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Annapolis (Blu-ray)
Blu-ray A - America - Buena Vista Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Noor Razzak (27th November 2006). |
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The Film
 Let's be frank here, "Annapolis" borrows a lot from other films, it has the underdog competitive boxing angle as previously seen in "Rocky" (1976) and about a thousand other inspirational sports films. It has the grueling military training sequences that are softer and less interesting as previously seen in "Full Metal Jacket" (1987) and it's got James Franco as previously seen in the "Spider-man" (2002, 2004, 2007) movies. It's fair to say that "Annapolis" doesn't have a shred of originality, the story is paint-by-numbers and wholly predicable, the cast is sorely underutilized, and the film feels like a recruitment video for the U.S. Navy. Additionally Jordana Brewster is not only inadequate for the role she plays, she may also want to consider additional acting classes to add depth to her otherwise wooden performance. I do believe we have ourselves a female equivalent to Orlando Bloom, Brewster seems to be the best possible candidate for emotionless female performance of the year! "Annapolis" tells the story of Jake Huard (Franco), for years Jake has dreamed of joining the Navy and training at Annapolis, instead he works with his dad (Brian Goodman) as a welder building ships. After applying he'll get to live out his dream and is awarded a spot into the Academy. This starts months of training and hard work to meet the criteria for U.S. Naval duty...however Jake has a chip on his shoulder and develops contempt for Lt. Cole (Tyrese Gibson), along the way he meets a hot training officer, Ali (Brewster) and eventually gets to prove himself not only to her but the entire Academy when he trains to be a boxer and kicks a bunch of people's asses. OK, now that the synopsis of out the way let's outline the overall problems with this film. First of all, the story is nothing new, inspirational underdog-type stuff. The narrative flow is basic, introduce character and character traits, introduce set-up, challenge the character, somewhere in the middle the challenge is too much and in a moment of weakness gives up, but an unlikely person motivates him to continue, he continues, earns respect and gets the girl...all in a days work. This script reeks of screenwriting 101, no surprises, no expectations, in fact if it wasn't for these actors attached to this project "Annapolis" may as well have been a straight-to-video release or a made-for-TV drama that sugar coats the U.S. military in a time of conflict. Which brings me to my second point, looking into this film's production history I was surprised to discover that the filmmakers had no cooperation with the U.S. Navy, yet this entire production feels like a recruitment video often screened to high School kids about the advantages to joining the service, and what better production house to exploit those good times than the dream factory of Hollywood. After watching this film I was suddenly struck with the notion that if I joined the service not only will be challenged mentally and physically, but I'd make new friends, get to cavort with higher-ranking female officers (hot ones by the way, all the female officers in this film are supermodel grade), and I'm certain to look snappy in my dress whites...right? I've seen many films filled with shameless plug after shameless plug, product placement annoys me to no end especially when it's obvious, and "Annapolis" is the ultimate case where an entire film is virtually used to sell the product of naval service. There only positives I could determine regarding this film are its technical; aspects. The photography by Phil Abraham is stunningly slick, Abraham also had some nice locations to shoot as the production design to the best of my knowledge accurately reflect a Naval training school. Sadly, great photography and set design do not make a great film...they only enhance one. In the hands of a better director "Annapolis" could have been a gem, instead with are left with this predictable fodder that will not likely be remembered in the years to come.
Video
Presented in the film's original theatrical ratio of 1.85:1 this high-definition transfer is presented in 1080p / 24fps using MPEG-2 compression. The result is great and as compared to the standard definition DVD counterpart is better in terms of sharpness and color definition as well. The image is crisp and detailed, as long as studios and distributors continue to give films a great treatment on the Blu-Ray format there is no reason to produce excellent presentations each time, I'm happy with this release as it demonstrates the right way to present a film. It's high resolution presents blacks accurately and boldly, shadow detail is impeccable. Although this transfer is in great shape I did notice a minor issue with film grain which can be spotted in low light scenes but overall the grain is minimal and won't bother the viewer.
Audio
Three audio tracks are included, an uncompressed English PCM 5.1 surround track encoded at 48kHz/16-Bit as well as an English and French Dolby Digital 5.1 surround tracks. For the purposes of this review I chose to view the film with its PCM track, much like the visuals the sound also impresses, with activity buzzing through the speakers especially during the training scenes and also the boxing scenes immerse the viewer completely. As expected the dialogue is clear with music rendered beautifully throughout the sound space, this uncompressed track displays a broad range and depth with an excellent balance between dialogue, directional effects, ambient sounds and music. Optional subtitles are also included in English for the hearing impaired, French, and Spanish.
Extras
Buena Vista have dropped the featurettes from the DVD release and only ported over the audio commentary plus the deleted scenes, below is a closer look at these supplements. The video bonus features on this disc are presented in 1080p high definition. First up we have a feature-length audio commentary with director Justin Lin, screenwriter Dave Collard and editor Fred Raskin. For the most part this screen-specific, although the participants to go off on tangents every now and then, mainly discussing their roles and the challenges they faced with this film. The participants have a lot to say pertaining to the production process and the research they undertook for the technical elements as well as sharing a healthy amount of information regarding the cast among other topics. If you enjoyed the film then this track is certainly worth exploring. A collection of 7 deleted scenes are also featured on this disc. These scenes all include optional audio commentary by director Justin Lin, screenwriter Dave Collard and editor Fred Raskin. They comment on the scenes in question as well as provide detail behind them and why they were ultimately removed from the final edit. These scenes can be viewed individually or with a 'play all' function. The scenes included are: - "I-Day" runs for 5 minutes 1 second, in this scene Jake attends the induction at the Academy in this montage-style scene. - "Cell Phone Montage" runs for 54 seconds, this is a training sequence where the Lt. Cole tries to break the recruits spirits. - "Swimming Pool" runs for 1 minute 32 seconds, yet another training scene, were the recruits jump from a platform into the pool. - "Penny Sweating/Risa Thanks Lake" runs for 1 minute 30 seconds, this extended scene shows Jake being disciplined after a training exercise, Ali offers Jake some advice and Risa (Katie Hein) thanks him for helping her out. - "Smoker at the Graveyard" runs for 1 minute 2 seconds, here Jake visits the graveyard, lights two cigarettes. - "Contagious Sloppiness" runs for 47 seconds, Cole inspects Jake's room and mess it up to make a point about his sloppiness. - "Comatose Twins" runs for 55 seconds, Jake visits Twins in the hospital after his attempted suicide. Also included is "Movie Showcase" which jumps to three key reference scenes that show off the high-definition quality.
Overall
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