Ben Affleck becomes Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan in a film that took a long time to come to screen, as you'll discover from this slick DVD.
TECHNICAL FEATURES
Picture Icy greys and blues dominate in this sharp image transfer.
Sound The 5.1 mix really kicks bass-enhanced ass during the combat scenes.
SPECIAL FEATURES
Audio Commentary One Director Phil Alden Robinson and cinematographer John Lindley reflect on this, their fourth movie collaboration.
Their analysis concentrates on the style and imagery of the film, and the practical issues that came up during the shoot - including not being allowed to film planes with fake bombs attached.
Although there is no deleted material on the DVD, Phil and John do discuss sequences that have been cut down.
Audio Commentary Two Phil Alden Robinson returns for commentary track two, this time with novelist Tom Clancy in tow.
Not only is Tom quite a dry wit, he sure doesn't hold back on his honest appraisal of the film. Introducing himself as the man who "wrote the book that they ignored", he soon has Robinson on the defensive, and keeps him there for the duration of the film.
A Cautionary Tale This somewhat ominous title is a section of the DVD with a featurette on the casting, and another on the production. Both are quite promotional in nature, although Affleck does discuss what he's trying to do with the Jack Ryan character to distinguish himself from Harrison Ford's interpretation.
In the production featurette, there is chat about the long production problems that saw Ford drop out of the film. Everyone remains polite talking about this, although you sense that not everyone was delighted by his decision.
Visual Effects Five action scenes of the movie are broken down into effects layers, with input from effects supervisor, Glenn Neufeld, as to what we're seeing.
Additional Extra Features Also on the DVD is a trailer presented in 5.1 sound.
TECHNICAL INFORMATION
Region: 2
Chapters: 17
Ratio: 2.35:1 (anamorphic)
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
Audio Tracks: English and Czech
Subtitles: Multiple languages
Captions: English
Menus: Animated, with music
Special Features Subtitles: All of the special features come with subtitles apart from the trailer.
This DVD was reviewed on a JVC XV-S57 DVD player.
