Plot: What’s it about?
A man walks into a bank, only to be shot by the teller behind the counter. The shooter was otherwise a calm, non-violent man, so what made him lash out in such a vicious manner? In his youth, the man served in World War 2 and spent some time in Italy, where he was camped with some of his fellow soldiers. A group of black soldiers have been separated from their platoon and have taken up shelter in a small Italian village. The four soldiers are ordered to capture a high value Nazi, but there is dissension within the four as to how to proceed. Some want to carry out the orders as instructed, others want to remain in the village and continue bonds started there. As time passes and tensions grow, outside forces begin to impede and the four soldiers will have to make decisions sure to impact the rest of their lives…
In response to the lack of attention paid to African-American soldiers in World War II, Spike Lee decided to spotlight real life heroism himself. A noble move, of course. But Lee’s approach to showing real life heroism was to turn a fictional novel into a movie, which is odd logic. I would think one of the real life accounts of African-American soldiers would have been a better option, but Lee didn’t go there. In the end, Lee has crafted one of the most bloated, overproduced war movies I have ever seen, which is no small feat. The level of realism is rock bottom and Lee never tries to make the events believable, the loose ends never cinch up and no effort is made to fill in the plot holes. This wouldn’t be so bad if this were an action driven film, but it isn’t. Lee tries to make an epic in the genre and instead, bores his audience to tears with a mundane production. This could have been trimmed by at least an hour and not lost a step, so at 160 minutes, this is just torture. Miracle at St. Anna is a disaster on an epic scale, leaving me no choice but to advise viewers to keep their distance.
Video: How does it look?
Miracle at St. Anna is presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. This is a great transfer, with a clean print and detail that makes sure you never forget you’re watching high definition. Not all the scenes have that eye popping depth that we love to see, but detail is always strong and softness never creeps in. The image displays a natural color design, with no errors to mention and contrast is well balanced throughout. As I said, this isn’t up with Blu-ray’s finest in terms of depth and detail, but the movie looks great and no one will be disappointed.
Audio: How does it sound?
This DTS HD 5.1 sounds great, but some minor issues do crop up. The surrounds are impressive here, with plenty of chances to provide power and depth. The battle scenes in particular sound loud and bombastic, with some deep, deep bass. As fun as the loud surround presence is, it does have an unnatural texture. The soundscape has a forced, hollow feel, which doesn’t give us much in terms of immersive atmosphere. This is never a huge issue, but it is noticeable. The music is well presented and dialogue is spot on, so no problems there. This disc also includes French and Spanish language tracks, as well as subtitles in English, French, and Spanish.
Supplements: What are the extras?
This disc includes two brief featurettes, as well as about twenty minutes of deleted scenes.
