The movie critique portion of this review was written by my colleague Michele Arbir.
The War with Kevin Costner is an amazing movie to watch. It teaches you that love brings us together and puts aside our differences. This is one of Elijah Wood’s best performances as a child and the story has an incredible moral behind it people just can’t deny.
In 1970s rural Mississippi, Vietnam veteran Stephen Simmons (Kevin Costner) adjusts to life after war. Haunted by nightmares about those experiences, Stephen finds some measure of peace in his new mining job and his relationship with his wife, Lois (Mare Winningham). Meanwhile, his children — son Stu (Elijah Wood) and daughter Lidia (Lexi Randall) — wage a war against a group of neighborhood kids over the ownership of a treehouse.
There has never been a movie of Costner’s I haven’t liked. Even Waterworld, which got horrible reviews, I still liked. The War is a bit of the same way, overall reviews in 1994 were not that great. Costner and director Jon Avnet of Fried Green Tomatoes made something special here that critics did not respond to for some reason.
Costner is extremely effective as a veteran a role; I don’t think I’ve seen him in one before. His compassion for the maltreated Lipnicki kids and his love for his own is so real. Ideally, the movie should have stayed more the course of the everyday level of his relationships.
Costner’s character isn’t the only strong performance in this movie. You have the young actors that are one of the most essential elements in The War. I believe Elijah Wood is one of the most talented actors to come out of this period in Hollywood. Lexi Randall plays Lidia, his strong and lovable sister, and she was perfect for the role. Lidia’s best friend Elvadine was played by LaToya Chisholm; her rapport with the camera was amazing. Also making one of his first appearances in a film is Lucas Black from the Fast & Furious franchise – quite the troublemaker he plays in this film.
This movie was very moving. I’m not sure why it got such low ratings when it came out. Yeah, maybe it’s a little slow at times, but it will make you laugh and cry. It will make you think about things from so many perspectives. You’ll quote pieces of it forever once you’ve seen it. Two of my favorites are Steven: “God Bless America, they give us a hand out before they give you a job.” Lidia: “No one in our family ever stopped to say hello. I guess that was our way of never having to say goodbye.” An ageless look at life and death, of youth and old age and the perplexing stuff in between, of poverty, of friendship, and a little bit of everything in between.
Video Quality
The War comes to Blu-Ray from Kino Classics with a digital AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1 that appears to be derived from an older master that is in really good shape. The presentation is pretty solid throughout most of the runtime with image stability and delineation being top notch. Instances of print damage are few and far between, and overall clarity and detail is decent. The film does occasionally appear with a slightly unnatural digital appearance that can be a bit unsightly. This transfer has some natural film grain, but you have to contend with it being unstable and a bit clumpy in instances. The picture can run a bit soft in long shots, but colors are natural even if they are lacking extreme depth. Black levels hold up fairly well with little in the way of crush. This presentation is good, but a new scan would likely do wonders for the film.
Audio Quality
This new Blu-Ray comes with both a lossless DTS-HD 5.1 and 2.0 Master Audio mix that captures the intention of the film really well. The dialogue holds up wonderfully, coming through clearly without being stepped on by the music or sound effects. The environmental effects are delineated nicely from the sounds at the watering hole to some of the war footage. The track avoids any instances of age related wear and tear or distortion. This is a film that utilizes music really well, and it is presented with great clarity. The lovely score from Thomas Newman maintains a pleasing fidelity as it fills up the room. This is a track that represents the film in a loving manner. Optional English subtitles are provided on this disc.
Special Features
- Audio Commentary #1: Director Jon Avnet provides a new commentary track in which he discusses the development of the film, the shooting locations and the precautions taken to protect the old oak tree, his reasons for certain stylistic choices, cast and crew he brought over from Fried Green Tomatoes, the stunts in the film, balancing the comedic moments with the dramatic shifts and more. There are quite a few instances of dead air, but his insights are worthwhile when he does speak.
- Audio Commentary #2: Film Historians Emma Westwood and Paul Anthony Nelson provide a fact-filled commentary track for the film which takes a less personal look at the film. The duo do a nice job of putting Avnet’s career into context along with exploring similarities to Fried Green Tomatoes, the depiction of the effects of “the war” on screen, character motivations and more. This keeps a good pace with new information constantly flowing for fans.
- Trailers: The three-minute SD trailer for The War is provided here. There are also trailers provided for The Good Son, Paradise, Swing Vote and A Thousand Acres.
Final Thoughts
The War is a really touching, and occasionally heartbreaking, look at family and all of the complexities that arise from it. This is a film that wears its heart on its sleeve, but the sentimentality proves to be a nimble virtue rather than anything off-putting. The performances are very strong across the board in a way that will keep you invested in each and every one of these characters. Kino Classics has provided a Blu-Ray with a pretty decent A/V presentation and a couple of interesting special features. This is a special little film that fans will appreciate finally getting to own in high definition. Recommended
The War is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Kino Classics has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
