Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

A Midnight Clear Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Stephen Larson June 14, 2020

Keith Gordon began his career in Hollywood as a bright young actor co-starring or giving supporting performances in genre films such as All That Jazz (1979), Dressed to Kill (1981), Christine (1983), and Back to School (1986). Gordon also co-produced and starred in the small indie dramedy Static (1985) and later directed his first feature, The Chocolate War (1988). I hadn't heard of either of those indies and was surprised to see Gordon's name appear under the writing and directing credits of the World War II drama, A Midnight Clear (1992). Gordon's adaptation of William Wharton's 1982 novel of the same also was independently funded. The production companies A&M Films and Beacon Communications raised money through international sales, while Sony's subsidiary, Columbia/TriStar Homevideo, as well as Interstar Releasing and HBO, all pitched in on the domestic side. A Midnight Clear was made for $5-$7 million.

The film is narrated by Will Knott (Ethan Hawke), a 19-year-old sergeant and member of the US Infantry and Reconnaissance Squad tasked to retrieve infor­mation on German troop movements. The combustible Maj. Griffin (John C. McGinley) has assigned Knott and five other young American soldiers to stake out an old, abandoned French chalet where they find wine, blankets, and paintings. This chateau is situated by the Ardennes Forest. The film is set during the winter of 1944-45 in a no man’s land demarcating the borders of France, Luxembourg, and Bel­gium. Knott and his squad were initially in the World War II Army Specialized Training Program where they all scored an average of 150 on their IQ tests. Originally, there were twelve in this intelli­ gence unit camp but six have already perished so Knott balks at the idea that having "intelligence" will help ensure success or survival in a war zone. Vance “Mother” Wilkins (Gary Sinise, in his movie debut) is the oldest at 26. He's called "mother" because he always asks the men to pick up after themselves. Armenian Cpl. Mel Avakian (Kevin Dillon) may be the true leader since he's the best soldier and his comrades look up to him. Paul “Father” Mundy (Frank Whaley) is a seminary dropout who serves as the squad's moral conscience. Stan Shutzer (Arye Gross) is the only Jewish member of the group and fluent enough in German to act as an interpreter. Bud Miller (Peter Berg) is a soldier who can almost act as a decoy since he looks German (and is the alter-ego of Wharton's real-life character in the novel).

Anybody Home?

Knott and company encounter a German Wehrmacht unit of seven soldiers in their teens who serve under an officer more than 50 years old (he's played by Curt Lowens). Apparently, the Germans are as tired and scared of dying as the Americans so rather than exchange bullets, they instead heave snowballs to the the other's side. Through German translator Shutzer, the two sides try to negotiate a cease-and-surrender truce. This group of Germans are evidently worried that they'll lose the war and fear the consequences of what will happen to them when they return to their home country. The two sides agree to stage a mock battle where innocuous gunfire goes off and the Germans are taken as POWs. But something will go awry.

Along with Terrence Malick's The Thin Red Line (1998), A Midnight Clear is one of the most original war films I've seen over the last thirty years. Gordon does not regurgitate clichés of the genre. Knott's voice-overs and the soldiers' dialogue are often thoughtful and don't sound trite. Father Mundy even has a rule forbidding them to use cuss words. While cultural ideology dictates that WWII is the "good war," Gordon and his movie don't necessarily view it that way. It's made in a surreal and poetic manner to show the universality of insanity and suffering on both sides. The ragtag group of Germans aren't portrayed as classic Nazi villains. They don't even have swastika pins fixed on their lapels.

A Midnight Clear was a modestly budgeted war picture that had a relatively fast shoot. The Park (UT) Record reported that principal photography began around February 20, 1991 in Park City and wrapped on March 23. According to Anne Thompson of LA Weekly, the indie studios committed a $3 million marketing budget to cover twenty-four US cities. Gordon recalls in the disc's extras that the film's showings in Los Angeles were interrupted due to riots emanating from the Rodney King verdict. Gordon still felt his movie performed alright at the box office, staying for seven to eight weeks in theater houses in major American cities. But it nowhere made up its original budget, grossing just over $1.5 million in the US. It's important to note that A Midnight Clear also was made during and following the "high" of the first Persian Gulf conflict so perhaps it was difficult for the American moviegoing public to accept a war film with a pacifistic message.

A Midnight Clear Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

A Midnight Clear makes it official debut on North America on high-def courtesy of Shout Select. Shout! Factory's boutique label has employed the MPEG-4 AVC codec on this BD-50. The second of the five features Gordon has directed to date appears in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1. A decade ago, Gordon posted on IMDb that Beacon Pictures prepared a new HD master in 2007, which has been the floating around Europe the last eight years. Second Sight released a 20th Anniversary Edition in the UK that used it, as did German label KSM in 2012 and French label Sidonis in 2014. The print on the Shout disc has some small specks and flecks during the first reel but looks mostly clean throughout. Columbia TriStar released a LaserDisc of the film in 1992 in 4:3 "open matte" and lazily followed suit a decade later with roughly the same transfer, which Gordon denounced on the new documentary as "not very good." I've built a comparison of the two transfers so you can see the discrepancies in framing and color temperature. The DVD has a moodier, gray tinge. It's also darker. The Shout has vastly superior contrast.

