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Dark Blue World: Special Edition
Columbia/Tri-Star // R // May 21, 2002
List Price: $29.98 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
A Czech production that was released late in 2001, "Dark Blue World" often seems to be compared as sort of a cousin of "Pearl Harbor". Both films contain a war-time romance and both films are flawed ("Pearl Harbor" far more so), but "Dark Blue World" at least provides intelligent dialogue, seemingly greater realism and considerably less sappiness. Both films have been compared and have some very similar elements - and suffer from shoehorning in a romance - but approach the material with a different tone and feel.
The film revolves around Franta Slama (Vetchy) and his best pupil Karel (Hadek). It is 1939 and both are ace Czech fighter pilots, living a comfortable life. Franta has a particularly stunning girlfriend (Linda Rybová) and a dog that is exceptionally loyal - while the dog seems to generally understand commands, he speaks to it as if it's a person that he's having a one-sided conversation with. The two eventually leave their homeland and join the RAF in the fight against the Nazi forces, but it's a while before they actually get airborne. On the ground, there's a love triangle between the two men and Susan (Tara Fitzgerald), who both fall in love with. While these scenes are certainly better written than similar ones in Michael Bay's picture, they're still the least interesting element of this movie. The picture would have been helped considerably had it shifted focus away from the love story, which gets enough attention that other aspects of the story are not filled-out in a manner that's entirely satisfying. The film should have either chosen to be a historical drama or a wartime romance; I would have liked to see it have been completely the former.
While I disliked elements of the story, there were other parts of "Dark Blue World" to like. For a moderately budgeted picture, the film looks simply gorgeous. Through a mixture of old footage, models and visual effects, there are some impressive battles in the air. Vladimír Smutný's cinematography is crisp and beautiful, looking postcard perfect, but not too "glossy". The performances by all involved are rich and compelling, especially the two leads, who give more depth to the characters than the material would suggest.
Overall, I liked "Dark Blue World". The performances are good, the picture glides through its nearly two-hour running time fairly quickly and the film is technically very well-done for a remarkably low budget ($6.5m). I simply wished throughout that the romantic scenes would have been dropped completely. The actors do give a fine effort, but Fitzgerald and the two leads have little chemistry. The scenes aren't badly written or acted, but they're not compelling, nor do they feel necessary, especially when the history portrayed is more interesting. While the historical drama is fairly well-covered, I often got the feeling that there's more that could have been told in the place of the love triangle. Overall, I found "Dark Blue World" enjoyable, but it never really goes from good or very good to great.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Dark Blue World" is presented by Columbia/Tristar in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. The presentation is one of the studio's finer recent efforts, capturing the film's often stunning visuals with only a few minor flaws. Sharpness and detail are certainly not problematic, though: the picture looked crisp, well-defined and vivid throughout, often displaying nice depth to the image.
As with a fair amount of the studio's titles, there are some instances of edge enhancement, but in this case, it's very rarely seen and hardly noticable. The print used is in excellent condition, with only a speck or two and extremely slight grain. The film's natural color palette was presented flawlessly, with no smearing or other problems. English subtitles.
SOUND: The film is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. The soundtrack is a mixture of both English and Czech. Viewers should not enter expecting the traditional agressive surround-sound that's associated with similar films to this one. However, it is still certainly a satisfactory presentation that I found enjoyable. The film's audio is certainly front-focused throughout, even in some of the air battle sequences. The surrounds are employed for a few sound effects during some of the most intense moments, but the action still takes place mostly across the front three speakers, which provide an enjoyable, "open" sound. Audio quality was very good, as dialogue and music remained clear, as did sound effects. While not extremely agressive, this is a fine soundtrack that still has a few remarkable moments.
MENUS: Basic main and sub-menus with no animation or other touches.
EXTRAS: Included in this Special Edition is a commentary from director Jan Sevarek and producer Eric Abraham, which is subdued, but interesting and informative, as the two discuss both historical issues and the production itself in fine detail. Other features include a 33-minute "making of" documentary, which offers interviews with the director, cast and crew and also shows how some of the film's visual effects were accomplished; a shorter visual effects documentary, which shows many before/after comparisons; a photo gallery and trailers for "Dark Blue World" (both US and Czech versions), "Divided We Fall", "From Here To Eternity" and "Black Hawk Down".
Final Thoughts: "Dark Blue World" never quite achieves what I thought it could, mainly because of the romance, which I really never became invested in. Still, it's well-acted, technically impressive and beautifully filmed - it's a worthwhile rental for those who haven't seen it and are interested. Columbia/Tristar has provided a superb DVD edition, with excellent video quality, very good audio and fine supplements. Fans should seek a purchase.
