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Released by: Universal Studios
Released on: July 3, 2012.
Director: Oliver Stone
Cast: Tom Cruise, Willem Dafoe, Kyra Sedgwick
Year: 1989
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The Movie:
Director Oliver Stone's second film about the Vietnam war was 1989's Born On The Fourth Of July and was based on the biography of veteran Ron Kovic who is played in the film by Tom Cruise. When we meet Kovic we learn that he was paralyzed while serving active duty in the Vietnam war and returned home, confined to a wheelchair, not to the hero's welcome that had greeted those who served in wars before him (such as when the soldiers returned from Europe after the Second World War), but to a general sense of indifference.
Kovic's combat experiences shape him into a man very different from the one he was when he was deployed. It quickly becomes obvious through his interactions with others who did not go overseas that his experiences in Vietnam have disillusioned him. He learned through experiences that there was nothing glorious about what he went through at all. In a sense, Kovic feels betrayed by his homeland, and seeing as he was brought up with such patriotic values this is quite a tumultuous adjustment for him to make. This changes him into an anti-war activist and he winds up appearing at the 1972 Republican National Convention, speaking out against the war and against what it has done to people on both sides of the conflict.
Born On The Fourth Of July approaches a different side of the Vietnam war than the one that Stone tackled in Platoon a few years earlier (Stone further ties the two films together by using cameo appearances from many of the actors seen in Platoon in this movie). While the film is related, it doesn't so much focus on the combat or horrors of combat as it does the effects that these things have on those who serve and on how they dealt with it upon their return. Cruise is excellent in the lead, and it's easy to forgive him for some of the blunders he's made in his other films after watching his Oscar nominated performance in this film. There's a legitimate sense of pathos about him that makes him an understandable and interesting character, someone that we want to know more about and that we want to see make his message known. Supporting efforts from Willem Dafoe and Kyra Sedgwick are also noteworthy, but this is more or less Cruise's show throughout. While the film is based on Ron Kovic's life, Stone also works some autobiographical elements into the story as well, which makes it a more personal film for director and this shows not only in what he managed to get out of his cast but in the attention to detail and in the passion behind the picture.
While the Vietnam War may be long behind us, the film's message remains an eternal one and a particularly topical one given the situation that the world is in right now and has been for some years. Stone and Cruise do an amazing job together and it's virtually impossible not to be moved during some of the scenes played out in this film.
Video/Audio/Extras:
It stands to reason that the VC-1 encoded image, presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35.1 widescreen and in 1080p high definition, is a holdover from Universal's HD-DVD days given that their recent output usually uses the AVC codec. Regardless, we get a pretty solid bit rate here and detail is pretty good. Some scenes are softer than others but we're definitely way above what DVD offers with this transfer. The original photography seems to have softened some fine detail in a few spots but this isn't a constant problem more so than an occasional one and obviously part of the way that the movie was shot. There aren't any obvious compression artifacts nor are there any issues with print damage to note and the grain structure of the film seems pretty natural looking here.
The lossless audio option on the disc is a DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track, in English, though optional standard DTS 5.1 Surround Sound options are provided in French and Spanish with subtitles provided in all three languages. John Williams' score sounds great in the lossless option, really filling in the surround channels quite nicely and adding some dramatic flair to an already very dramatic movie. Dialogue comes through clean, clear and without any hiss or distortion and the levels seem properly balanced throughout the film. The surround channels sound good in the action scenes and while this doesn't compete with more modern surround tracks, it definitely sounds very good.
Extras include the audio commentary from Oliver Stone that has appeared on previous DVD issues of the movie in the past, and a few other goodies. The commentary is solid, Stone is always an interesting guy to listen to and he discusses the making of the film in quite a bit of detail, talking about the cast, the locations, the themes and ideas and relating a lot of his own personal experiences in regards to the Vietnam War. Also carried over is the From The NBC Archives - Backstory: Born On The Fourth Of July featurettes, which is a twenty-two minute interview with Bryant Gumbel, Ron Kovic, Oliver Stone, and Tom Cruise that was broadcast around the time of the film's theatrical release. Also found on the disc are the 100 Years Of Universal: The Academy Award Winners featurettes and the 100 Years Of Universal: The '80s featurettes, which give some background information on the studio and its output during the decade in which this movie was made and on the catalogue titles that have performed well for the studio at the Oscars. A digital copy is also included. There are quite a few extras that were released with the two disc special edition DVD release of the movie that have not been carried over to this Blu-ray release - which is annoying.
As this is a Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack release, a DVD version of the movie is also included inside the case, which fits inside a slick slipcover that pops open to reveal some trivia about Universal Studios and the movie.
The Final Word:
A highly personal and very politicized film that obviously meant a lot to its director, Born On The Fourth Of July remains and excellent film. Cruise may have gone off in some strange directions over the years, Stone as well though to a far lesser extent, but this teaming is a good one. The performances are strong across the board and the direction is not only competent but assured and controlled. The story itself is well written, intelligent and moving and Universal have done a solid job bringing the film to Blu-ray, even if it would have been nice to see more of the extras ported over.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
