Plot: What’s it about?
Tom Hanks has proved, time and again, that he’s one of the most versatile actors working today. Since the early 1990′s he’s taken more challenging roles as opposed to his younger days when he was making movies like “Bachelor Party”, “Splash” and “The Man with one Red Shoe”. I don’t want to take anything away from those movies as they’re perfectly enjoyable, but seeing Hanks in “Cast Away” or “Saving Private Ryan” was a much more enjoyable experience for me. Hanks and Director Steven Spielberg worked together in the aforementioned “Saving Private Ryan”, a movie which was cheated out of Best Picture by “Shakespeare in Love” (again, a great movie – but not the Best Picture of the year). Hanks and Spielberg also collaborated in the highly acclaimed HBO mini-series “Band of Brothers”, which is so good words can hardly describe it. Their latest effort is “The Terminal”, in which Hanks plays Viktor Navorski, a man literally without a country. Like the breezy “Catch Me if you Can” a couple years back, “The Terminal” doesn’t take itself too seriously. It received mixed reviews, but I found it genuinely entertaining. About the only thing that could be said about Hanks and Spielberg that isn’t flattering is that both of them tend to over-sentimentalize in their respective roles.
The story was loosely based on a man who spent 14 years in Charles DeGaulle airport (Paris), when he got caught up in a loophole that wouldn’t allow him to leave the airport. Hanks’ Viktor Navorski has landed at JFK airport in New York and during the course of his flight; his country has had a military coup. His passport is invalid and until the dust settles, JFK is his new home. He speaks little English and accepts the circumstances with a nod of the head and a smile. Frank Dixon (Stanley Tucci) is the head of Immigration Security and next in line for the top spot. Navorski is a thorn in his side and Dixon wants him gone so that he can go about his business. But Viktor won’t leave and his amiable nature has him making friends throughout the International lounge in no time at all. Three key figures emerge as allies of Viktor: Mulroy (Chi McBride), Gupta (Kumar Pallana) and Enrique (Diego Luna). Viktor has taken refuge in an area of the airport (Gate 67 to be exact) that’s under construction. All of this leads up to his meeting with Amelia Warren (Cathernie Zeta-Jones), a flight attendant who has been hurt by men so many times, she’s lost count. Amelia is so skeptical of the opposite sex that she even encourages the man she’s having an affair with to seek counseling. Through circumstance alone, she bumps into Viktor several times thinking that each one is a coincidence. This is where the movie could turn sappy and predictable, but instead it veers off that course. Viktor hasn’t lost focus of trying to get out into New York City, but each and every day his form is stamped with the red instead of the green. He’s liked and respected by the employees of the terminal, which culminates when he helps a man get medicine to his sick father. Dixon tries every trick in the book to get rid of him, but to no avail.
I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed “The Terminal”. It seemed very genuine and the performances don’t disappoint. Hanks brings such a charisma to his character, we forget that he has a language barrier to break through. Sometimes all it takes is a look and we know what he’s thinking. Catherine Zeta-Jones is a good counterpart to Hanks and though she was relegated to a supporting role here (who isn’t with Hanks in a movie), she pulled it off. Of the reviews I’ve read, the major complaint seems to be the pacing of the movie and that it jumps from place to place. I take movies with a grain of salt and feel that the characters were adequately developed (though I have to admit I really didn’t understand the whole “Trekkie marriage to a baggage handler” sub plot). We move along with Viktor and wonder how long and when, if ever, he’ll finally return home or be allowed to enter New York. For every Spielberg movie like “The Terminal” there’s one like “Minority Report” a movie I liked but prefer the latter.
Video: How’s it look?
Yes, The Terminal is actually a decade old. Wow. Would it be too tongue in cheek to say that time flies (baddam-chh)! Seriously, this is a Steven Spielberg movie and, as such, we’d expect it to look its best and it does. Colors are bold and bright, detail has been improved over the previous standard DVD offering and the movie seems to have a bit more “film-like” quality to it than the DVD. Nearly all of the film takes place indoors, so we don’t get a lot of color saturation, mainly the general ambiance of an airport and the stark white walls that comprise these monuments of mass transportation. Black levels look strong and save for a few bits of grain on the print, it’s a nice upgrade from the DVD.
Audio: How’s it sound?
The previous Dolby Digital 5.1 offering has been replaced by a DTS HD Master Audio mix. This isn’t surprising as A) Steven Spielberg essentially invented DTS sound and B) DTS tracks have supplanted Dolby on Blu-ray. Sorry Dolby, you lost this war. The mix is ample and has a pretty good general ambiance. Surrounds are invested, though not to the fullest extent, and though there isn’t a lot of opportunities for the mix to flex its muscle, I counted a few that made me stand up and take notice. Dialogue, as we might expect, is rich and pure showcasing Tom Hanks’ best Ukranian accent (or whatever country he’s from). Nice work here.
Supplements: What are the extras?
Once upon a time, Paramount had a three disc version of this movie as well as a single disc that was void of supplements. Thankfully those supplements (or at least most of them, I never had the three disc version myself) seem to have made the leap to this Blu-ray. These are cleverly laid out in airport/airplane lingo.
- Booking the Flight: The Script, the Story – Pretty self-explanatory as the script was discussed, how they wanted to film it and where and starring who. Also the decision to direct was a no-brainer.
- Waiting for the Flight: Building The Terminal – We take a look at the building of the set, eventually seeing the final product.
- Boarding: The People of The Terminal
- Tom Hanks is “Viktor” – Hanks is interviewed about his character, what motivated him to take the part, etc.
Catherine Zeta-Jones is “Amelia” – Essentially the same as Hanks’ featurette.
Viktor’s World – This takes a look at the supporting cast of characters that surrounded Viktor through the film.
