The Park Is Mine Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		2.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.0

The Park Is Mine Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf January 7, 2017

1982’s “First Blood” was influential for a variety of reasons, though it’s mostly remembered as the least exaggerated of the Rambo series, launching the franchise on a mournful note of military veteran issues before indulging all the outdoorsy adventure the brand name is known for. 1985’s “The Park is Mine” is clearly angled to take part in the Rambo tradition, with star Tommy Lee Jones carrying the weight of this dim-witted take on vet affairs and public submission. It’s not a graceful picture despite a potentially heavy subject matter, and while it’s based on a novel (by Stephen Peters), the feature doesn’t convey any literary depth. Director Steven Hillard Stern is much more interested in fireballs and shootouts to keep the effort on the move, caught making an action film when the story seems more concerned with profound psychological issues. While it strains to be popcorn entertainment, “The Park is Mine” ends up a pile of clichés, sawed off subplots, and violence without meaning, robbing the movie of the significance it seldom tries to convey.

A Vietnam Vet, Mitch (Tommy Lee Jones) has returned home to a country that’s turned its back on him. He struggles with employment, costing him his wife, Rachel (Gale Garnett), and young son, unable to keep up with child support payments, which has triggered a shutdown of contact. Frustrated, Mitch’s curiosity is piqued when a letter finds its way to him, sent by an old Army buddy who’s recently committed suicide. Bequeathed an arsenal hidden in the Central Park sewer system, Mitch is challenged to take over the area, using forceful but non-lethal means to pull the city’s attention to him for three days leading up to Veteran’s Day. Commencing his takeover armed with blanks and bombs, Mitch carefully shoos away law enforcement efforts, keeping in contact with Deputy Mayor Dix (Peter Dvorsky), eager to share his message of hopeless with New York City. On the hunt for the mystery man is reporter Valery (Helen Shaver), who’s aching for the scoop, slipping into the park to cozy up to Mitch, only to find a determined, highly trained man who’s slowly losing control of the situation.

“The Park is Mine” (which bypassed theaters, debuting on HBO) doesn’t waste time on introductions. There’s some expectation for a long journey of exposition for Mitch, who’s dealing with a lot of issues -- the most pressing being the loss of his family, with Rachel wanting nothing to do with a man who isn’t supporting his child financially, unable to hold a steady job due to issues with pride. While it initially seems like the first half of the movie is going to detail this downfall, the screenplay doesn’t have the patience, crudely arranging Mitch’s frustrations before he’s sent a special key and a letter from his dead friend, explaining the Central Park takeover idea, urging his pal to complete the mission for the good of Vets everywhere. It’s a lot of narrative ground to cover, but “The Park is Mine” sprints to the starting line, commencing the conquest before the 20 minute mark, which destroys any real sense of motivation. It simply feels like Mitch is having a bad day, making his escalation to NYC terrorist jarring and unsatisfying, basically triggered by domestic issues and a park run-in with pushy cops during a scouting trip. It’s not enough.

The majority of “The Park is Mine” covers the details of the invasion, tracking Mitch as he sets up mines and barbwire, following through on a strategy to frighten local cops, inspiring them to keep their distance. There’s some spirit in these early sequences (powered by a snappy score by Tangerine Dream), with Yaphet Kotto portraying a frustrated police captain struggling with Dix’s cowardly ways. It’s a shame there isn’t more urgency to Mitch’s odyssey, as Stern is mostly enamored with explosions, watching the Army man liberally use explosives to deny outsider entry.

Of course, Mitch isn’t interested in killing anyone, but it’s little hard to tell what he’s truly looking to accomplish in “The Park is Mine.” He detonates bombs at a police precinct and fills a police vehicle with grenades, barely making sure those inside have a chance to escape. But how could Mitch predict human behavior? And he certainly can’t see through steel. In fact, he wears sunglasses in the daylight, so he’s not seeing much to begin with. It’s difficult to buy his non-lethal approach, and the writing does little to back it up. Also troublesome is Mitch’s immediate identification by the cops, who, working with nothing, manage to find Rachel, using phone calls from her to soften Mitch and expose his vulnerabilities. Little bits of nonsense claw at the integrity of “The Park is Mine,” which is soon overwhelmed with absurdity in the second half, where Valery joins the mission and Dix becomes a customary Sniveling White Man, eventually going to extremes to make sure Mitch doesn’t make it out of the park alive.

The Park Is Mine Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.84:1 aspect ratio) presentation isn't inspiring, with trouble emerging from brightness issues, finding the viewing experience dialed up unnaturally, losing pure blacks and flattening delineation for most evening sequences. It's a bit distracting at times, especially when so much of the movie takes place under cover of darkness. Detail has its own struggles with softness, barely picking up facial particulars, but Central Park distances in daylight retain depth. Set decoration is also open for inspection. Colors are washed out but not entirely lost, showcasing camouflage and park greenery, and costuming also brings out a variety of hues. Source is in adequate condition, with mild speckling.

The Park Is Mine Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 2.0 DTS-HD sound mix has the advantage of a lively Tangerine Dream score, which gets the movie's heart pumping when necessary, carrying a full sound with compelling instrumentation. Dialogue exchanges are secure for the most part, handling surges in emotion and group activity without losing precision. There are a few audio dropouts around the 44:00 mark, but they are brief, representing the only real evidence of damage on the track. Park atmospherics are evocative, capturing wide open spaces and crunchy forest travel, and sound effects are snappy.

The Park Is Mine Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary features film historian Nathaniel Thompson.

• And a Trailer (2:08, SD) is included.

The Park Is Mine Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The climax is meant to restage Vietnam for Mitch, putting him back into the thick of combat after days spent shooting down helicopters and trading bullets with the cops. The intensity of such an event doesn't register, along with Mitch's quest to highlight Veteran issues, which loses steam at the halfway point, missing a chance to do something noble with B-movie intentions. "The Park is Mine" goes through the motions, exploring public embrace of Mitch's revolution and the depth of Dix's spinelessness, making him easily hissable instead of challenging viewers to consider what types of political corruption play out in this scenario. Perhaps it was an honorable endeavor at one point in its development, but "The Park is Mine" has been diluted to keep up with John Rambo's unwinnable war, gifting more screentime to the firing of bullets than the needs of an ailing, disrespectful nation.