The Ultimate DVD Geek: Windtalkers

John Woo’s excellent World War II adventure, Windtalkers, is not a masterpiece, but it is solid, satisfying entertainment, with terrific action scenes and a decent drama that never gets overplayed. MGM Home Entertainment released the standard 134-minute theatrical version of the film (1004026, $27) with no special features, but followed up with Windtalkers Director’s Edition (1004522, $40), which runs 153 minutes and is accompanied by two extra platters of supplements.

Nicolas Cage, Christian Slater, Adam Beach and Roger Willie star as Marines involved in the Pacific campaign against the Japanese. Beach and Willie are Apache code talkers, and Cage and Slater are charged with protecting them, or making sure the Japanese do not capture them alive. Woo has a reputation of going over the top, but one of the admirable aspects to Windtalkers is how reserved it is. There is enough emotional conflict to keep the story moving, but it never becomes maudlin or misty eyed as the characters eventually meet their fates. This is even true of the longer Director’s Edition, and it says something that you are barely aware of the additional footage, which enriches the characters (among other things, there is more of the lovely Frances O’Connor) and the action scenes, and yet never slows down the pace or momentum of the narrative. It was a good movie before and it is even better now.

Both DVDs have a terrific picture and a spectacular audio mix, making a number of scenes, such as the opening gunfight and the first big battle sequence, ideal demo moments if you can tolerate the violence (and even better if you look forward to the thrills of splattering squibs and severed limbs that popular taste has largely been suppressing of late). The gunshots have a heart-quickening shrillness to them, as if they had been designed not for reality, but for the capabilities of home audio systems. The sub-woofer channel could probably use a little more thrust than what it is getting, but it still shakes your china at all the right moments.

The standard version is presented on one side in letterboxed format, with an aspect ratio of about 2.35:1 and an accommodation for enhanced 16:9 playback, and is in full screen format on the other side. The full screen image trims a bit off the sides but adds quite a bit of picture information to the bottom of the image. While the dramatic scenes are more effectively framed by the letterboxing, it is the more the merrier for the battle sequences, and the full screen presentation, at the very least, can give you an excuse to watch the movie again. There is an alternate French track in standard stereo, an alternate Spanish track in 5.1 Dolby, optional English, French and Spanish subtitles, and two trailers

The picture on the Director’s Edition is presented in letterboxed format only. There appears to be no difference in the picture or the sound quality in comparison to the standard release. There is an alternate French audio track in standard stereo, and optional English, French, Spanish and Portuguese subtitles.

The Director’s Edition is also accompanied by three commentary tracks. Woo and producer Terrence Chang supply one talk, discussing how the film was staged, what it was like working with the cast and crew and what went on during the filming. Woo admits that he modified his style to respect the honor of the memories the story was evoking. “I tried to behave a little bit. I didn’t want to do too much stylish shots. On the set, you know, some of the crew, they make fun with me. The kept asking, ‘John, are you going to use the pigeons in this film?’ but I told them that I would never use the pigeons in this film because there is nowhere to use it.”

Woo also has a very nice story about his experiences as a child when he first met an American serviceman, “Our family was extremely poor. There was an American battleship parked out by the Hong Kong harbor. They were inviting some children to the ship for a tour, so every sailor was taking care of one child, so the sailor who was taking care of me, he held me in his arms and took me around the whole battleship, looking at the big guns. It was so much fun. And then, he gave me a piece of chewing gum, and that was the first chewing gum I ever had in my life. I was so happy and I was so grateful, and I couldn’t forget this story, and also feel the friendship.”

The second track features Cage and Slater, who do their best to keep the listener entertained. They share their opinions about things related to the film and things unrelated, and supply knowledgeable insights about various matters, sprinkled every once in a while with a misstated fact. There are gaps in the talk, but they are professional entertainers and do their best to keep the conversation going, its appeal being more about who they are than what information they have to offer, even about their experiences on the set. Once in a while, however, they do come up with something valuable, such as Cage’s comment about acting in a war film: “There’s so much tragedy in war that, as actors, we have to react to it a million different ways, because you don’t want to be redundant.”

You have to concentrate to follow the third commentary track, but it is worth the effort. Willie is joined by one of the original code talkers, Albert Smith, and both speak softly, with strong Native-American accents. They share stories about the actual code talkers, Smith explaining how he doctored his birth records so he could join up when he was only fifteen. Willie talks extensively about his experiences as a novice actor and what he learned about the craft and about himself. Both men also share insights about their spiritual beliefs and practices. There are some gaps in the talk, but not much more than there are on the Cage and Slater track.

It doesn’t seem to us that there is enough material on the second and third platters to warrant both of them, though the features themselves aren’t bad. The second platter contains an informative 23-minute documentary about the real WWII code talkers, which explains how the program got started and shares the experiences of some of the participants. There is then a 9-minute piece that basically lists who all of the participants were. The platter also contains a good 5-minute segment on James Horner’s music, showing him at work in the recording studio and talking about his concepts for the score.

The third platter has one segment that presents behind-the-scenes views of four action sequences, as well as the storyboards for these sequences, which are offered in alternate angle views with the completed film. The section runs a little over 6 minutes altogether. There is then an additional collection of 23 minutes of behind-the-scenes footage, which provides a fascinating look at how the elaborate battle stunts were staged. There is a less interesting 15-minute look at the ‘boot camp’ the actors had to attend, a modest collection of production photos and a text profile of Woo.

Douglas Pratt's DVD-Laser Disc Newsletter is published monthly.
For a free sample, call (516)594-9304 or go to his website at www.DVDLaser.com