton and keep on churning out the highly questionable food.

     The sticker on the front cover of the DVD warns of animal slaughter scenes, something that turned my wife instantly off watching this. While there is one scene that is rather gruesome (and I certainly wouldn't recommend watching this film while consuming a Friday night takeaway), it is at the very climax of the film and can be avoided if you are a little queasy.

    Fast Food Nation might not be the articulate film about such as important subject and many would see it as a huge opportunity lost, but whatever its faults it still highlights something most of us don't talk much about and will most likely have you assessing your eating attitudes very quickly. Perhaps those vegetarians that drive all the meat eaters nuts with their often self-righteous attitude might just be on to something.

Video

    The video transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1. This is slightly different to the theatrical aspect ratio which was 1.85:1. It is also 16x9 enhanced.

    Don't expect too much in terms of a pristine, vibrant, or colourful image here. It's what is best described as nondescript with little in terms of punch or depth. There is grain evident on many of the shots with poor lighting, but there is no low level noise.

    Colours aren't exactly what I'd call vibrant, though the scenes on the inside of the Mickey's stores reflect the gaudy branding so effective in these types of establishments. The rest of the film exhibits are sort of flat and emotionally detached look about it - like the whole thing isn't quite true to life, but close enough to make you think about it. This odd look is obviously an artistic choice by director Richard Linklater.

    There are no compression or film-to-video artefacts. Film artefacts are also absent.

    There are no subtitles. A bummer.

    This is a single layered disc meaning there is no layer change to worry about.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    The DVD contains just one soundtrack, this being a Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo track in English. Sadly this is in comparison to a full Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack found on the Region 1 disc.

    The two channel soundtrack on this disc is adequate, though that is about all one can say about it. Dialogue is clear and there are no audio sync problems. It's basically a lifeless and flat soundtrack, with little oomph or wide range to shake the foundations of you room. It would be debatable whether the Region 1 disc with its 5.1 offering would be any better given the nature of the film.

    There is no discrete surround channel or subwoofer usage.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Trailers

    You want fries with that? - sorry we're not given the option of upsizing this time. Sadly the only extras included here is a bunch of trailers for other Dendy titles.

    There are some pretty significant differences between the Region 1 and Region 4 versions.

    The Region 4 disc misses out on:

• English Dolby Digital 5.1 Soundtrack
• Commentary from director Richard Linklater and writer Eric Schlosser
• Manufacturing Fast Food Nation Making of Featurette
• Four Flash Animation Shorts
• Photo Gallery

    The Region 1 disc misses out on:

• Nothing

    No surprise really, given this film is a commentary on America's infatuation with fast food - this is a clear win to the Region 1 disc.

    Fast Food Nation might not be the articulate film about such as important subject and many would see it as a huge opportunity lost, but whatever its faults it still highlights something most of us don't talk much about and will most likely have you assessing your eating attitudes very quickly. Perhaps those vegetarians that drive all the meat eaters nuts with their often self-righteous attitude might just be on to something.

    The video quality is pretty good, while the audio could only be described as average.

    Apart from a few trailers there are no extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall