Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

The Kingdom Blu-ray Movie Review

This well-paced thriller looks fantastic on Blu-ray.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman December 3, 2008

This is a nation where tradition and modernity are in violent collision.

At its core, The Kingdom is a War picture. It is not a War picture in the traditional sense, nor does it depict a war fought in a traditional manner, with armies facing off across a large field, or in the air, or at sea, but rather a war fought with fear. Some of the combatants fight with no regard for the sanctity of life, either their own or that of their enemies. It is a war fought in the open, amongst the innocent. It is a war fought with quick, messy strikes, crudely but effectively realized. These combatants are difficult or impossible to spot; they wear no uniforms, show no colors, and oftentimes do not openly wield a weapon before the savagery commences. The film also depicts a clash of cultures, a war of words, and a battle of wits as those perceived as the enemy enter a hostile environment, where they become the target; the militants take aim at the individual, but in doing so also take aim at their country, their religion, their values, their way of life. Intense, frightening, and depicted with a sense of urgency, The Kingdom encapsulates modern warfare well in the guise of a taut, well-made thriller.

Fleury surveys the chaos from above.

The Kingdom is the story of a team of American FBI agents who travel to The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in search of answers in response to a malicious attack on a compound housing Western Citizens in Riyadh. Agent Ronald Fleury (Jamie Foxx, Jarhead) negotiates a window of five days for his four-man team to enter The Kingdom and investigate the attack. Accompanied by forensics expert Janet Mayes (Jennifer Garner, Daredevil), bomb technician Grant Sykes (Chris Cooper, The Patriot), and intelligence analyst Adam Leavitt (Jason Bateman, Hancock), Fleury and his team begin the arduous task of piecing together the scene of the crime while under the strictest of scrutiny and forced to follow a set of laws and customs that often interfere with their work. As they close in on the perpetrators, the perpetrators close in on them, plotting yet another spectacular attack with the intent of destroying the Americans and using their demise as a show of strength and a reinforcement of the vitality of their cause.

The Kingdom is a solid film that meshes political intrigue, cultural conflict, crime solving, and action into a cohesive whole that makes for both harrowing storytelling and first-rate entertainment. The film's primary plot never becomes overshadowed by any one single element, allowing the story to progress naturally and in its own time. While the film moves along at a rather brisk pace, it never feels forced, over-simplified, or disjointed. It is an example of fine filmmaking, certainly from a storytelling perspective. All of its major attributes mesh very well, each coming in their own time and in the appropriate place in relation to the story. Action scenes are not randomly thrown into the film for the sake of trying to maintain tempo or tension. Rather, they evolve naturally as part of the story, and while only a small part of the film contains intense action, the rest of the film is good enough from virtually every perspective -- particularly in the drama and tension of the plot -- to keep audiences engaged without the need to resort to superfluous action. The Kingdom is a competent film that is sure of itself in every regard, including its story and its actors and the characters they portray. This self-confidence shines through in most every scene, and even in lieu of the film's oftentimes jerky camera movements, rapid-fire edits, and odd framing of many scenes, nothing interferes with the storytelling, pacing, and drama of the film.

Director Peter Berg (The Rundown) indeed utilizes a visual technique that is no longer necessarily described as unique. Berg's technique certainly drifts from the norms of everyday filmmaking to add drama and tension, rather than flair, to a film that is already overflowing with both of those attributes through its intense story line. The Kingdom features plenty of quick and jarring cuts that lend to the immediacy and urgency of the film. The film features some sort of kinetic activity in almost every scene, including shaky or roving cameras and lightning-quick cuts. This technique doesn't always work, but in this movie it does, adding gravity to the gritty reality depicted throughout. Many frames are also partially blocked out by near-lens objects, generally other characters, making part of the frame filled with what might be considered extraneous information, again this technique seemingly adding to the immediacy and realism of the movie and the confusion of the entire situation, be it the dramatic segments or the robust action sequences. These techniques allow the viewer to feel a part of the film, to experience the thrills and terrors of the story, and to feel the traumatic emotions and fears the characters themselves are depicted as experiencing during the film's most crucial sequences.

The Kingdom Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Kingdom welcomes Blu-ray viewers with a most impressive 1080p, 2.35:1-framed transfer that does the movie extremely proud. Colors are strong but sometimes look slightly subdued and pushing the hues that meld with the Saudi locales, not a fault of the disc but rather replicating the intended look of the film. The image is incredibly sharp and deep, highly detailed and strong in every regard. The Kingdom on Blu-ray offers a natural-in-appearance and highly impressive picture quality that offers an excellent cinematic look and feel, helped both by the wonderfully detailed transfer and its retention of inherent film grain. The transfer holds up well under any condition, be it in the naturally lit Saudi exteriors, moderately lit interiors, or dark highways at night. Black levels are rock solid, flesh tones are finely rendered, and the detail in faces in close-ups is extraordinary. Detail is also excellent in scenes featuring the debris of the aftermath of the attack, seen, for example, in chapter 10. Every piece of twisted steel and every remnant of the blown-out building feature detail that invites viewers to reach out and grab them. While the fast-paced camerawork and rapid-fire edits sometimes make every corner of the film difficult to analyze, there is no doubt that when the camera slows down and viewers take in the frame, the transfer they see is nothing short of gorgeous. Universal's Blu-ray release of The Kingdom features one of the best transfers on the market when it comes to live action material.

The Kingdom Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Kingdom sports Universal's standard audio codec, DTS-HD MA 5.1, and the results are excellent, though not quite on the same level as the best audio presentations available on Blu-ray today. Gunshots are deep and pack a nice punch, and the soundtrack is immersive, but it seems to lack that last bit of oomph and immersion, never quite reaching the top-tier level. An explosion in chapter three rocks the listening area, though once again it gives the impression of lacking just that last bit of power and presence to drive it over the top. Dialogue reproduction is strong, but at times somewhat jumbled under effects or ambient noise. Music spreads nicely across the front, with a good, solid, deep presence in the front left and right speakers. Surrounds are used more in support rather than offering a plethora of discrete effects in many instances, never providing an active, ambitious surround presence. The very first "wow" moment of the track comes from the firing of a .50 caliber machine gun in chapter 11. It thumps and pounds and reverberates with incredible force that rattles the chest cavity and makes for a reference sonic moment in an otherwise good but not fabulous sound presentation. Likewise, a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) fired in chapter 16 discharges an impressive thump as the projectile flies heavily through the listening area and creates a shattering explosion upon impact. Make no mistake, The Kingdom offers listeners a thrilling soundtrack, but it just doesn't have the same vigor and vitality of the very best of the best Universal has to offer, including The Incredible Hulk, Hellboy II, Wanted, and U-571.

The Kingdom Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Kingdom features a good selection of bonus materials, headlined by a commentary track with director Peter Berg. Neither a well-paced nor terribly slow track, Berg offers up production insight, his thoughts on the actors in the film, and the themes of the film. Perhaps most interestingly, he discusses his personal trip to Saudi Arabia in preparation for the film. Despite the track featuring numerous pauses that are just long and frequent enough to be noticed, the track is well worth a listen for fans. This disc is also U-Control enabled, with four different visual tracks that appear at times through the course of the film. Picture in Picture is a basic track that offers up behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with the cast and crew. The Mission Dossier allows viewers to read up on Saudi culture, disciver the life of Westerners in the country, and browse a series of "investigation notes." The Mission Dossier: Surveillance showcases some of the film's most crucial sequences in a three-dimensional computer animated state. Finally, Character by Character: The Apartment Shootout allows viewers to watch this crucial sequence through four varied perspectives: Fleury & Al Ghazi, Janet Mayes, Adam Leavitt, and Sykes & Haytham.

A series of deleted scenes (1080p, 11:06) are next. Constructing the Freeway Sequence (480p, 18:18) is an in-depth feature that showcases the making of one of the film's most intense sequences, intercut with plenty of cast and crew interview snippets. Creating 'The Kingdom' (480p, 35:35 total runtime) is an 8-part feature that looks at the making of the film through the eyes of various cast and crew members and behind-the-scenes footage. History of 'The Kingdom:' an Interactive Timeline (480p, 19:15) features a clickable timeline that goes from 1932 through 2003 and provides highlights from the Kingdom's history, featuring both video clips and text that describe the particular period of history. Finally, the U-Control feature Mission Dossier: Surveillance is included as a separate feature.

The Kingdom Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Kingdom is a professionally-crafted film that features a story packed with emotion, intrigue, and action. Evolving naturally and logically, the story never forces one element, and allows the action in particular to work its way into the story rather than being forced on viewers weary of such tactics employed to make up for less-than-gripping drama in far lesser films. Well-acted and directed, and featuring a fine score by composer Danny Elfman (Planet of the Apes), The Kingdom is a can't-miss movie. Likewise, this Blu-ray from Universal is another quality release from a studio quickly establishing itself as one of the format's best. Featuring top-notch picture quality and a fine soundtrack, not to mention a nice selection of bonus materials, The Kingdom is a Blu-ray disc worth owning. Recommended.