6.8 | / 10 |
Users | 3.9 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
A U.S. Army officer uncovers a conspiracy that could plunge an unstable country deeper into war.
Starring: Matt Damon, Greg Kinnear, Brendan Gleeson, Amy Ryan, Khalid AbdallaAction | 100% |
Thriller | 81% |
War | 28% |
Drama | 9% |
Video codec: VC-1
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: DTS 5.1
Spanish: DTS 5.1
English SDH, French, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Digital copy
Bonus View (PiP)
BD-Live
D-Box
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Former Vice President Dick Cheney is repeatedly on record stating that even had the American government known that Saddam Hussein was not harboring “weapons of mass destruction,” the United States still would have (and indeed should have) invaded Iraq if for no other reason than to put an end to a too-long era of horrendous abuses of a power mad dictator. I’ll leave it to wiser heads to decide whether Cheney’s comments withstand the scrutiny of history, but Cheney’s own point of view is part and parcel of the subtext of Paul Greengrass’ action thriller, Green Zone, which reunited the director with his Bourne star Matt Damon. Liberally adapted from journalist Rajiv Chandrasekaran’s 2006 treatise Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq’s Green Zone, the film plies some familiar political conspiracy territory in a largely unfamiliar location, the war-torn streets of Baghdad. Featuring a slew of visceral action sequences, all offering Greenglass’ hallmark quick cut editing style mixed with the jiggly handheld camerawork that is meant to jolt the viewer into a “you are there” experience, Green Zone wants to have its filmic cake and eat it, too. Perhaps because we’re still so close to the subject at hand, the film’s political posturing may not go down as easily with a lot of viewers as its exciting action and battle segments will.
Matt Damon as Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller, on the hunt for WMD's.
Green Zone is filmed in an intentionally verité style that may leave some videophiles complaining about its VC-1 encoded 1080p image (in a 2.40:1 aspect ratio). The fact is this Blu-ray brilliantly reproduces Greengrass' original intent, with an amber-hued, slightly washed out look that brings the hot, fetid and dusty streets of Baghdad almost too close for comfort at times. Despite an abundance of grain and intentionally low contrast at times, detail here is spot on, at least from the "you are there" perspective the film employs. Swirls of dust snake through the obliterated cityscape with a sinister serpentine aspect, and the Blu-ray reveals extremely subtle shadings as they cover various buildings. Depth of field is excellent, especially in some of the aerial footage showing the ravages that "shock and awe" rained down on the Iraqi people. Some of the handheld footage is probably softer than some viewers are going to want, but again it brings a visceral quality to the film. The more staid set pieces are sharp as a tack, with an abundance of clarity and very subtle detail, as with the extremely pale streaks of blood that dot Damon's face after he has a run in with a Special Forces henchman.
From the first bombastic moments of Green Zone, you know you're in for a devastatingly immersive experience via its literally stunning DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. Mortar shells fly over the listener's head, rifle fire zings in from what seems like a million different directions, the chaotic shouts of soldiers and Iraqi passers-by litter the air, and a general sense of doom and mayhem fill the soundscape. It all adds up to a visceral approximation of what soldiers experience in their everyday existence in Iraq, and it rarely lets up for the next two hours. The entire film is very low end heavy, not only from the incessant explosions and other sounds of battle, but also the foreboding drone of John Powell's creepy underscore, which proffers a real sense of subliminal menace with its sustained low tones. Dialogue is frankly not always easy to hear, but that is certainly the intent of the filmmakers, as they recreate the pandemonium of being in battle. Dynamic range is astounding here. Note for example the impressive sonic change between the subdued meeting of General Al-Rawi and how it then erupts into an aural free for all as Miller and his troops make a surprise entrance. Spanish and French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 tracks are also offered, as well as a Descriptive Video Service.
Several good to excellent extras supplement Green Zone on Blu-ray:
The Iraq war is still such a hot button topic that few will watch Green Zone without having an instant opinion about what they've seen. Greengrass does absolutely outstanding work depicting the chaos of Baghdad after the fall of Hussein, but the film falls just a tad short in crafting real life human characters in the parts of Miller and Poundstone. Though the focus of the film is squarely on the Miller character, my hunch is a lot of the audience is actually going to feel the most empathy for the shattered Iraqi, Freddie. There's little ambivalence here, despite the competing agendas and rationalizations Green Zone offers, but there is one hell of a roller coaster ride through an epochal chapter in both American and Iraqi history.
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