Maiden Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.0

Maiden Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman October 16, 2019

James Brown once sang about it being a man's world, and in the world of yacht racing, that was once upon a time certainly the case. Prior to the 1989-1990 Whitbread Round the World Race (now rebranded as simply and more generically "The Ocean Race"), it was a male-dominant sport. The race is a grueling journey around the globe, challenging racers to maintain fitness and health and stamina through countless challenges posed by both the vessel and the waters in which it sailed, and certainly the shifting climates encountered in various legs of the race. When Tracy Edwards first served as a cook on board the Atlantic Privateer for the 1985–1986 race, she was only one of four females in a roster of 230 sailors. Her passion for the sport drove her to form the first all-female crew which would set sail for the 1989-1990 race on board the aptly named Maiden.

The film tells Edwards' story, looking back at her formative years. Her mother was a car racer, her father a loudspeaker designer and entrepreneur. Her father would pass when she was 10. Her mother remarried an abusive alcoholic, and Edwards eventually found her escape on boats. The film explores her early interest in the Whitbread Round the World Race and a formative meeting with Jordan’s King Hussein and his positive influence in driving her to participate. Following her experiences on the Atlantic Privateer, she sought to assemble an all-female crew. The picture recounts her struggles with snide dismissals and financial challenges in securing sponsorships, the latter of which nearly destroyed the dream before it could set sail. Edwards would ultimately turn back to King Hussein in search of help, and despite a number of trials amongst the crew even before setting sail, Edwards’ Maiden would indeed participate in the 1989-1990 race, winning two legs and ultimately finishing in 18th place with a time of 167 days, 3 hours.

Alex Holmes directs the film, a documentary retelling of the story rather than a dramatic recreation thereof, which might have proved a more cinematically rewarding, if probably less authentic, experience. Holmes and Editor Katie Bryer assemble the film primarily through extensive archival footage and newly recorded interview clips. The story is recounted succinctly and a bit dryly as it begins. The story gains traction once the first act is out of the way, as the team sets sail through challenging conditions across several of the race's legs. It explores the team's ups and downs, upheavals and downtime, the gruel of the race and the emotional tissues that formed amongst the crew through the journey. It's honest, it doesn't shy away from realities and challenges -- external and internal -- and the difficulties inherent to the race and faced by the crew. It's not a sugar-coated take on the story, and the film takes the time to both set the stage and explore the rewards from and the consequences of the major happenings along the way.

Holmes and Bryer do a wonderful job of intermixing archival footage with the new interviews; there's a flow and compliment that finds the passion in the moment and the lessons learned in hindsight. It's assembled with great care for dramatic pull and narrative flow. The choppy first act gives way to smooth waters, with the film finding its footing when the crew faces its most demanding moments. It's rather gripping even as it's all presented in retrospect. The filmmakers and the interviewees bring a sense of scope and dramatic and historical import to the story, and even through poor quality video the story finds a majesty and spectacle that is as much a product of the passion brought to the film's interviews and assembly as it is the historical ebbs and flows that chart the ship's course around the globe but ultimately define the film's path to success.

Maiden Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Sony's pressed MOD (Manufactured on Demand) Blu-ray release of Maiden sails onto Blu-ray with a well performing 1080p transfer under the image's inherent limitations. The vintage footage that is so prominent throughout the film is of course of comparatively low grade. It is like the waters -- choppy, unpredictable -- but necessary in telling the story. The chunky compression, the jagged edges, and the noise are all certainly distractions, but it takes little time for the story's impact to overtake the shortcomings inherent to the video presentation. It becomes part of the feel and flow, though it can be a little visually distracting as the screen transitions to clear, newly minted HD video interview clips, which are as tack-sharp and finely colored as one would expect. The transfer is graded on these alone. The HD video segments look fine and show minimal, if any, source or encode flaws.

Maiden Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Maiden features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack, the only audio option to be found on the disc. There's a digital twinge to the sounds of ocean waves to open the movie, but the total depth, the deep airy music, and the blustery winds overcome and help create a well-rounded sonic open, a quality that remains for the duration. Interview snippets are a touch hushed at reference volume but vocal intelligibility and detail are fine. The track amplifies effects in some of the vintage footage, particularly out at sea where the low end and intense music in chapter nine, for example, as Maiden travels through a challenging leg through the arctic, add dramatic flavor to the moment. Like the video presentation, there are natural limitations to the soundtrack, but it finds a good balance between repurposed and amplified effects, as well as interview audio, to create a fairly well rounded track. It's not of reference quality or design, but it gets the job done in support of the movie's midlevel sonic needs.

Maiden Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Maiden contains a featurette, a panel discussion, and a trailer. No DVD or digital copies are included. This release does not ship with a slipcover.

• Women Making Waves (1080p, 8:08): This piece begins with a story recap and putting together the all-female team, followed by the story behind the making of the film, editing the original footage together, the challenges the women faced from the press, Alex Holmes' direction, and more.
• An Evening with Maiden (1080p, 15:24): Moderator Briana Dekeyser is joined by Director Alex Holmes, Producer Victoria Gregory, and Maiden Skipper Tracy Edwards who briefly discuss the film and the real story behind it.
• Maiden Theatrical Trailer (1080p, 2:15).
• Previews: Additional Sony titles.

Maiden Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Maiden is a well crafted and oftentimes gripping documentary that is as much about the challenge of the race as it is the gender of the people who participated in it. While the film doesn't get into the nitty-gritty race details -- those will undoubtedly be left for the dramatized movie, should one ever materialize -- there's enough essential character and world drama and engagement in the story to carry it to satisfaction. It's very well made and the wealth of vintage footage is reason enough to watch. Sony's MOD Blu-ray is a little thin on extra content but video and audio presentations are fine in support of the movie's less demanding A/V needs. Recommended.