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Four Feathers: Special Edition
Paramount // PG-13 // February 18, 2003
List Price: $29.99 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
A dissapointment at the box office, "Four Feathers" is a movie with quite a bit going for it and a lot of evidence that it could have been a far better film had some elements of it been reworked. The film opens in 1875, with the British army contemplating a push into the Sudan to regain control of the area. Two members of the several groups chosen to go are Harry Faversham (Heath Ledger) and Jack Durrance (Wes Bentley), two childhood friends who are now both lieutenants.
However, the two differ in their opinions of the battle. Jack believes that what the British army is doing is correct; Harry believes otherwise and, as a result, gives up his place - not to mention the respect of his fellow soldiers and father. As a result, he receives four white feathers - one from each of his friends and one from his girlfriend, Ethne (Kate Hudson).
Deciding that he can't take the grief over his decision anymore and hearing that several of those he know have been injured (or worse) in battle, Harry decides that he shall also ship himself off to the Sudan. To say that things go poorly as Harry tries to get himself across the lands is an understatement. Lucky for him, he happens upon a native named Abou (Djimon Hounseau), who helps him because, well, as he says to Harry, "God put you in my way."
"The Four Feathers" has several issues within its opening half. In an odd attempt to appeal to teens (I suppose), the film has been rated PG-13 and has added the romantic element, when there is really not much of a need for it. Ethne is hardly an interesting character (or even a character, really) and she is hardly able to do anything with the minor role. She was excellent in "Almost Famous"; she's mis-cast here.
I also have concerns about how Harry's venture into the desert is presented. It's rather difficult to believe that Harry goes from being afraid of going to war to an action hero, although Ledger's fine performance actually comes close to being convincing. It's also a little questionable that Harry goes through so much in the way of disguises and other troubles instead of simply heading towards his fellow soldiers, if that's what he wanted to do. As a result of all this, there's a lot of Ledger wandering around in the desert, which makes some patches of film seem aimless.
One of the film's main faults is that it simply doesn't seem to know what it wants to be: a thoughtful drama or an action picture. This seems to be a result of Michael Schiffer and Hossein Amini's screenplay, which is an adaptation of a novel (by A.E.W. Mason) that's been adapted for the screen a few times prior. Rarely have I seen such an odd pairing of screenwriters: Schiffer is responsible for "Peacemaker" and "Crimson Tide", while Amini's credits include "Wings of the Dove" and Michael Winterbottom's excellent "Jude". The back-and-forth between the two tones results in an pretty inconsistent feature.
Still, there are certainly some positive aspects of the film. Although I find the casting of nearly all the leads questionable when older actors clearly could have been more convincing, Ledger ("Knight's Tale") offers a very good performance. Clearly the actor's most dramatic and emotional effort to date, Ledger manages to transform some rather hokey scenes into compelling and at least somewhat powerful moments. Things don't go as well for Bentley, who is shrill and irritating as the somewhat cliched "villian" of the film. Few of the supporting performers aside from Hounseau make any impression at all.
As one might expect from a film that cost a little over $80m (and was co-financed by two studios), "The Four Feathers" is technically stellar in nearly every regard. Robert Richardson's cinematography is absolutely stunning, as it captures the quite beauty of the vast desert landscape perfectly. Production design, costumes and other aspects are also first-rate. The only thing that didn't quite sit well with me was the editing; the film's storytelling occasionally seems choppy and feels like it may have been reworked at the last minute.
In terms of reworking, "Four Feathers" should have started at its questionable choice to aim for a teen audience. The film could have tightened up the desert scenes in the first half and lost the romance. Older, more experienced actors could have been more effective, while some of the supporting roles could have certainly been filled out more by the screenplay. I don't see a better version of this film as necessarily being shorter - a better screenplay and other fixes could have made a tolerable (and maybe even enjoyable) 150-minute version of this film instead of a merely okay 130-minute one.
Overall, this is an okay film that even played a bit better the second time around. Still, I have some considerable issues with aspects of it and I must say that I expected better from the sophmore effort of director Shekar Kapur ("Elizabeth").
The DVD
VIDEO: Paramount presents "Four Feathers" in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. This is an exceptional transfer that stands among the finest the studio has offered recently. I've been impressed with Paramount's efforts on the image quality of many of their releases of recent theatrical titles and, pleasantly enough, these efforts seem to continue to get even better. This film's stunning visuals are presented with very fine clarity and detail, as the picture remained consistently crisp throughout.
Even better was the fact that the presentation appeared to have little in the way of edge enhancement, as only minor amounts were briefly seen in a few scenes. No compression artifacts were spotted, while the print seemed to be crystal clear and free of any instances of wear. The film's dark, rich color palette was quite superbly handled, as colors were accurately rendered and nicely saturated. Black level remained solid, while flesh tones were accurate and natural. This is a very fine effort from Paramount that does justice to Richardson's marvelous cinematography.
