Did you hear that gasp?  That’s me trying to catch a breath after watching Peter Berg’s The Kingdom.  What a ride!  I gave myself three words or less to describe this movie and that’s what I came up with.  From the very moment the film starts, we the viewers are strapped in as we watch a video collage with narration briefly describing the history of Saudi Arabia (known as ‘the kingdom’) up through its uneasy-at-best relationship with the United States.  Immediately I was thrust into a sense of urgency as the quick opening showed just how sensitive of a situation it is in the Middle East. 

Film 

Things begin to calm to a lighter mood as a group of Americans enjoy a picnic and a softball game at their compound in Riyadh.  While Dave Matthews Band’s “Stay” lightly plays in the background, the picnic-goers and ballplayers share some laughs and a few hot dogs while the occasional ‘ping’ fills the air as an aluminum bat connects with the underhand lob of a softball.  However, this mood begins to change as we begin to witness the surveillance and carrying out of what is about to become mass murder.

Before you know it, two Islamic extremists don stolen police uniforms and make off with a police vehicle, killing the previous attendants of that SUV.  Locked and loaded, the vehicle and its passengers head straight for the American compound.  Bullets begin to fly on the unsuspecting Westerners as the defenseless people begin to fall one by one.  Amidst the chaos, another carefully orchestrated plan is executed at the ball diamond.  Later that night, Special Agent Fran reports from the scene back home to Washington to Special Agent Ronald Fleury (Jamie Foxx).  As Fran relays to the other the horror that took place earlier that day, yet another terrifying event unfolds as homicide act #3 takes place.

Foxx heads up a very talented cast in Chris Cooper, Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman.  The chemistry of the four is pulled off extremely well, which is vital considering they are all FBI agents.  They are given permission to begin conducting an investigation in Saudi Arabia as to who planted the explosives, stole the police uniforms and masterminded the trio of terrorist acts.  Upon arriving in Saudi Arabia, the four agents are met by Colonel Faris Al Ghazi of the Saudi Police.  Al Ghazi is an honest but frustrated man, stuck in his position of ‘tour guide’ to the FBI while they inadvertently pile their grief and frustration on him.

Colonel Al Ghazi is played by Ashraf Barhoum who made his American film debut in “The Kingdom.”  Though little known here in the States, Barhoum does a fantastic job in his role, serving as not merely a translator between his superiors and the Feds, but also as a man of the law and proud father.  With such an array of talented thespians, will The Kingdom still have enough to carry this film to high ratings?  Read on!

Video 

I was taken aback somewhat by the handful of less clearer scenes that popped up throughout the viewing.  At times, especially the night scenes, there was so much dancing grain that I couldn’t tell if a near-microscopic version of Riverdance was taking place on the screen or if someone forgot to clean the film.  I do want to mention though, such scenes are certainly outnumbered by the crisper and clearer shots.  Nevertheless, the 1080p VC-1 encode is a beautiful thing partially tainted in this movie.  For a film this hot, the studio folk could’ve spent a little more time taking care of this aspect.

Audio  

Ratta tat tat said the gun.  This was followed with several explosions, screeching tires and various yells of commands down unfamiliar hallways.  Where The Kingdom got tripped up in the video department, it certainly without a doubt makes up for in the sound department.  I was pretty satisfied with the audio quality throughout the film until the Humvee-mounted .50 caliber let loose…then I obsessed over it.  A ‘disagreement’ takes place on a Saudi street which is put to rest rather quickly by the thunderous release of the massive fully automatic weapon.  I must’ve jumped a foot when that gun came to life.  First off, it was loud and clear.  Second, when you have surround sound and you don’t expect to hear gunfire from behind you, it’s one hell of a sobering moment.  If speakers had a heartbeat, mine were going at 150 beats per minute.

Special Features 

There is no shortage of extras on this Blu-ray disc.  Not only are there many, but their content is quite good.  Very rarely do film extras keep me glued to the TV.  The Kingdom pulled it off.  My only complaint was that while the back of the box lists them as being shown in 1080i/p and 480i/p, the vast majority of the footage is in 480 (and since it’s 480, do ‘i’ or ‘p’ really matter?).  About the only pieces in high-def were those clips straight from the movie itself.  Before moving on to what the extras were, let me just say this could be the only time I give such a high rating for extras in low definition…yes…their content is that good.

• Constructing the Freeway Sequence – 18 minutes in length, this segment shows what went into the elaborate and intense freeway car crashes and gunfights.
• Creating the Kingdom
  • Obligation to Authenticity – At 7 minutes, we get a sneak peak at what it took to make “The Kingdom” look as real as it did.
  • Fire in the Hole - 2.5 minutes; The cast and crew get an education in bomb making what traces a bomb leaves behind after its explosion.
  • Simple Ballistic Issues - Director Peter Berg and his cast experience firearms training in this 4 minute excerpt; everything from range fire to clearing a room.
  • Building a Kingdom - Where did they get those buildings?  Find out as it’s more interesting than this extras title lets on (6 minutes).
  • On Location in Abu Dhabi - During this 3.5 minute extra, cameras and mikes follow the cast around, on location from city streets to the beautiful Emirates Palace.
  • King Style - This 3-minute featurette provides a quick overview of Director Peter Berg’s shooting style.
  • Foreign Relations - With a runtime just over 4.5 minutes, homage is paid to the double duty the Middle Eastern actors faced, delivering lines in both Arabic and English with the emotion to boot.
  • Friendship - Even though this 4-minute selection starts off talking about the developing friendship between the characters of Foxx and Barhoum, it expands to unrelated behind-the-scenes clips.

• History of the Kingdom: An Interactive Timeline – This self-guided timeline begins with 1932 (Abdul Aziz al-Saud fights for the creation of the Saudi kingdom) and ends with 2003 (United States withdraws its troops from Saudi Arabia). Other significant dates in between include, but are not limited to, 1960 (OPEC forms) and 1981 (much to the chagrin of Israel, the U.S. sells AWAC jets to Saudi Arabia). Most of the dates have a still photo to accompany the corresponding information while others offer short video clips.
• The Mission Dossier: Surveillance - A six-part selection allowing viewers to pick an item (such as the assault on the American compound) and watch the picture-in-picture relation between movie footage and planning. Each clip is not more than a minute or two in length.
• Commentary with Director Peter Berg
• U Control – A feature unique to Universal Blu-rays, this will allow some abbreviated abilities such as watching the film with picture-in-picture on and including The Mission Dossier clips during the movie.

Final Thoughts 

The last time I was this glued to my seat watching a film was during my initial viewing of The Dark Knight.  But even then, I wasn’t as immersed as I was with The Kingdom. This is due to its intense realism and ever-changing landscape of the film (in a figurative sense).  What you may think is about to happen, does not.  What you do not expect to happen, does.  From that opening sequence to the end of the film, it is one wicked cinematic experience.  If holidays were like movies, Thanksgiving would be Lord of the Rings due to its fullness but The Kingdom would be the 4^th of July.  Astounding and thrilling while delivering points of unexpectedness, this is one movie you cannot pass up.