The Good Shepherd (HD DVD) (2006)

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General		Extras
Category	Drama	Menu Animation & Audio Deleted Scenes-(15:55) On-Screen Information Track-U-Control Feature: Interviews & Behind the Scenes (PIP) Screen Saver
Rating
Year Of Production	2006
Running Time	167:12
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Language Select Then Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Robert De Niro
Studio Distributor	Universal Pictures Home Video	Starring	Matt Damon Angelina Jolie Alec Baldwin Tammy Blanchard Billy Crudup Robert De Niro Keir Dullea Michael Gambon Martina Gedeck William Hurt Timothy Hutton Mark Ivanir Gabriel Macht
Case	Amaray Variant
RPI	$39.95	Music	Bruce Fowler Marcelo Zarvos

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 German Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 Catalan Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 Japanese Dolby Digital Plus 5.1
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.40:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080p
Original Aspect Ratio	2.40:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired German Catalan Japanese Korean Mandarin	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Edward Wilson (Matt Damon) is a stoic, intensely dedicated student of classic poetry who, since witnessing his father's suicide as a child, has lacked direction and leadership. This void is filled to a certain degree by his lecturers, but Ed can't help but question their motives when overt, unwelcome sexual advances are made after class hours. It's the 1940s and war is imminent, and to his surprise Edward is approached by an FBI agent to gather information on his lecturers, whom they suspect of recruiting Nazi sympathisers on campus. His mission soon completed and swift action taken, Edward is given a taste of patriotism and national service that lingers in his mind.

    Before long, he's recruited to serve during WWII in the intelligence field, first in London, then Berlin. At the conclusion of the war his unit is dissolved and the powers that be decide to form a new foreign intelligence bureau, dubbed the CIA. Initially, this entity is formed due to the threat from Russia, with a view to effectively becoming the eyes and ears of the USA. It is the inception of the CIA that forms the epicentre of the film.

    As time passes, Edward's personal, familial stressors take their toll and his own son expresses an interest in dedicating his life to national security. To what lengths will Edward go in order to retain his family's already flawed solidarity?

    Director Robert DeNiro has created a non-linear thread that alternates between the events of Cuba in 1961 and 1940s WWII, all told through Wilson's recollections as he is facing ridicule from his peers over a bungled military landing in Cuba, a cock-up the CIA is squarely blamed for. Through the complex web of secrets and lies that span continents, a compelling character drama emerges within Edward's family unit that seems to transcend global issues. While the film remains steadfastly non-partisan in terms of its political message, the base theme is a relatively simple one that examines a man under stress and the lengths to which he will go to protect his country and his family. These are all themes that, despite the dated setting, still resonate in today's political climate.

    A formidable cast has been assembled alongside star Matt Damon, with Angelina Jolie as Edward's manipulative wife Clover and John Turturro utterly brilliant as his humorous colleague. William Hurt, Alec Baldwin, Joe Pesci and Michael Gambon all offer exemplary performances and clearly had a great belief in the project and DeNiro as a Director.

    While the film has a curious, highly contemplative atmosphere, as a whole I found it to be rather lengthy and especially slow in places. It is certainly the kind of film that demands more than one viewing, so I will be interested to see if my feelings are altered with future viewings. Anyone who appreciates a politically motivated thriller is certain to enjoy this one.

Video

    The 1080p transfer has been framed in the film's original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.40:1, with black bars top and bottom. This image is a little soft in comparison to other HD transfers I have seen, but I suspect this may be an intentional effect to give the film a dated feel. Having said that, I'm certain this transfer would outdo any SD equivalent.

    The overall transfer lacks a certain vibrancy that makes other HD transfers leap off the screen. There are nice textures to be found in textiles and wardrobe, but extremely fine details such as hair are not visible. Some very nice detail can be seen in the distant shot of the deciduous trees at 100:25, which would not be possible in an SD transfer. Some scenes have a surprisingly high degree of blooming in brighter areas of the image, which as I stated above, may be part of the Director's vision. Black levels are strong when need be, and shadow detail is excellent. Despite the very dimly lit office at 28:15, the books on the shelves are clearly visible, which points to good handling of shadow detail and contrast.

    Most colours are generally bold and rich, however there are some exceptions. Reds seem a little overbearing, particularly within facial skin tones and ambient light.

    VC-1 video compression has been applied, with not a single visible glitch to be seen. The transfer is similarly free of film artefacts, although a very slight, inconsequential wash of film grain can be seen in some scenes.

    English subtitles are provided and follow the dialogue closely, but I did note a few Americanisms in the text. At 85:00 some subtitles are burned into the video stream to translate a few lines of South American dialect that I think sounds like Portuguese.

    The disc is a dual layered, HD-30 type. I didn't note any pause or interruption to the feature.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    The default soundtrack is determined by the viewer's selection in an initial language-setup menu. I listened to the film's original English soundtrack, which has been encoded in Dolby Digital Plus. A number of foreign language dubbed soundtracks are included.

    The English dialogue is crystal clear and very easy to discern at all times. I don't recall a single scene in which I strained to understand the spoken word, which is fantastic. The ADR seems fine, but audio sync is a let down by a few lapses in the editing process. In some scenes this is noticeable when character's lips don't nearly match what is being heard, particularly during scenes when characters have their backs turned partially to the camera.

    Being primarily a dialogue-driven film, the surround channels aren't given a lot of work to do. Some mild explosions and elements of the score occupy the rear channels, while outdoor scenes often utilise the surrounds for ambient effects. Voices are generally confined to the front centre channel.

    The score by Bruce Fowler suits the tense tone of the film and is orchestral in its entirety. There are some nice, melodic themes to be found if you pay attention, but this is likely to be the kind of background score that passes by relatively unnoticed by the average viewer.

    The subwoofer adds a little bottom end to the score, and a few tense rumbles here and there. There isn't a lot of call for LFE activity as far as I can see.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Menu

    The disc is also coded with a handy progress bar that appears across the bottom of the screen when the viewer presses pause or skip during the feature. The disc is equipped with the standard popup menu that avoids interrupting feature.

U-Control Feature (Behind the Scenes Featurettes and Cast & Crew Interviews) (HD)

    Universal's U-Control feature is an interactive component that plays simultaneously alongside the feature. An icon appears in the bottom right of the screen when content is available, and accessing it is as simple as hitting 'enter' on your remote. Some U-Control features include stills, script information and the like, but this particular title contains Picture In Picture video segments only. The volume of the U-Control feature is independently adjustable via the setup menu, and each of the segments are English subtitled.

    I counted more than a dozen featurettes in all, consisting of interviews with the cast and the film's writers, discussing the film's themes and character motivations, as well as behind the scenes footage of DeNiro giving direction to his cast on set. We also eaves-drop on early script read-throughs, hear of challenges that were encountered while casting, and hear valuable input from former CIA staff, particularly writer Eric Roth, a former CIA employee of 30 years.

U-Control Tutorial

    Four still screens of graphics that outline how to activate and utilise the U-Control function.

Deleted Scenes (15:55) (HD)

    Seven deleted scenes are included. These feature some character development and unnecessary exposition. All are presented with the same VC-1 encode as the feature and are well worth a watch, but ultimately are not missed in the final cut of the film.

My Scenes

    A feature that allows the viewer to commit their favourite scenes to the player's memory, for retrieval at any time.

    The video transfer is great.

    The audio transfer is immersive, yet subdued.

    Some worthwhile extras are included.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall