Courage Under Fire Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		4.0

Courage Under Fire Blu-ray Movie Review

I'm gonna find out the truth. I guarantee you that.

Reviewed by PeteR November 8, 2007

The Gulf War, 1991. Operation Desert Storm enters the ground campaign phase and Lt. Colonel Nathaniel Sterling (Denzel Washington) leads a tank brigade into Kuwait. Taking heavy fire from Iraqi tanks, Sterling orders his gunner to destroy what appears to be an enemy tank firing at them. When the chaos dies down, it is revealed that not only did he destroy an American vehicle, but one commanded by an old friend. Sterling is cleared by the Army of any wrongdoing, but images of the incident continue to haunt him.
Months later, Col. Sterling is assigned to investigate the war record of Captain Karen Walden (Meg Ryan). She has been nominated to be the first woman in combat to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor, the highest accolade in the U.S. Military. Unfortunately, it will be awarded posthumously: Captain Walden died while protecting her team and the people she was trying to rescue when her helicopter was shot down.
Initially seen as a slam dunk, Sterling’s interviews with the crews of both helicopters turn up puzzling inconsistencies. Meanwhile, a reporter for the Washington Post, Tony Gartner (Scott Glenn), has been trying interview Sterling about the friendly fire incident. Sterling spirals into alcoholism and depression, taking a toll on his family, friends, and his standing in the military. Despite these problems, he is remains determined to get to the truth in order to properly recognize Walden's memory and at the same time restore his honor as well.

Denzel's come a long way since Glory

Courage Under Fire remains a powerful film even after recent world events have changed how we view the Gulf & Iraq. The film itself makes no comment as to whether the war was right or wrong; the Iraqis themselves are seen only in glimpses during the combat flashbacks. What we do see are how it affected several very different people in a real, personal way. The director, Edward Zwick, handles the many styles of the film with aplomb: it goes from detective story to intimate drama to war action without jarring the audience.
Denzel Washington turns in an excellent performance as Colonel Sterling. The film rests entirely on him and he doesn’t disappoint. Meg Ryan gives also gives a very good performance as Captain Walden: there is no trace of the perkiness she was known for in previous films such as Sleepless In Seattle or When Harry Met Sally. She also handles the burden of acting in a different manner for each flashback well, presenting a different picture of Walden depending on who is telling the story. Also giving terrific performances are Michael Moriarity, Regina Taylor, Lou Diamond Philips, and in one of his earliest roles, Matt Damon.
The edting, music, and production design are also first rate. You would never know the US military didn't give any cooperation in the filming: clever use of props and a few digital effects give the film an authenticity missing from other military dramas. This is a very good war film just shy of the greatness of Patton, Saving Private Ryan, or even another Denzel Washington/Edward Zwick collaboration: Glory.

Courage Under Fire Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

This is one of Fox's earlier catalog efforts, encoded in MPEG2. The results are mixed, but overall it is a nice transfer of this 11 year old film. The transfer is sharp with a slight trace of edge enhancement. Fortunately it is not obtrusive and for the majority of the film is unnoticeable. There is good depth to the image and the colors are solid without fading or bleeding. Flesh tones are natural, and there is only a few instances where grain is noticeable. The battles taking place at night are clear, with rock solid black levels and without noise. Zwick deliberately shot the war scenes in a different style than the rest of the film; they are much more vivid and sharp. Dust, dirt, and other debris are easily resolved without turning into a mess of noise or artifacts. The transfer is clear enough to spot the matte paintings that turned various locations Texas into a military base and Washington D.C. I would grade this HD presentation a B+, and a definite improvement over the DVD version.

Courage Under Fire Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

[Note: the main audio track of this disc is encoded with 5.1 DTS-MA Master Audio, since I am using the Sony PlayStation 3 as my playback unit only the lossy core 1.5Mbps DTS is currently available to me.]
Like any war film of the past 15 or so years, the digital soundtrack for Courage Under Fire is an immersive experience. While not quite as loud or aggressive as Saving Private Ryan, the mix handles the various types of gunfire, helicopter pans and explosions seamlessly. Dialogue is clear, if a little on the low side. The flashback war scenes are so much louder than the main story that certain sequences may make some reach for the volume control. Overall, it is a very good audio track and has aged fairly well considering digital sound was relatively new in 1996. The soundtrack was designed by Lon E. Bender, who also did Glory for Zwick, as well as many other terrific war film soundtracks like Legends of the Fall and We Were Soldiers.
The opening scene is a good example of the sound design for this movie, with gunfire, explosions, and music filling all 5.1 channels. The subwoofer gets quite a workout whenever a tank fires and something blows up. This is one soundtrack I can hardly wait to hear uncompressed!
The film is also has French and Spanish soundtrack options in Dolby Digital 5.1 @ 448kbps.

Courage Under Fire Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The only disappointing part of this Blu-ray presentation is the sparse extras Fox included. Missing is the featurette included in the remastered DVD version, as well as all the TV spots and 2 of the 3 trailers. Even though it is a BD25, there is still room for these features and their omission by Fox is frustrating (the disc itself is just under 22GB).
Special features included:
Commentary by Director Edward Zwick (feature length, Dolby Digital 2.0 @224kbps): Very good track. Zwick gives plenty of background information on the production of the film, with only a few pauses here and there.
Courage Trivia Track (feature length): Pop-up trivia text boxes on military history, weapons and tactics. It doesn't offer information on the production itself though. Accessible through the menu or selection subtitle #5. Exclusive to this Blu-ray release.
Courage Under Fire Trailer (0:02:25): Presented in 1080p MPEG2 with DD 5.1 @448kbps . The trailer is cropped to 2.35, matting off the top & bottom from the intended 1.85. Other than the OAR issue, the trailer is sharp and in good shape.
Trailers (0:11:01 total): Theatrical trailers for Flight of the Phoenix, Men of Honor, Omen 666, X-MEN: The Last Stand all presented in 1080p MPEG2 and DD 5.1 audio @448kbps. Interestingly enough, Flight of the Phoenix is cropped from its original 2:35 to 1.85, the correct ratio for Courage Under Fire!

Courage Under Fire Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

A drama with enough action to keep everyone's attention, Courage Under Fire is the rare war film that doesn't preach to either side of the issue or offer easy answers. The performances, script, and direction are first rate. The video is very good, and the audio is terrific. The only disappointing aspect is the sparse extras. Other than that, I have no complaints and recommend this Blu-ray disc.