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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
The Art of War (2000)

The Art of War (2000)

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Released 16-May-2001
Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General		Extras
Category	Thriller	Main Menu Introduction Main Menu Audio & Animation Dolby Digital Trailer-Canyon Biographies-Cast & Crew Featurette-Behind The Scenes-On Set Interviews-Cast
Rating
Year Of Production	2000
Running Time	112:26
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (61:13)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu	Cast & Crew
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Christian Duguay
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Wesley Snipes Anne Archer Maury Chaykin Marie Matiko Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa Michael Biehn Donald Sutherland
Case	C-Button-Version 2	Starring
RPI	$34.95	Music	Normand Corbeil

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

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

The Art of War is named after a famous book on the subject of strategy, written by Sun Tzu, which is regarded by many as a classic (if not the classic) treatise on strategy in warfare. This movie is not based on the book.

The movie begins with a "Mission: Impossible" style operation, conducted by Wesley Snipes and his team. It's rather nicely done, and much better than MI:2. We learn fairly quickly that this team is part of Covert Operations, working for the United Nations, under the direction of Anne Archer. Donald Sutherland is the Secretary-General of the United Nations, and Anne Archer is working for him. It is on the next assignment for the team that things go awry. I can't say much more without spoiling things, but I will say that this plot is complex, twisted, and may require multiple viewings to disentangle. There's plenty of action, both hand-to-hand (actually, body-part-to-body-part!) and using firearms. There are a couple of brutal moments, but they are over quickly.

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Transfer Quality

Video

This is quite a good transfer, but there are some small flaws.

The transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, and it is 16x9 enhanced.

The picture is generally nice and sharp - on occasions a little too sharp for Anne Archer's sake; she looks old, and overly made-up, with the sharpness making things all too clear. A softer image would have been kinder to her, but the rest of the movie benefits from the sharpness. Shadow detail is good, and there seems to be no low-level noise.

Colour is generally quite good. I saw no colour bleed, and colour balance is maintained at all times.

I saw no film artefacts, and I wouldn't expect to on a film made so recently. Aliasing was well-controlled, and I saw no other film-to-video or MPEG artefacts.

The disc is RSDL-formatted, with the layer change placed at 61:13. It is placed in the middle of a scene, between shots of the groovy hand-held web browser (I want one!) and Wesley Snipes - he pauses quite noticeably. Not a good layer change at all.

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

Audio

I hope you want this film in English, because that's all you get - an English 5.1 soundtrack and English subtitles. Strangely enough, I listened to the English soundtrack.

Dialogue is generally quite clear, although a few words get lost in some of the crowd scenes. There is a noticeable ADR slip at 17:33, which I confirmed is present on the R1 disc as well - clearly a defect in the source material. Audio sync is generally spot-on - I didn't notice any other slips.

The score is a problem. The music is fine - appropriate to the action - but it is much too loud. It seems as though the makers of this film felt they could make it more exciting by making it louder. All that does is make me turn the volume down, but that makes the dialogue harder to hear. Hey! It is called background music for a reason - it is supposed to be in the background. Unfortunately, the R1 disc is just as loud - clearly this was the choice of the makers, not the DVD mastering team.

The surrounds were used well - ambient sounds and directional effects - nice. The subwoofer got lots of work supporting the score and sound effects, and was well-integrated into the soundscape.

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

Extras

We get quite a few extras, but they are all fairly short. I would really have liked a commentary, but there isn't one.

Theatrical Trailer

It's just a trailer - but it is presented 2.35:1, 16x9 enhanced with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound - that's how trailers should be presented. The R1 has the same trailer, but with Dolby Digital 2.0 sound.

Featurette - On Set

This is just under 13 minutes, presented 1.33:1, but it shows some interesting moments during the filming. The choreography of some of the fight scenes is amusing. The number of cameras used simultaneously is surprising, as in the apparent insistence of the director on shooting a lot of the footage himself (he began as a cinematographer).

Interviews

These are presented 1.33:1, and are very brief - a still of a question, followed by an answer from the cast member or director - most of the answers last a few seconds. Not very satisfying.

Cast and Crew Biographies

These are reasonably detailed bios for four of the actors, and the director. They include full filmographies. The R1 disc also includes biographies, but they are abbreviated to just filmographies.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

The Region 4 version of this disc misses out on:

six trailers for other movies by Morgan Creek
snapper case with better artwork

The Region 1 version of this disc misses out on:

Featurette - On Set
Interviews
full biographies
snazzy menus

The two discs contain the same movie, presented identically, except for NTSC vs PAL. They show the same small flaws. The R4 does have more extras, but none of them are particularly compelling. The R4 also has nicer menus. The R1 has a snapper case, which I detest, but the R4 is presented in a C-button case, which I don't like either. The artwork on the R1 case has black bands at the top and bottom, which I think is correct, while the R4 replaces the black with white - it looks odd. I think I'd call this one a draw, or a marginal win to the R4.

Summary

The Art Of War is a reasonable movie presented fairly well on DVD.

The video quality is quite good.

The audio quality is good, but too loud - turn it down a bit.

The extras are OK.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

Review Equipment
DVD	Pioneer DV-737, using Component output
Display	Sony VPL-VW10HT LCD Projector, ScreenTechnics matte white screen with a gain of 1.0 (280cm). Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio Decoder	Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials.
Amplification	Denon AVC-A1SE
Speakers	Front Left and Right: Krix Euphonix, Centre: Krix KDX-C Rears: Krix KDX-M, Subwoofer: Krix Seismix 5

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