Plot: What’s it about?
Denzel Washington is perhaps my favorite working actor. I also lump him in with names like Robert Mitchum and James Stewart (good company to be in, for sure). Washington has two Academy Awards to his credit, the first for Best Supporting Actor in 1989’s Glory and the other as the baddest of the bad guys in 2001’s Training Day. He finds himself in familiar territory once again as he’s been nominated for Best Actor in Flight, the story of a pilot who literally saves the day, yet has substance abuse problems. This begs the question: will he win? He’s up against Daniel Day Lewis, another two time Academy Award winner and a win by either would put them into the elite category of Jack Nicholson who’s come away with the golden statue a trio of times. It would seem that no matter what role he’s playing, however, he does well in it and to me – that’s the sign of a truly talented actor. I might not like or agree with the characters Denzel Washington plays, but he plays them to perfection and watching him on screen is just so utterly fascinating, I get lost in the role.
That’s the case with Flight. Washington plays Capt. Whip Whitaker, a Navy vet who’s made a career as a commercial airline pilot. Whip is a drug user and an alcoholic who sleeps with some members of his flight staff. During a routine flight, he’s hung over though it’s nothing that a hit off a joint, a swig of beer and a few lines of coke can’t cure, right? As fate would have it, the plane goes into a tailspin and, through an act of heroism or stupidity (or both) Whitaker manages to invert the plain and save 96 of the 102 souls on board. Naturally there’s an investigation and it’s brought to his attention that he was under the influence of alcohol and drugs. He, together with his friend and Union Rep., Charlie (Bruce Greenwood) and lawyer, Hugh (Don Cheadle) aim to beat the system by getting the drug charges dropped and life goes on. This is where, pardon the pun, Flight takes off as a morality play. We know Whip is guilty and as we see him deal with the pain and suffering through various methods, wonder if he’ll end up doing the right thing. Are there truly consequences for our actions or are some people above the law? There’s a sub plot about a recovering drug addict, Nicole (Kelly Reilly) though the story about Whip’s addiction takes front and center.
My parents saw Flight in theaters and raved about it, so I was looking forward to seeing Washington in action once again. He’s been a frequent collaborator with late director Tony Scott, so to see him teamed with Academy Award winning director Robert Zemeckis was a real treat. Zemeckis has been kind of under the radar for some time, only churning out a few notable films since Forrest Gump. His last three have a actually been animated: A Christmas Carol, Beowulf and The Polar Express. You have to go back to the turn of the century with Cast Away and What Lies Beneath to get his last live-action movies. Whatever your reaction is to after seeing this film, I can guarantee that it will evoke a response and that’s the sign of a good performance and a good film in general. I also write this as I’m set to board a plane in about 30 hours. Am I nervous? No. But let’s just say that I’ll try as best I can to forget that I’d seen this movie and when. If I’m unable to do that while on the plane, well, I think I’ll have a drink.
Video: How does it look?
Flight has been given a new 4K restoration from a new scan of the film’s original 35mm camera negative. Overall visuals are splendid with detail being amazing, the little beads of sweat on Denzel’s face towards the end of the movie look great. Obviously there’s some CGI that looks the part, contrast and black levels are on the mark as well. Flesh tones seem warm and well-balanced. There are a few stock shots that are a bit soft but seeing as how they’re stock and only seen for a few seconds, I won’t dock the score that much. The film didn’t look bad to begin with, but with the addition of Dolby Vision and this new 4K image – it’s simply stunning.
Audio: How does it sound?
It appears as if the same DTS HD Master Audio used on the Blu-ray is at work here. And maybe I had my receiver turned down a few notches, but I just didn’t get the reaction out of the mix that I was hoping or expected. Yes, the plane crash sequence did deliver, but the majority of the film was dialogue-driven. Washington’s notable accent is always present, John Goodman’s cameo as a drug dealer has his voice booming across the screen and though surrounds were present they were somewhat absent if that makes sense. By no means is this a bad mix, but I just didn’t feel it was up to par with what I was expecting. A solid effort, though. I will end by saying that there are a few instances of Joe Cocker’s “Feelin’ Alright” that sound the best I’ve heard in any way, shape or form.
Supplements: What are the extras?
Kino has given us a new featurette as well as a new audio commentary. So that’s the icing on the cake in addition to the new 4K transfer. Why they couldn’t put the new feature on the 4K disc is beyond me.
Disc One (4K)
- Audio Commentary – Film Historian/Writer Julie Kirgo and Writer/Filmmaker Peter Hankoff. Kirgo has done several commentaries for various Kino titles and she’s joined by Peter Hankoff as the two dissect the film, its impact as well as the amazing performances that abound. It’s a good track and it’s s shame we had to wait this long for this movie to have one associated with it.
Disc Two (Blu-ray)
- Audio Commentary – Same as above.
- Impact: Interview with Director Robert Zemeckis and Screenwriter John Gatins – Any movie-lover knows Zemeckis from his past films like Forrest Gump and the Back to the Future trilogy, but I found the interview with John Gatins very interesting. He tells of the origin of the story, his inspiration for it and how it translated from his script to the screen.
- Origins of Flight – We get some insight into the film with the cast and crew, how the script came to be (it was a conglomerate of several different instances) and how the movie finally found its way to the screen.
- The Making of Flight – This is something we’ve all seen before. The cast and crew are interviewed about the film, its message, creating a fictional airline and how it all went down (pardon the pun).
- Anatomy of a Plane Crash – Is just that, how the crew set up the shots to crash the plane, how the different parts were used to represent the airplane and the final scene.
- Q&A Interview Highlights – Lastly we’ve got a “Q & A Session” minus Denzel Washington, with LA Times John Horn as he interviews the cast and crew of the film.
- Theatrical Trailer
The Bottom Line
Flight works on several levels. It’s a great action/drama, but moreover it hits home with a story of addition and the lengths that some will go to avoid admitting they have a problem. In a career defined by great performances, this is another notch in Denzel Washington’s belt. He ultimately lost the Academy Award to Daniel Day Lewis, but don’t let that diminish his performance here. Kino’s disc gives us a lovely 4K image along with a new audio commentary, a new featurette as well as all the legacy supplements found on Paramount’s old disc.