A Czech production that was released late in 2001, "Dark Blue World" often seems to be compared as sort of a cousin of "Pearl Harbor". Both films contain a war-time romance and both films are flawed ("Pearl Harbor" far more so), but "Dark Blue World" at least provides intelligent dialogue, seemingly greater realism and considerably less sappiness. Both films have been compared and have some very similar elements - and suffer from shoehorning in a romance - but approach the material with a different tone and feel.
The film revolves around Franta Slama (Vetchy) and his best pupil Karel (Hadek). It is 1939 and both are ace Czech fighter pilots, living a comfortable life. Franta has a particularly stunning girlfriend (Linda Rybová) and a dog that is exceptionally loyal - while the dog seems to generally understand commands, he speaks to it as if it's a person that he's having a one-sided conversation with. The two eventually leave their homeland and join the RAF in the fight against the Nazi forces, but it's a while before they actually get airborne. On the ground, there's a love triangle between the two men and Susan (Tara Fitzgerald), who both fall in love with. While these scenes are certainly better written than similar ones in Michael Bay's picture, they're still the least interesting element of this movie. The picture would have been helped considerably had it shifted focus away from the love story, which gets enough attention that other aspects of the story are not filled-out in a manner that's entirely satisfying. The film should have either chosen to be a historical drama or a wartime romance; I would have liked to see it have been completely the former.
While I disliked elements of the story, there were other parts of "Dark Blue World" to like. For a moderately budgeted picture, the film looks simply gorgeous. Through a mixture of old footage, models and visual effects, there are some impressive battles in the air. Vladimír Smutný's cinematography is crisp and beautiful, looking postcard perfect, but not too "glossy". The performances by all involved are rich and compelling, especially the two leads, who give more depth to the characters than the material would suggest.
Overall, I liked "Dark Blue World". The performances are good, the picture glides through its nearly two-hour running time fairly quickly and the film is technically very well-done for a remarkably low budget ($6.5m). I simply wished throughout that the romantic scenes would have been dropped completely. The actors do give a fine effort, but Fitzgerald and the two leads have little chemistry. The scenes aren't badly written or acted, but they're not compelling, nor do they feel necessary, especially when the history portrayed is more interesting. While the historical drama is fairly well-covered, I often got the feeling that there's more that could have been told in the place of the love triangle. Overall, I found "Dark Blue World" enjoyable, but it never really goes from good or very good to great.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Dark Blue World" is presented by Columbia/Tristar in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. The presentation is one of the studio's finer recent efforts, capturing the film's often stunning visuals with only a few minor flaws. Sharpness and detail are certainly not problematic, though: the picture looked crisp, well-defined and vivid throughout, often displaying nice depth to the image.
As with a fair amount of the studio's titles, there are some instances of edge enhancement, but in this case, it's very rarely seen and hardly noticable. The print used is in excellent condition, with only a speck or two and extremely slight grain. The film's natural color palette was presented flawlessly, with no smearing or other problems. English subtitles.
SOUND: The film is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. The soundtrack is a mixture of both English and Czech. Viewers should not enter expecting the traditional agressive surround-sound that's associated with similar films to this one. However, it is still certainly a satisfactory presentation that I found enjoyable. The film's audio is certainly front-focused throughout, even in some of the air battle sequences. The surrounds are employed for a few sound effects during some of the most intense moments, but the action still takes place mostly across the front three speakers, which provide an enjoyable, "open" sound. Audio quality was very good, as dialogue and music remained clear, as did sound effects. While not extremely agressive, this is a fine soundtrack that still has a few remarkable moments.
MENUS: Basic main and sub-menus with no animation or other touches.
EXTRAS: Included in this Special Edition is a commentary from director Jan Sevarek and producer Eric Abraham, which is subdued, but interesting and informative, as the two discuss both historical issues and the production itself in fine detail. Other features include a 33-minute "making of" documentary, which offers interviews with the director, cast and crew and also shows how some of the film's visual effects were accomplished; a shorter visual effects documentary, which shows many before/after comparisons; a photo gallery and trailers for "Dark Blue World" (both US and Czech versions), "Divided We Fall", "From Here To Eternity" and "Black Hawk Down".
Final Thoughts: "Dark Blue World" never quite achieves what I thought it could, mainly because of the romance, which I really never became invested in. Still, it's well-acted, technically impressive and beautifully filmed - it's a worthwhile rental for those who haven't seen it and are interested. Columbia/Tristar has provided a superb DVD edition, with excellent video quality, very good audio and fine supplements. Fans should seek a purchase.
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