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Released by: Fox
Released on: 2/2/2010
Director: Kevin Macdonald
Cast: Forest Whitaker, James McAvoy, Kerry Washington, Gillian Anderson, Simon McBurney, David Oyelowo, Adam Kotz
Year: 2006
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The Movie:
Kevin Macdonald's The Last King Of Scotland tells the story of a young Scottish doctor named Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy) who, after finishing school, heads off to Uganda where he starts work at a missionary lead by run by Dr. David Merritt (Adam Kotz) and his wife Sarah (Gillian Anderson). While out on a trip one afternoon, Nicholas gets roped into giving medical attention to Uganda's newest leader, General Idi Amin Dada, and the man takes an instant liking to him. Before you know it, Nicholas has left the mission and has taken a job as Amin's personal doctor.
Initially, Nicholas is pretty happy with his new position. Amin makes sure that he's well taken care of - he has all the women he wants, plenty of money and even a new car. He's definitely living the good life but Garrigan soon finds that there's a cost to this as the cracks in Amin's armor start to show and the young doctor soon realizes that he's aiding and abetting a madman.
A well directed and nicely paced blend of historical recreation and human drama, The Last King Of Scotland is a solid film that, while not quite without its flaws, tells an interesting story about an usual subject. Although Whitaker's deserved Oscar win for his role takes much of the film's limelight, he's more of a supporting character and the film definitely focuses in more on McAvoy's portrayal of Garrigan than it does on Amin himself. That being said, McAvoy is quite good in the role, bringing to mind a young Ewan McGregor at times but certainly leaving his own stamp on the character as he makes the journey from cocky young upstart to a man fearing for his own life and completely wrapped up in something he should have no part in.
The romantic subplot that develops early on between the characters of Nicholas and Sarah feels forced and doesn't do the movie any favors, but Anderson is decent in her small part and she too proves quite capable with the material. Most of the supporting cast is quite excellent and while obviously Whitaker is going to get the most attention for his truly amazing take on Amin, the rest of the performers are due some attention as well. As far as Whitaker goes, however, he's fantastic in the part. It's not easy to think of Amin as sympathetic given how many people he killed and the reports of cannibalism and other atrocities but Whitaker is able to make us feel sorry for the man at times. His performance feels very natural, and he handles the relaxed moments and the more manic bits with ease.
Shot on location in Uganda (the first since The African Queen!), after obtaining permission from that country's president, (which is how the film crew was able to shoot in the actual Ugandan Parliament building) the film always looks beautiful and it does a great job of capturing the savage side of the country alongside the softer side. Ultimately, while it may not be completely historically accurate, The Last King Of Scotland is an exciting thriller based on some bizarre real life events highlight by solid directing, great acting and lush cinematography.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The AVC encoded 2.35.1 1080p high definition transfer on this disc is a good one though much of the film is on the grainy side, which might irk some. The colors are better than the standard definition release right off the bat, as is the level of detail present. You'll see it in the opening dinner scene but it's more obvious when the film heads to Amin's turf and more of it starts taking place outside. Colors look good, the picture feeling appropriately arid and dry and while it looks fairly hot more often than not, this is in keeping with the way the movie is supposed to look. This is a film that has a fair bit of shaky cam work in it so when the camera is moving around as often as it is here it can be a bit tricky to make out that extra detail that some scenes show, so at times the image is a bit erratic and maybe even a little inconsistent but if it isn't a reference quality transfer it's still a pretty big improvement in many ways.
Audio options are provided in English DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio, French 5.1 DTS, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound, and Portuguese 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound with optional subtitles in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese. The English 5.1 track is quite good for a film that doesn't rely too heavily on sound effects or action set pieces. Dialogue is clean and clear and surrounds are used quite effectively throughout to add atmosphere and enhance the picture. You'll notice a lot more ambient noise and sound effects on the DTS-HD track when comparing it to the SD release, and the track just has a much more audible clarity and a lot more detail to it that make it more enjoyable. You'll really notice that Whitaker's voice has a fair bit more weight to it as well, adding to the weird vibe that his character puts off.
The extras on the Blu-ray release are identical to those found on the SD release that came out in 2007. First up is a full length director's commentary track from director Kevin Macdonald. While the director does spend a fair bit of time simply telling us about what's happening on screen during playback, thankfully when he's not doing that he tells some interesting stories. He covers casting and location shooting as well as some of the research that went into making the film. It would have been nice to see Whitaker involved here as he's a pretty interesting guy who could have shed some light on the film from a different point of view but Macdonald does a decent job of keeping the information flowing nicely and he covers all the basics you'd expect from a decent commentary track.
Up next is a selection of seven deleted scenes with optional commentary by Kevin Macdonald that run just shy of eight minutes in total. None of these are particularly revelatory but they do add some additional insight into some of the film's characters and they're worth sifting through. Macdonald's commentary explains why the scenes were removed from the final cut of the film which is always a nice touch.
The most interesting supplement on the disc is a documentary entitled Capturing Idi Amin which clocks in at just under half an hour in length. Using behind the scenes footage, archival clips and a wealth of stills this segment does a good job of reminding us what Amin was really like. The segment features not only interviews with cast and crew members but also with Ugandan citizens who lived under Amin's rule and who share some fascinating stories about that time in their lives.
Two shorter featurettes are also found here, the first of which is Forest Whitaker: Idi Amin which is a six-minute discussion with Whitaker about his work on the picture. He talks about how he got into character and how he prepared to take on the unenviable task of playing such a notorious character. The second featurette is Fox Movie Channel Presents: Casting Session- The Last King of Scotland, which is eight and a half minutes of fairly standard talking head interviews with the supporting cast of the film.
Rounding out the extra features are the original U.S. theatrical trailer, animated menus and chapter stops.
The Final Word:
The Last King Of Scotland is a thought provoking and expertly acted film and it's presented here with some extra features that provide plenty of insight and make this a very well rounded package. The nice upgrade in audio and video quality offered by Fox's Blu-ray release make the film even easier to appreciate on a visual level than previously, and the added clarity of the improved sound is noticeable immediately.