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Released by: Twilight Time Releasing
Released on: September, 2014.
Director: Oliver Stone
Cast: James Woods, James Belushi, Michael Murphy
Year: 1986
Purchase From Screen Archives
The Movie:
A recently divorced photojournalist named Richard Boyle (James Woods) has seen better days. He decides to spice things up a bit in his life so he drives on down to El Salvador where Archbishop Oscar Romera has recently been assassinated and the military dictatorship that rules the country is in disarray. His friend Doctor Rock (James Belushi) is along for the ride, lured by the promise of readily available and more than affordable prostitutes - he figures it'll be a party more than anything else.
Instead of merely covering the story as any normal journalist would do, however, Boyle ends up striking up an alliance with some guerilla fighters living in the more remote areas of the country. They want to use him as a propaganda machine so that his pictures will reach the American military and possibly influence them to their side of the fight. He also ends up working for the fascist military that controls the country, as they want him to hand over his photographs of the rebels which they intend to use to identify them with. To complicate matters further for Boyle, both he and Doctor Rock have got a taste for booze and pills. When he decides that he wants to escape and bring back the native girl he has fallen in love with to the United States with him, things get more than a little complicated for all involved.
Based loosely on the true story of a photojournalist named Richard Boyle (who co-wrote the film along with Stone), Salvador is a thought provoking film that basically asks the question 'where do you draw the line between your political beliefs and your professional code of ethics?' Woods does a great job of playing a man at his wits' end. He's believable in his desperation and suits the part and the storyline very nicely. As we follow his story we see him hit the complete range of human emotion from anger to sorrow to love to everything in between, and based on what he goes through, we can sympathize with him. Likewise, James Belushi is solid here too, the Doctor Gonzo to Woods' Raoul Duke if you will, and the pair share a great chemistry together in this picture.
Stone portrays Boyle's chosen profession as little more than a propaganda artist and his well-known leftist politics are obvious in this film (and justified in the context of it). In a sense he seems to be calling us to not take everything we see, hear, or read in the news at face value, a theme that would come to dominate some of his later films, most notably JFK. He's never been a director to hide his thoughts on world events and even here, at an early stage in his career, he puts his stamp all over the film as the way in which he deals with and portrays American involvement in the issues plaguing El Salvador at the time the story takes place (which wasn't far removed from the year it played at all) is less than favorable, and for good reason. There's plenty of room for criticism there, especially in hindsight.
Aside from the political side of the story, Salvador is full of human drama as well as some great action scenes that detail the battles between the rebels and the commanding military force. The film is less about the events surrounding the story and more about how those events change one man's ideologies are affected by them. The film also features a moving and effective score from Georges Delerue and a lot of great footage location footage (shot in Mexico as a very effective stand in for a still dangerous El Salvador) that gives the film a gritty and authentic documentary feel.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Salvador arrives on Blu-ray from Twilight Time in its original 1.85.1 widescreen aspect ratio in AVC encoded 1080p high definition. Although this is a gritty looking film and a fairly grainy looking picture, the advancement in detail and texture that the Blu-ray offers is pretty obvious right from the start. The image is in good shape, showing very little wear and tear and really only exhibiting a few white specks here and there. Color reproduction is great, black levels are pretty solid and skin tones look good. This is a strong transfer to be sure.
Lossless audio options are provided in DTS-HD 1.0 and 5.1 options with removable English closed captioning also provided. The 5.1 mix spreads out Georges Delerue's score nicely and adds some directionality to some of the effects throughout the movie but plays things appropriately safe by remaining a bit front heavy. The mono track is obviously the more authentic of the two, but both options are clean, clear and properly balanced and have no issues with any hiss or distortion.
In addition to the Oliver Stone commentary that was included on the previous DVD release in which Stone talks about shooting the film in Mexico, working with Woods and Belushi, where some of the ideas for the film came from, the political background that inspired the picture and quite a bit more. Say what you will about Stone but he gives good commentary and if you haven't heard this one before, it's absolutely worth checking out.
This Blu-ray also carries over the documentary on the making of the film entitled Into The Valley Of Death. This piece features interviews with the key players in getting the film made and runs just over an hour in length providing a wealth of great information on the film and its creators. Also carried over from the previous DVD are a handful of deleted scenes (eight in total, all presented fullframe and in rather poor condition) and a theatrical trailer.
New to this Blu-ray is the film's isolated score in DTS-HD format, the MGM 90th Anniversary trailer and another set of insightful liner notes from Julie Kirgo that provide welcome background information on the film as well as some critical insight into what makes it work. Some archival poster art and behind the scenes photos compliments the essay nicely.
The Final Word:
Salvador is an interesting early effort from Stone, and one that in a sense lays a lot of the ground work for some of his later material and that holds up very well both artistically and politically in the modern day. Twilight Time bring the film to Blu-ray with all of the extras from the DVD release carried over and a few more thrown in for good measure alongside a very nice transfer and strong audio.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
