The Brave One (2007)

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General		Extras
Category	Thriller	Main Menu Audio Featurette-I Walk the City (4x3) (21:39) Deleted Scenes-Additional Scenes(4x3) (6:08)
Rating
Year Of Production	2007
Running Time	117:16
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Neil Jordan
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Jodie Foster Terrence Howard Nicky Katt Naveen Andrews Mary Steenburgen Ene Oloja
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	$29.95	Music	Dario Marianelli

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) English Descriptive Audio 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	English English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

The Brave One (2007) is one of the more curious films I have seen in recent times – the action thriller could be described as a homage to the 1970s vigilante film, films such as Walking Tall (1973), Magnum Force (1973), Death Wish (1974), Taxi Driver (1976). Or The Brave One could be described as a film which represents our post 9/11 fears, anxieties regarding rampant gang crime and distrust of authorities and governments. The Brave One is directed by Irish filmmaker Neil Jordon and stars Jodie Foster, who also served as an executive producer on the film.

This grim fantasy is the story of Erica Bane (Jodie Foster), a radio show host in New York. Through her radio show Street-Walk, Erica explores the beauty and ugliness of the chaotic New York landscape she has lived her whole life in. Erica is also happily engaged to David (Naveen Andrews) and we meet the couple on what turns out to be their last night together.

Erica and David innocently meet at an art gallery and later walk their dog through Strangers' Gate in Central Park and discuss their forthcoming wedding ceremony. As they declare their love for one another, Erica and David’s moment of bliss is immediately destroyed, as they are confronted by a gang of youth’s intent on intimidating them and filming a random and vicious ‘happy slapping’ attack.

Both Erica and David are left for dead as night falls.

Three weeks later, Erica wakes up in a hospital bed and learns David died soon after the attack. Traumatised and afraid of her formerly familiar and safe surroundings, Erica struggles to cope as those around her see her as nothing more then a victim. Erica throws herself back in her work as she does not want to remain frightened and in an attempt to regain her self-confidence, she purchases a gun illegally. Erica is also left frustrated when the authorities seem powerless and incapable of finding the criminals who indiscriminately murdered David and brutally attacked her.

Erica’s combined disappointment with authorities and her own need to prove to herself that she does not live in fear puts her in a dangerous mind frame and when her life is threatened again, she is forced to kill another to save herself. This taste of blood, justice and power begins to fuel Erica, and her actions leave a city in awe and anger.

The Brave One is a peculiar title for the film – are Erica’s actions admirable or a result of panic? Whether or not you agree with the protagonist’s actions, Neil Jordon’s direction of a predictable script is commendable. There are some great scenes between the character of Detective Mercer (Terrence Howard) and Erica which explore both of the character’s flawed ethics and morals. There are also some darkly funny scenes between Mercer and his partner Detective Vitale (Nicky Katt). The conclusion of the film is also at odds with the film as a whole – the events are tied together all too neatly. However despite these flaws, The Brave One is still a reasonably good action thriller, driven by some great performances from Foster and Howard and intelligent direction.

Video

The Brave One is presented in the original aspect ratio of 2.35:1 widescreen and it is 16x9 enhanced. The transfer has been encoded at the average bit-rate of 5.78 Mbps over a dual layer DVD.

The film has a blue-green tinge to the image, which looks to be an artistic choice. Despite this artificial colour scheme, the skin tones and urban environment look very natural.

The image also has very good black levels and mild grain which also seems to be intended.

Overall the transfer is pleasing and remains sharp and clear and devoid of colour bleeding and obvious MPEG compression artefacts

There are two optional subtitle tracks – an English subtitle track and an English HoH subtitle track. Both appear in a clear white Arial font.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

The English 5.1 Dolby soundtrack is overall an encompassing experience for an action thriller.

Instead of a voice-over which is common to this genre of film, we hear Erica’s opinions and feelings as we see her record her radio show. This voice-over device reveals the protagonist’s most inner thoughts. Equally important to the sound design of the film is the score by Dario Marianelli, which is energetic and suits the action scenes well but is also expressive and reveals the emotional torment of the protagonist. The urban landscape of New York is also represented well through the soundtrack - from the desolate and eerie subways, to the hustle of the New York streets to the isolation of Erica’s building.

All of these elements are woven together to create an encompassing experience for the viewer as the dialogue is emitted from the front of the soundstage, with sound effects and score emitted from the rear speakers with the subwoofer discreetly used.

A Descriptive Audio track is also an audio option. It is presented as a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack and consists of a male voice describing key scenes between dialogue to aid audiences who are blind or visually impaired. It is located under the language options on the Main Menu.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Main Menu Audio

An advertisement for Warner Bros. Movie World and an anti-piracy warning focusing on Wolf Creek precedes the Main Menu.

The Main Menu is a still image of the cover-art accompanied with a fragment of Marianelli’s score. There are 31 scene selection options and access to the set up options and the special features.

I Walk the City (4x3) (21:39)

This featurette looks at the production of the film with interviews with the cast and crew. Jordon and Foster explain what qualities of the script appealed to them and Jordon also explains his initial apprehension towards the New York location. The evolution of the script is explored as well as the character's motivations in depth. The featurette includes behind the scenes production footage.

Additional Scenes(4x3) (6:08)

The additional scenes are mostly focused on the character of Erica coming to terms with the violent attack, for example one scene features Erica's friend trying to reach out to Erica by taking her to a self-defense class. Also included is an extended scene with Detective Mercer and his is ex-wife.

The Warner Home Video (Region 1/NTSC) standard DVD release of The Brave One includes additional French and Spanish audio soundtracks and optional French and Spanish subtitle options. It does not include the English Descriptive Video audio track which appears on the local release.

The extra features remain the same as does the cover-art.

The Brave One is also available on Blu-ray and as a HD DVD Combo release in America.

The Brave One is an intriguing and bold film and the talents of Neil Jordan, Jodie Foster and Terrence Howard overcome the script's flaws. The premise of the film is fascinating, despite not being original, and the execution of the script is intelligent. I found the first half of the film to be interesting as it focused on Erica coming to terms with being the victim of a sadistic crime and becoming a victimiser in order to regain her life.

The DVD presentation of the film is adequate with an excellent transfer and a flawless soundtrack. The extras are light but do expand on the socially relevant themes of the film.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall