Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		2.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.0

The War Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov February 20, 2021

Jon Avnet's "The War" (1994) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the disc include new audio commentary by the director; new audio commentary by critics Emma Westwood and Paul Anthony Nelson; and vintage trailer for the film. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Fortress

You can tell right from the get-go that this poor family of four will never manage to escape their misery. What is unclear is just how long it would take before something finishes them off. A tragedy would certainly do it, though an act of desperation seems just as likely.

But the head of the family, Stephen (Kevin Costner), vows not to give up. He fought the commies in Vietnam, came back alive, and now he is ready to be a husband and father again. He plans to find a job, keep it, and start saving for that dream new house he always thought the family deserved. He still has nightmares and from time to time suffers nervous breakdowns, but he is convinced that with time he will get better, and then, slowly but surely, he would become the man he was before he went to war.

His wife, Lois (Mare Winningham), is the only one that brings in money, which even with the food stamps they receive from the government isn’t enough to feed the family. But she doesn’t complain. She is grateful that he is back, making progress, and wanting to have a strong family. What woman would not want to have a husband like Stephen? She cannot be unhappy, because their small Southern town is full of widows and the truth is that she could have been one as well.

The two children, Stu (Elijah Wood) and Lexi (Lidia Joanne Simmons), have learned to be happy with the little they have. They have dreams too, but unlike their parents they are not concerned with the passage of time. Their biggest concerns usually have something to do with the Lipnickis, quite possibly the biggest bullies in town, who have just discovered their secret tree house.

The War can work as intended only if the thematic overlapping that is at center of its narrative does not unleash the type of melodrama that usually transforms period films like it into unbearable soap operas. The best buffer for the melodrama is always realism, which has to be managed properly as well. (If it isn’t, an equally disastrous scenario is possible, only this time you will be looking at an unbearable miserabilist drama).

Jon Avnet directed The War from an original screenplay by Kathy McWorter which does not control the realism particularly well. Perhaps the biggest reason why is the insistence to explain what is already perfectly obvious, like the different reincarnations of the frustration that each member of the family struggles with. This makes virtually all of the drama throughout the film either too bloated (see the classroom conflict) or so artificial (see the deadly shootout in the trenches) that the feeling that young and older actors utter memorized lines becomes absolutely impossible to brush aside.

The sense of intimacy that is supposed to shape up the film’s identity makes the insistence to explain that much more problematic. Take for example young Stu’s family speech after the mining accident. Heartbroken children do not assemble such complex philosophical statements on a whim and use them to question the order of things they have been taught to accept. They usually suffer silently, while trying to suppress emotional pain that has unexpectedly overwhelmed them. Needless to say, during such moments, of which there are many, it looks and feels like the film wants to preach rather than continue telling its story.

The film is set in rural Mississippi, but Avnet and his team shot the majority of it in South Carolina and Georgia. In the new audio commentary that he recorded for this release, Avnet explains that the big cotton field was actually quite difficult to find and then they had to build the road that was needed to get other footage right.

The original soundtrack was created by Thomas Newman, who has earned multiple Oscar nominations for his contributions to such hits as The Shawshank Redemption, Skyfall, WALL•E, and 1917.

The War 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, The War arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The release is sourced from an old and quite unattractive master that was supplied by Universal Pictures. Indeed, the entire film has a harsh digital appearance, with certain areas exhibiting light smearing as well. The most distracting anomalies typically pop up during daylight footage where the sharpening can be dramatically exacerbated by specific camera positioning or some unique stylistic choices that affect the balance between light and shadow (see screencapture #4). However, even basic close-ups can look uncharacteristically harsh (see screencapture #6). Grain stability and exposure are problematic. The color scheme is stable. However, the different anomalies that emerge from the sharpening have destabilized some nuances, so a proper brand new 4K master will unquestionably introduce a different and superior color scheme. Image stability is excellent. There are no distracting large debris, cuts, stains, marks, warped or torn frames to report. My score is 2.75/5.00. (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).

The War Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

I viewed the entire film with the lossless 5.1 track. Clarity and sharpness were good. Depth and stability were impressive as well. I was a bit surprised that the war footage where Kevin Costner's character loses his best pal did not have greater dynamic intensity, but I don't think that there are any issues to report. Perhaps if the audio is remastered this particular sequence will opened up slightly better. But I think that at the moment is impossible to argue that there is something wrong there. There are no audio dropouts or distortions to report in our review.

The War Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary One - in this new audio commentary, director Jon Avnet explains where and how different sequences of The War were shot and some stylistic choices that were made, and discusses the dancing/singing sequences, the comedic material in the film, the casing choices, etc. The commentary was recorded exclusively for Kino Lorber.

• Commentary Two - in this new audio commentary, critics Emma Westwood and Paul Anthony Nelson have more to say about the evolution of Jon Avnet's career, the stylistic appearance of The War (and a possible relationship to Fried Green Tomatoes, the period environment in which the film takes place, etc. The commentary was recorded exclusively for Kino Lorber.

• Trailer - a vintage trailer for The War. In English, not subtitled. (3 min, 480/60i).

• Additional Trailers - additional trailers for the following Kino Lorber releases:
  
  1. The Good Son
  2. Paradise
  3. Swing Vote
  4. A Thousand Acres

The War Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The melodrama in The War is so overwhelming that everything in it looks scripted and acted the 'right' way. On top of this, the film also has an inexorable desire to explain the obvious, which completely wipes out the realism it needs to work as intended. There is a good story in the film, but it needs to be told differently. Kino Lorber's release is sourced from an old an quite unattractive master that was supplied by Universal Pictures. If you determine that you want it in your collection, consider picking it up only when it goes on sale.