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Midnight Clear, A
Columbia/Tri-Star // R // June 11, 2002
List Price: $24.98 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
Keith Gordon is probably one of the better "unseen" directors working today. Although he largely returned to television after 1991's "A Midnight Clear", Gordon returned to the big screen in 1996 with the haunting drama "Mother Night" and again in 2000 with the unfortunately underappreciated gem "Waking The Dead", which offered remarkable performances from Jennifer Connelly and Billy Crudup.
"A Midnight Clear" isn't Gordon's best effort, but it does rank as one of the better war pictures that I've seen in recent memory. It's a memorable effort from the director that offers strong performances, excellent direction and beautiful cinematography. The film is set during the final period of World War II. A small group of soldiers - Bud Miller (Peter Berg), Will Knott (Ethan Hawke), Mel Avakian (Kevin Dillon), Stan Shutzer (Arye Gross), Vance "Mother" Wilkins (Gary Sinise) and Paul "Father" Mundy (Frank Whaley) have been dispatched into the Wintery woods to watch German soldiers that may be nearby.
The soldiers overhear the Germans in the night, some of whom are laughing or singing. The troops think that they're under attack at one point, only to find that the Germans are throwing snowballs under cover of night. They reason that maybe, since the war is nearly over, the Germans are trying to surrender in some way. Eventually, the two sides talk face-to-face and it's revealed that, after being beaten by the Russians, the Germans want nothing more to do with the battle. Unfortunately, things don't go as planned.
The film's tone, unusually subtle and quiet for a war film, but usual for Gordon's pictures, works for the film. Mark Isham's score, the solid performances and Gordon's usual cinematographer Tom Richmond's haunting images make for a level of tension that's enough to hold the attention and keep the viewer uneasy. "A Midnight Clear" is well-worth viewing, not only for early performances from several stars, but it's simply a chilling and effective drama that was surprisingly largely unseen during its theatrical release. Unfortunately, the studio has elected not to include a widescreen presentation on the DVD, making an otherwise solid release suffer.
The DVD
VIDEO: While Columbia/Tristar Home Video often holds up their reputation about providing strong video quality in their presentations, their recent efforts have occasionally exhibited baffling choices. "A Midnight Clear" is only presented in pan & scan instead of providing a new 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. That definite disapointment noted, the picture quality is merely okay. Sharpness and detail vary slightly throughout - most of the film looks crisp and clear, but occasionally, the image falls slightly into softness. Rarely is there much depth to the image, which almost always appears flat.
Flaws are present infrequently, but they didn't really cause that much irritation. Very minor grain is consistently present, but there was little in the way of print flaws - just a couple of specks. Edge enhancement was occasionally present, but only slight. One or two little hints of pixelation were noticed, but weren't a major concern.
SOUND: The film is presented by Columbia/Tristar in Dolby 2.0. The soundtrack is fairly pleasant, with the score sounding deep and rich and dialogue clear. There's little other activity, but this is a mostly dialogue-driven drama.
MENUS: A rarity for one of the studio's smaller catalog titles, there is actually an animated main menu, complete with dialogue and music playing in the background.
EXTRAS: The main supplement is a commentary from director Gordon and actor Hawke. As with Gordon's previous commentaries, he's informative, interesting and doesn't fall into the usual traps (simply talking about what's going on on-screen). Hawke also joins in and provides some good insights. 10 deleted scenes (with optional director's comemntary) and a trailer for "Casualties of War" are the disc's other extras.
Final Thoughts: The film is a haunting and emotional war drama that's often more quiet and subtle than most in the genre, which works well. The performances are all noteworthy early efforts from strong performers, too. While I wouldn't consider it among the best war films I've seen, it still ranks fairly highly. Columbia/Tristar's DVD has good audio, supplements and even animated menus, which makes it all the stranger and more disapointing that a new anamorphic widescreen presentation wasn't offered.
Keith Gordon is probably one of the better "unseen" directors working today. Although he largely returned to television after 1991's "A Midnight Clear", Gordon returned to the big screen in 1996 with the haunting drama "Mother Night" and again in 2000 with the unfortunately underappreciated gem "Waking The Dead", which offered remarkable performances from Jennifer Connelly and Billy Crudup.
"A Midnight Clear" isn't Gordon's best effort, but it does rank as one of the better war pictures that I've seen in recent memory. It's a memorable effort from the director that offers strong performances, excellent direction and beautiful cinematography. The film is set during the final period of World War II. A small group of soldiers - Bud Miller (Peter Berg), Will Knott (Ethan Hawke), Mel Avakian (Kevin Dillon), Stan Shutzer (Arye Gross), Vance "Mother" Wilkins (Gary Sinise) and Paul "Father" Mundy (Frank Whaley) have been dispatched into the Wintery woods to watch German soldiers that may be nearby.
The soldiers overhear the Germans in the night, some of whom are laughing or singing. The troops think that they're under attack at one point, only to find that the Germans are throwing snowballs under cover of night. They reason that maybe, since the war is nearly over, the Germans are trying to surrender in some way. Eventually, the two sides talk face-to-face and it's revealed that, after being beaten by the Russians, the Germans want nothing more to do with the battle. Unfortunately, things don't go as planned.
The film's tone, unusually subtle and quiet for a war film, but usual for Gordon's pictures, works for the film. Mark Isham's score, the solid performances and Gordon's usual cinematographer Tom Richmond's haunting images make for a level of tension that's enough to hold the attention and keep the viewer uneasy. "A Midnight Clear" is well-worth viewing, not only for early performances from several stars, but it's simply a chilling and effective drama that was surprisingly largely unseen during its theatrical release. Unfortunately, the studio has elected not to include a widescreen presentation on the DVD, making an otherwise solid release suffer.
The DVD
VIDEO: While Columbia/Tristar Home Video often holds up their reputation about providing strong video quality in their presentations, their recent efforts have occasionally exhibited baffling choices. "A Midnight Clear" is only presented in pan & scan instead of providing a new 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. That definite disapointment noted, the picture quality is merely okay. Sharpness and detail vary slightly throughout - most of the film looks crisp and clear, but occasionally, the image falls slightly into softness. Rarely is there much depth to the image, which almost always appears flat.
Flaws are present infrequently, but they didn't really cause that much irritation. Very minor grain is consistently present, but there was little in the way of print flaws - just a couple of specks. Edge enhancement was occasionally present, but only slight. One or two little hints of pixelation were noticed, but weren't a major concern.
SOUND: The film is presented by Columbia/Tristar in Dolby 2.0. The soundtrack is fairly pleasant, with the score sounding deep and rich and dialogue clear. There's little other activity, but this is a mostly dialogue-driven drama.
MENUS: A rarity for one of the studio's smaller catalog titles, there is actually an animated main menu, complete with dialogue and music playing in the background.
EXTRAS: The main supplement is a commentary from director Gordon and actor Hawke. As with Gordon's previous commentaries, he's informative, interesting and doesn't fall into the usual traps (simply talking about what's going on on-screen). Hawke also joins in and provides some good insights. 10 deleted scenes (with optional director's comemntary) and a trailer for "Casualties of War" are the disc's other extras.
Final Thoughts: The film is a haunting and emotional war drama that's often more quiet and subtle than most in the genre, which works well. The performances are all noteworthy early efforts from strong performers, too. While I wouldn't consider it among the best war films I've seen, it still ranks fairly highly. Columbia/Tristar's DVD has good audio, supplements and even animated menus, which makes it all the stranger and more disapointing that a new anamorphic widescreen presentation wasn't offered.
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