Plot: What’s it about?
Forget “The Godfather” and “The Godfather II” for a moment…Francis Ford Coppola has given us some other very fine movies. Take “Apocalypse Now”, for example. Even the recent adaptation of John Grisham’s “The Rainmaker” was a very well-made movie. Through his collaboration with George Lucas, they combined to make a movie about a car that really never was. Tucker, Preston Tucker (Jeff Bridges) that is, had visions of building the “car of tomorrow”. Lucas, a collector of Tucker cars (there’s only 50 in existence) served as Executive Producer on one of Coppola’s best films. Jeff Bridges plays the title role of Preston Tucker, a man with a dream. Tucker had worked for the government as an inventor. He built a tank that the government claimed went too fast (are tanks supposed to go 90 miles per hour?). Though superior in most every way, they did take invention of the gun turret. The problem with Tucker, though, is that his mind was always moving a million miles a minute. He would spend money he didn’t have, which led to his eventual downfall. Though a loving, family man, he had a great attitude towards life and rarely showed any sign of defeat. This is the story of Preston Tucker…
At the time, the automobile industry was dominated by “The Big Three”. The Big Three being Ford, Chrysler and General Motors. While not a monopoly, they were the closest thing to it. Preston Tucker had ideas of a car of the future. Ideas like disc breaks, fuel injection, seat belts and safety windows that pop out. At the time, safety was nearly the last thing that the automobile manufacturers though about. It was all about who could sell the most cars, and therefore…make the most money. Billed as the first completely new car in 50 years, Tucker took out an ad in a magazine showing it to people. They loved it! Now the problem with building a new car is that you need a lot of money to do it. Tucker’s problem was that no one knew who he was, so he hired a salesman, named Abe (Martin Landau) to raise his money for him. Abe’s task was to get money for the corporation. Whether it be selling dealers Tucker dealerships or getting donations from people, his job was to raise money. Immediately met with controversy, it seemed that Tucker’s battle would be a long one, and an uphill battle all the way.
Tucker is more of a drama mixed in with a courtroom battle. It’s frustrating to see and watch, though it’s one of the better made movies out there. To experience it on DVD is a real treat. I don’t know if Francis Ford Coppola has done a commentary track for another movie, but I don’t believe so. The extras more than make up for most of the other DVD’s that Paramount has put out and I can’t help but to recommend this DVD to friends and family alike. Let’s just hope you like the song “Hold the Ti-ger…” though! On the whole, another solid effort from Jeff Bridges, one of the finest actors out there, and another solid effort form Paramount as well. Recommended.
Video: How does it look?
Watching this DVD, it can be described as literal eye candy. The 2.00 image (labeled 2.35:1 on the box) is literally ablaze with constant images for the eyes to marvel at. The colors are bright and vivid, and I saw no shimmering at all. The image is anamorphically enhanced and benefits greatly from the added resolution. Being a “period piece”, you might think that the film was made last year, that’s how good the image is. While a very few scenes have a few specs on them, which they show up in the film as well, it can be said that this is a very solid transfer and an astounding image on DVD. The THX enhancement (yes, it’s video as well as audio) adds to the splendor even more. While not reference quality, Tucker looks wonderful.
Audio: How does it sound?
Tucker has been remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. But, as noted above, when George Lucas is the Executive Producer, you get a bit better treatment. The film is THX certified and the sound positively radiates out of all channels. While dialogue is clean and clear, the background music chimes away at the surrounds and fronts as well. While most of the action is located in the front three channels, there are several scenes that have the surrounds working overtime. A great example of this is when the Tucker car is going through it’s 24 hour test. All in all, a great sounding mix for Tucker.
Supplements: What are the extras?
I mentioned above that this is Francis Ford Coppola’s first feature-length commentary for a DVD, it is well worth the wait. With The Godfather Trilogy yet to come out, we can only hope that he’ll sit down to do some commentary tracks with those as well. The commentary is informative and he explains a lot of his passion for the Tucker car as well as his relationship with George Lucas. Also included is the trailer and a behind the scenes featurette with Jeff Bridges, Martin Landau and Joan Allen (that was discovered while putting together the DVD). Also included are a few of the original Tucker promo documentaries. They last around 15 minutes, and Paramount has even included one with a commentary track with Coppola (how about that…two Coppola commentary tracks). Finally, and I usually don’t comment on menus, these are some of the neatest menus that I’ve seen. While not super technical in nature, they have a jazzy little soundtrack to them and convey the theme of the movie in every screen. Overall, I have to say that Tucker is one of Paramount’s better discs to date and it’ll be a thrill to see what they can do next. Hold the Tiger, Hold the Tiger
