Owen Wilson plays Jeremy Burnett, a naval pilot who is on the verge of hanging in his wings due to boredom on the aircraft carrier. With two weeks remaining until he is relieved of his duties, Burnett and his partner Stackhouse are placed on a reconnaissance mission – somewhat of a Christmas day punishment. While flying their mission, the boys go off-course into a demilitarized zone, and photograph something they were not intended to see. The plane is shortly thereafter shot down, and Burnett and Stackhouse are in…hot pursuit by their enemies. Stackhouse is quickly captured and executed, and Burnett finds himself being chased by an entire army. Burnett’s commanding officer, Admiral Reigart (Gene Hackman), while wanting to rescue his stranded soldier, is constrained due to political maneuvering. Burnett is on his own, having to escape and evade until his government steps up to rescue him.
Behind Enemy Lines is more of an action film then a war film. The action is ferocious throughout, and the story is quite good. You are kept on your toes throughout, wondering what Burnett will have to do next to avoid his pursuers. While not on par with some other great action flicks – such as Die Hard – Behind Enemy Lines is a quality action film that will keep you entertained till the last bomb explodes. If you are looking for a high octane film, you should really enjoy this film.
Video
This Blu-ray release of Behind Enemy Lines is presented in a 1080p 2.35:1 aspect ratio. Overall, this disc looks very good. With a majority of the film taking place outside, in both dreary and vivid surroundings, there are lots of opportunities for the transfer to shine. The colors are crisp and vibrant when called upon, and muted (as intended) at other times. The image depth and detail are both impressive, giving a very life-like feel to the film.
Although minor, I did notice a few flaws in the transfer. In a couple of scenes there was some mild debris – and by mild I mean a speck here and there. More notably, in a number of the sequences with snow covering, the snow appeared to have some digital noise in it. This noise was not overly distracting, but on a high definition disc, I would expect no such issues. With these small issues brought to the table, this discs still does look very good.
Audio
Currently (as of Nov. 19, 2006), the only BD player capable of decoding the DTS HD 5.1 master lossless audio found on this disc is the PS3, and since this disc was reviewed on the Panasonic DMP-BD10, I can only speak to the down converted DTS 5.1 master lossless audio track. I must say that I was mightily impressed with this discs audio. The only notable flaw was a scene of two where the dialog was mildly muddled – and this is me just being very nit-picky.
The soundstage was extremely full of activity; from bullets and planes zipping overhead to landmines exploding, we get placed right in the middle of the action. There are a couple of reference quality scenes that come to mind. First is when Burnett and Stackhouse are trying to evade heat-seeking missiles that have been launched at them. The second is when Burnett is navigating his way through a minefield. One of the mines explodes, creating a chain reaction with all of the other mines. Both of these sequences are prime examples of what makes BD titles so much better then the audio offerings on DVD. I just wish I could have heard what the DTS HD track sounded like.
Special Features
Along with a collection of trailers of other Fox BD release (presented in HD), we get the same two commentary tracks found on the SD DVD release. The first commentary track features Director John Moore and Editor Martin Smith. This is a very informative audio commentary in which you will learn everything you want to know about the story and the filming of Behind Enemy Lines. The second commentary is done by Producers John Davis and Wick Godfrey, and this track will give insight into how the story was originated how it came to fruition.
Final Thoughts
As the third film I have viewed on Blu-ray, and the first BD title I have reviewed, I must say that I was quite impressed with this disc. The audio and video are very good, and the film is a good action flick. The extras were somewhat lacking in term of volume and HD content, but that does not hold be back from recommending this disc.