SOUND: Paramount presents "Four Feathers" in Dolby Digital 5.1. The film's soundtrack is certainly dynamic and powerful, although somewhat inconsistently aggressive. The audio's main focus is clearly James Horner's score, which not only sounds impressively rich and bold (the drums sound especially forceful), but also gets fine reinforcement from the rear speakers. The surrounds also kick in for ambience and some mild sound effects, although there are stretches in the early going where the rear speakers are silent. Audio quality was solid, as Horner's score sounded exceptional, while dialogue remained clear and natural. Some of the more intense scenes, such as the main battle sequence, also offered some substancial low bass. While this is not a title that will likely be used as an audio demo, the film's sound is still above-average in several regards.
EXTRAS:
Commentary: Although I didn't always agree with the film's choices, I found the commentary from director Shekar Kapur to be pretty fascinating as I browsed through the track. Richly informative, polite, energetic and very intelligent, Kapur's commentary track touches on many subjects, including the themes and subtexts of the story, characters, the history covered in the film, production issues, location shooting, working with the cast and crew and also, some technical tidbits. Although a fair amount of this track is spent on analysis of characters and story, I enjoyed hearing the director's viewpoint and how he approached this tale.
The DVD's other supplements include eight featurettes, lead off by "A Journey Within", which is a general 16-minute overview of the production. Kapur and Schiffer are interviewed, while there is also some minor input from Ledger and others. It's a mildly interesting piece, but it's not too terribly informative and spends a bit too much time going over the themes of the story those who are watching this piece have already seen.
"Sounds of East and West" is a 4-minute featurette focusing on the development of the score. "The Battle of Abou Clea" is a more interesting piece, as it focuses on the some of the history behind the picture's biggest battle sequence. Still, I wish this featurette had offered more about how the production had to organize, plan and film this sequence. "The Mystery of the Desert" has Kapur discussing the challenge of filming "The Four Feathers" in some very harsh conditions on a tight shooting schedule.
"THe Friendship of Abou Fatma" is a short piece focusing on the character, "A Journey of Self Discovery" is another brief piece about Harry's journey and finally, "Surviving the Prison" lasts about three minutes. Aside from "The Journey Within", the other substancial piece is "A Historical Perspective", which is a 16-minute documentary where various historians discuss their opinions of the story and some of the realities behind it.
Rounding out the supplemental section are trailers for "The Four Feathers" (in DD 5.1) and Paramount's upcoming theatrical release, "The Core" (2.0 audio).
Final Thoughts: I still believe that "Four Feathers" is an average film that, with some reworking, could have been a great epic. Paramount's special edition DVD release offers excellent audio/video quality, along with a few informative and interesting supplements. Rent it.
A dissapointment at the box office, "Four Feathers" is a movie with quite a bit going for it and a lot of evidence that it could have been a far better film had some elements of it been reworked. The film opens in 1875, with the British army contemplating a push into the Sudan to regain control of the area. Two members of the several groups chosen to go are Harry Faversham (Heath Ledger) and Jack Durrance (Wes Bentley), two childhood friends who are now both lieutenants.
However, the two differ in their opinions of the battle. Jack believes that what the British army is doing is correct; Harry believes otherwise and, as a result, gives up his place - not to mention the respect of his fellow soldiers and father. As a result, he receives four white feathers - one from each of his friends and one from his girlfriend, Ethne (Kate Hudson).
Deciding that he can't take the grief over his decision anymore and hearing that several of those he know have been injured (or worse) in battle, Harry decides that he shall also ship himself off to the Sudan. To say that things go poorly as Harry tries to get himself across the lands is an understatement. Lucky for him, he happens upon a native named Abou (Djimon Hounseau), who helps him because, well, as he says to Harry, "God put you in my way."
"The Four Feathers" has several issues within its opening half. In an odd attempt to appeal to teens (I suppose), the film has been rated PG-13 and has added the romantic element, when there is really not much of a need for it. Ethne is hardly an interesting character (or even a character, really) and she is hardly able to do anything with the minor role. She was excellent in "Almost Famous"; she's mis-cast here.
I also have concerns about how Harry's venture into the desert is presented. It's rather difficult to believe that Harry goes from being afraid of going to war to an action hero, although Ledger's fine performance actually comes close to being convincing. It's also a little questionable that Harry goes through so much in the way of disguises and other troubles instead of simply heading towards his fellow soldiers, if that's what he wanted to do. As a result of all this, there's a lot of Ledger wandering around in the desert, which makes some patches of film seem aimless.
One of the film's main faults is that it simply doesn't seem to know what it wants to be: a thoughtful drama or an action picture. This seems to be a result of Michael Schiffer and Hossein Amini's screenplay, which is an adaptation of a novel (by A.E.W. Mason) that's been adapted for the screen a few times prior. Rarely have I seen such an odd pairing of screenwriters: Schiffer is responsible for "Peacemaker" and "Crimson Tide", while Amini's credits include "Wings of the Dove" and Michael Winterbottom's excellent "Jude". The back-and-forth between the two tones results in an pretty inconsistent feature.
