Title: Courage Under Fire: Enhanced Widescreen DD/DTS Edition
Region: One
Genre: Drama
Stars: Denzel Washington, Meg Ryan, Lou Diamond Phillips, Michael Moriarity, Matt Damon, Seth Gilliam, Bronson Pinchot, and Scott Glenn
Writer: Patrick Sheane Duncan
Director: Edward Zwick
Feature length: 117 minutes
Extras: Director's Commentary, Featurette, Trailers, and TV Spots
Languages: English DTS Surround, English Dolby Digital 5.1 and English and French Dolby Surround 2.0
Subtitles: English Captions and Spanish Subtitles
Packaging: Amaray Keep Case
Chapter Stops: 28
Sound: DTS Surround Sound, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, and Stereo Surround Sound
Year of Theatrical Release: 1996/DVD Release: 2000
Theatrical Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox
Home Video Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
MPAA Rating: R
Reviewer: Mark A. Rivera
"Courage Under Fire" is essentially a retelling of the "Rashomon" paradigm updated into the post "Gulf War" period where a decorated officer (Denzel Washington) investigates the background of a medevac pilot (Meg Ryan) who is scheduled to receive the Medal of Honor posthumously. The investigation turns into detective work as Washington's character struggles with his own inner demons while trying to uncover the truth behind the pilot's act of bravery from the surviving officers who were on her helicopter.
Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment's delivers "Courage Under Fire" with a dynamite THX approved anamorphic widescreen transfer in a (1.85:1) aspect ratio. The colors are solid with no bleeding and the picture is crisp and clear without any blemishes. The soundtrack options are of equal quality with a nice aggressive surround feel to the English DTS Surround Track, and the usual English Dolby Digital 5.1 and English and French Surround 2.0 soundtracks all share a very ambient mix. English Captions and Spanish Subtitles have also been encoded on to this dual layered DVD as options.
A screen specific audio commentary featuring Director Edward Zwick is also included as are three full-framed (1.33:1) trailers and three 30-second TV spots, all with Dolby Surround 2.0 sound. The main menu is animated and all of the interactive menus are easy to navigate. This is a solid standard DVD release from Fox well worth checking out.
© Copyright 2000 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.