The Shout transfer looks similar to how various critics described the release prints. Michael Mills of the Palm Beach (FL) Post summed up the palette as having an "almost mono­chromatic color scheme." The late great Roger Ebert observed the dichotomous appearances: "Everything is dark [nighttime interiors] or blinding white [wintry landscapes]." The Hartford (CT) Courant's Malcolm Johnson explains how cinematographer Tom Richmond lensed the opening scene: "in a subdued, almost haunting way...clear winter day with a pale blue sky." (See Screenshot #s 3 and also #10.) Jerry Roberts of the News (CA) Pilot saw Richmond's compositions as two-dimensional. He shoots "ev­erything flat, striving solely for cerebral effect and mood." Candice Russell of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel thought the fire's "golden light" stood out. You can see it reflected on Will's face in #2.

Shout has encoded the feature at an average video bitrate of 33300 kbps.

Screenshots 1-15, 17, 19, 21, 23, & 25 = Shout Select 2020 BD-50
Screenshots 16, 18, 20, 22, & 24 = Columbia Tristar Home Entertainment 2002 DVD-5

Shout has given the 105-minute feature twelve chapters. (The LD had thirty-five, while the DVD had twenty-eight.)

A Midnight Clear Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Shout has supplied the film's original stereo mix, rendered here as a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo (2043 kbps, 24-bit). (Second Sight provided an LPCM 2.0 track, which is 16-bit.) The master is generally in excellent shape with no audible defects. Dialogue is discernible with variant pitch levels depending on the character speaking and his position in the frame. While A Midnight Clear doesn't boast that much wall-to-wall action (i.e., less than a handful of scenes), I feel it could have benefited from a 5.1 boost. Second Sight's OOP does but it's a lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 mix. The KSM GmbH BD-25 does include an English DTS-HD MA 5.1 option, though there's no English stereo track.

In the archival audio commentary, Keith Gordon explain that composer Mark Isham and him didn't want the film to feature a traditional WWII score. Isham brought a New Age approach to the material. He weaves in synth chords and light percussion with a small choral group, who provide haunting vocals. Isham additionally writes in percussive elements with the keyboard as underscore. It's one of the composer's most original efforts and a shame that it still hasn't been released on an album.

My audio score is 3.75/5.00.

Unlike the three other European Blu-rays, this Shout edition includes optional English SDH.

A Midnight Clear Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary by Director/Writer Keith Gordon and Actor Ethan Hawke - this feature-length was originally recorded in 2002 for Columbia's ten-year anniversary DVD. Gordon speaks from a booth in LA while Hawke chimes in via his phone in New York. Gordon delivers many facts, nuggets, and anecdotes about the production. Hawke also has quite a bit to say about his performance. The two have good chemistry even through they're based in separate venues. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW "A Look Back at A Midnight Clear" (42:16, 1080p) - Shout's recent making-of doc contains interviews with writer/director Keith Gordon as well as stars Ethan Hawke, Frank Whaley, and Ayre Gross. Gordon repeats some of the same info in the commentary but has some new tidbits and reflections about the film to share. The interview with Hawke was very likely recorded on the same day as the one he did for Shout's disc of Before the Devil Knows You're Dead. I would have liked to hear Hawke say something about the film adaptation of Wharton's Dad (1989) in which he played the grandson and if that attracted him to also be in this film. Whaley and Gross have a fair amount to say as well. This uses the MPEG-2 codec. In English, not subtitled.

• Deleted Scenes (23:39, upscaled to 1080p) - ten omitted scenes from the final cut of A Midnight Clear. They're taken from dailies and videotape that Gordon preserved. Gordon loves what he had to cut out and is glad they remain. The first and last scene are presented in 1.33:1 and the eight in between are letterboxed in 1.85:1. Sound quality varies and Gordon apologizes for the fluctuations. Michael Wilmington of the Los Angeles Times mentioned when this movie came out that Gordon's favorite director is Stanley Kubrick. There's one scene modeled after Full Metal Jacket and Gny. Sgt. Hartman which, if left in, could have altered both narrative trajectory and fate of at least one important character! The excised are also leftovers from the DVD. In English, not subtitled.

• Trailer (1:07, 1080p) - a restored teaser trailer of A Midnight Clear presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen.

A Midnight Clear Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

A Midnight Clear is an outstanding war drama boasting a wonderful collection of young actors just coming into their own. Keith Gordon's writing stays true to Wharton's prose and his direction produces several terrific performances. Shout Select's HD transfer doesn't come from a 4K scan but it looks as good if not better than the European transfers. The 42-minute retrospective doc features all-new interviews with Gordon and four of his stars. On Second Sight's UK disc, there's also an older making-of doc (from the 2000s) titled A Winter's War which runs a little longer. If you desire an uncompressed English 5.1 remix, you'll want to hunt for the German disc. Although the Shout isn't a definitive package for the film, it still comes STRONGLY RECOMMENDED.