Still, there are certainly some positive aspects of the film. Although I find the casting of nearly all the leads questionable when older actors clearly could have been more convincing, Ledger ("Knight's Tale") offers a very good performance. Clearly the actor's most dramatic and emotional effort to date, Ledger manages to transform some rather hokey scenes into compelling and at least somewhat powerful moments. Things don't go as well for Bentley, who is shrill and irritating as the somewhat cliched "villian" of the film. Few of the supporting performers aside from Hounseau make any impression at all.
As one might expect from a film that cost a little over $80m (and was co-financed by two studios), "The Four Feathers" is technically stellar in nearly every regard. Robert Richardson's cinematography is absolutely stunning, as it captures the quite beauty of the vast desert landscape perfectly. Production design, costumes and other aspects are also first-rate. The only thing that didn't quite sit well with me was the editing; the film's storytelling occasionally seems choppy and feels like it may have been reworked at the last minute.
In terms of reworking, "Four Feathers" should have started at its questionable choice to aim for a teen audience. The film could have tightened up the desert scenes in the first half and lost the romance. Older, more experienced actors could have been more effective, while some of the supporting roles could have certainly been filled out more by the screenplay. I don't see a better version of this film as necessarily being shorter - a better screenplay and other fixes could have made a tolerable (and maybe even enjoyable) 150-minute version of this film instead of a merely okay 130-minute one.
Overall, this is an okay film that even played a bit better the second time around. Still, I have some considerable issues with aspects of it and I must say that I expected better from the sophmore effort of director Shekar Kapur ("Elizabeth").
The DVD
VIDEO: Paramount presents "Four Feathers" in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. This is an exceptional transfer that stands among the finest the studio has offered recently. I've been impressed with Paramount's efforts on the image quality of many of their releases of recent theatrical titles and, pleasantly enough, these efforts seem to continue to get even better. This film's stunning visuals are presented with very fine clarity and detail, as the picture remained consistently crisp throughout.
Even better was the fact that the presentation appeared to have little in the way of edge enhancement, as only minor amounts were briefly seen in a few scenes. No compression artifacts were spotted, while the print seemed to be crystal clear and free of any instances of wear. The film's dark, rich color palette was quite superbly handled, as colors were accurately rendered and nicely saturated. Black level remained solid, while flesh tones were accurate and natural. This is a very fine effort from Paramount that does justice to Richardson's marvelous cinematography.
SOUND: Paramount presents "Four Feathers" in Dolby Digital 5.1. The film's soundtrack is certainly dynamic and powerful, although somewhat inconsistently aggressive. The audio's main focus is clearly James Horner's score, which not only sounds impressively rich and bold (the drums sound especially forceful), but also gets fine reinforcement from the rear speakers. The surrounds also kick in for ambience and some mild sound effects, although there are stretches in the early going where the rear speakers are silent. Audio quality was solid, as Horner's score sounded exceptional, while dialogue remained clear and natural. Some of the more intense scenes, such as the main battle sequence, also offered some substancial low bass. While this is not a title that will likely be used as an audio demo, the film's sound is still above-average in several regards.
EXTRAS:
Commentary: Although I didn't always agree with the film's choices, I found the commentary from director Shekar Kapur to be pretty fascinating as I browsed through the track. Richly informative, polite, energetic and very intelligent, Kapur's commentary track touches on many subjects, including the themes and subtexts of the story, characters, the history covered in the film, production issues, location shooting, working with the cast and crew and also, some technical tidbits. Although a fair amount of this track is spent on analysis of characters and story, I enjoyed hearing the director's viewpoint and how he approached this tale.
The DVD's other supplements include eight featurettes, lead off by "A Journey Within", which is a general 16-minute overview of the production. Kapur and Schiffer are interviewed, while there is also some minor input from Ledger and others. It's a mildly interesting piece, but it's not too terribly informative and spends a bit too much time going over the themes of the story those who are watching this piece have already seen.
"Sounds of East and West" is a 4-minute featurette focusing on the development of the score. "The Battle of Abou Clea" is a more interesting piece, as it focuses on the some of the history behind the picture's biggest battle sequence. Still, I wish this featurette had offered more about how the production had to organize, plan and film this sequence. "The Mystery of the Desert" has Kapur discussing the challenge of filming "The Four Feathers" in some very harsh conditions on a tight shooting schedule.
"THe Friendship of Abou Fatma" is a short piece focusing on the character, "A Journey of Self Discovery" is another brief piece about Harry's journey and finally, "Surviving the Prison" lasts about three minutes. Aside from "The Journey Within", the other substancial piece is "A Historical Perspective", which is a 16-minute documentary where various historians discuss their opinions of the story and some of the realities behind it.
Rounding out the supplemental section are trailers for "The Four Feathers" (in DD 5.1) and Paramount's upcoming theatrical release, "The Core" (2.0 audio).
Final Thoughts: I still believe that "Four Feathers" is an average film that, with some reworking, could have been a great epic. Paramount's special edition DVD release offers excellent audio/video quality, along with a few informative and interesting supplements. Rent it.
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