Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

Dogfight Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov April 15, 2024

Nancy Savoca's "Dogfight" arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the release include new program with Nancy Savoca, Lili Taylor, and director Mary Harron; new program with crew members; and vintage trailer. In English, with optional English SDH subttiles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Dogcatchers

It is very easy to miss what Nancy Savoca’s Dogfight sets out to accomplish. It is something that was very obvious to those who lived through the Vietnam War, like Savoca, but the more time passes, the easier it becomes to miss it. It is easy to intentionally ignore it, too, which is what a lot of films about the Vietnam War have done.

San Francisco, 1963. On the day before they head to Vietnam, four Marines go out hunting for the ugliest dates the city can offer. Several hours later, they gather in a busy bar, each proudly escorting a clueless ‘dog’, to pick a winner and hand the lucky hunter his prize -- a small amount of cash. Eddie Birdlace (River Phoenix) arrives with Rose (Lili Taylor), an introverted, working-class girl, who can barely hide her excitement that someone has finally asked her out on a date. But while Eddie plays his part and the winner is secretly revealed, Rose accidentally discovers the truth and, after angrily confronting the boozed-up hunters, exits the bar with a broken heart. The premature end of the ‘dog’ game, however, has a most surprising effect on Eddie. Struggling with a foreign feeling of genuine guilt, Eddie heads back to Rose’s place and, after apologizing for mistreating her, asks her out on a real date. During the next several hours, Eddie and Rose realize they have so much in common that under different circumstances they could have made a perfect couple. Then, as dawn breaks, their lives head in drastically different directions.

Dogfight is a tremendous time capsule, which is a bit odd because Savoca completed it several decades after the Vietnam War had ended. Also, despite not featuring elaborate combat footage, this film captures the essence of the Vietnam War with an accuracy that very few similarly themed films have been able to replicate.

The catalyst of everything great about Dogfight is the revelation that the period that is depicted in it was the worst time to be young in modern America. The silly game the Marines play is an unusual litmus test that produces evidence supporting this revelation by repeatedly shifting the audience’s point of view. For example, the Marines are four ordinary boys whose grasp of the conflict they will soon participate in is virtually non-existent. However, one of them is bright enough to have realized that their generation is being sacrificed, and this has made him a bitter cynic. As he explains the big picture to Eddie, it is very easy to tell that he has participated in the ‘dog’ game to unload some of his frustration. Later, in Vietnam, as he has predicted, the four ‘dog’ hunters become targets in a meaningless meat grinder.

An entire generation of girls is being sacrificed as well. The casualties are different -- heartbroken girlfriends, single mothers, traumatized sisters -- but the ripple effects throughout America are every bit as consequential. In other words, Rose’s story is a variation of the story of millions of girls who would spend the rest of their lives pondering what could have been if the boys they fell in love with were not shipped to Vietnam.

The survivors get some time under the spotlight, too. While not all of them realize it, they are both scarred for life. The war vets, missing body parts and struggling with various mental disorders, have returned home to discover that many of their peers now blame them for fighting the Vietnam War. Instead of being treated as heroes, they will be forced on the outskirts of society, where eventually most will begin self-destructing. The girls, who have wasted their best years alone, are now living a compromise that is slowly eating them from the inside. Most anti-war protesters, who are finding inspiration in powerful drugs, are headed toward self-destruction, too.

Dogfight is not a big film that unleashes an avalanche of thought-provoking material requiring meticulous deconstructive work. However, it is not a one-dimensional, heart-warming romantic film either, which is how some old reviews profile it. It sees a still-polarizing period of American history with clarity and sincerity that are very rare.

Dogfight Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Dogfight arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

The following text appears inside the leaflet that is provided with this release:

"Supervised by director Nancy Savoca, the new digital master presented here was created from a 35mm interpositive, which was scanned in 2K resolution. The original 2.0 surround soundtrack was remastered from the 35mm magnetic tracks and was transferred and restored with additional editorial services by John Aspinall at Warner Bros. Please be sure to enable Dolby Pro Logic decoding on your receiver to properly play the Dolby 2.0 surround soundtrack.

Mastering supervisors: Anthony Bellotti, Kathlain Safarik/Warner Bros.
Colorist: Skipper Martin/Warner Bros. Motion Picture Imaging.

The 2K makeover looks wonderful. In some darker areas, select ranges of darker nuances can be a little more convincing, but this is a small limitation that is usually present whenever an interpositive is used to create a new master. The rest I like a lot. Clarity, sharpness, and depth range from very good to excellent. Color balance is convincing as well. Perhaps there are a few spots where blues and reds can be just a tad more prominent, but I feel that all primaries and supporting nuances are set very, very well. There are no traces of problematic digital corrections. Image stability is excellent. The entire film looks exceptionally clean, too. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Dogfight Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

Dogfight has a lovely soundtrack with various music hits that enhance its period atmosphere very well. However, the music does not create any big and memorable dynamic contrasts. The dialog is always very clear, clear, and easy to follow. There are no balance issues. I had the volume of my system turned up quite a bit and the upper register did not reveal any weaknesses of the kind that usually emerge on older films.

Dogfight Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Nancy Savoca, Lili Taylor, and Mary Harron - in this new program, Nancy Savoca, Lili Taylor, and director Mary Harron (American Psycho) discuss Dogfight. In English, not subtitled. (33 min).

• The Craft of Dogfight - this new program gathers interviews with cinematographer Bobby Bukowski, production designer Lester W. Cohen, script supervisor Mary Cybulski, music supervisor Jeffrey Kimball, supervising sound editor Tim Squyres, and editor John Tintori. The interviews recall their involvement with Dogfight. In English, not subtitled. (30 min).

• Trailer - presented here is a remastered original trailer for Dogfight. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

• Leaflet - an illustrated leaflet featuring Christina Newland's essay "In Love and war" as well as technical credits.

Dogfight Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It is interesting that so many people seem convinced that Dogfight is a touching romantic film, at the center of which is an unusually cruel dating game. If you adjust your viewing angle a bit, you should realize that the dogcatchers are set up to participate in a date too, though in a distant land and with that ancient fella known as the Grim Reaper. One of them, who has figured it out, offers an excellent summation of their losing options in this incoming date and the time they are living in. I think that Dogfight is a wonderful, very sincere time capsule, and if you listen to Nancy Savoca's description of its conception, it becomes quite clear that it was always meant to be one. Criterion's upcoming Blu-ray release introduces a very good new 2K restoration of it. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.