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    In Country

    Warner Bros./Warner Home Video . R4 . COLOR . 115 mins . M15+ . NTSC

      Feature
    Contract

    In Country is the story of Samantha (Emily Lloyd) who lives in Hopewell, Kentucky with her uncle Emmett (Bruce Willis). Samantha has just graduated from high school and wants to know more about her father. He had died in Vietnam just before she had been born and she now more than ever feels a need to know who her father was and how he died. Emmett also served in Vietnam, but is not too forthcoming with answers. Hopewell is typical Smalltown USA and seems to have quite a high population of Vietnam veterans, but still there is little information for Samantha.

    "Well I do declare!"

    She discovers a shoebox in her mother’s bedroom containing letters from her father. After reading them she is not that much more informed, however her hunger to find out more is stronger than ever. In a not too eventful story, she discovers more about her father and the war he fought in.

    The subject matter of this film is obviously the Vietnam war and the way U.S. veterans have dealt with the experience and how they are treated by the American public. This film, however, tackles the subject in a different way to most. It looks at the conflict and the veterans through the eyes of a teenage girl. Samantha is a caring and mature young lady who understands the mental dilemma that most veterans face, but her thirst for knowledge is a great way to demonstrate this to the viewing public.

    To be fair, the Vietnam War is not rammed down the viewer’s throat, but it is the driving force of the film. Emily Lloyd puts in a fine performance as Samantha and although Bruce Willis is not the leading character, he is the main pulling power. He gives an impressive dramatic performance in what would be considered a low budget film. The remaining cast are also well suited to their roles and although not household names, there are a few recognisable faces.

    This review may seem negative toward the film, but it isn't that bad. The performances are good and the story is reasonable. The simple fact is that rather than a good quality film, it comes across more like a low budget telemovie and one has to ask if it is worth buying on DVD or just see it on television - the answer is no.

      Video
    Contract

    As stated earlier, this looks like a low budget film but presenting it in full frame makes it look like a telemovie. Secondly it is NTSC and also on a single layer disc. Due to these facts, the transfer is not great and provides nothing better than you would see from a video copy or on television. Grain is a menace as is aliasing, both are pretty much a constant. Film artefacts in the form of white specks are present, but don’t cause too many problems. There are also no subtitles supplied so many will have to review some scenes due to the strong accents. Overall, this is not a very impressive transfer.

      Audio
    Contract

    Only slightly better than the video transfer, the single English Dolby Digital 2.0 surround track is adequate but nothing more. This is a real shame as the music used, especially from Bruce Springsteen, would have sounded much better and emphasised the feel more solidly had it received a decent audio transfer. Through Prologic decoding the majority of sound comes from the centre speaker with reasonable use of the surrounds for music emphasis and some directional effect. Dialogue is generally clear, although the accents do get a bit hard to understand at times. Overall, an average transfer that only slightly surpasses the video transfer.

      Extras
    Contract

    Scene selection anyone?

      Overall  
    Contract

    This is not a bad film, but it’s not really a title worth adding to the collection unless you are a die hard Bruce Willis fan. The fact that it is NTSC and full frame is a real shame and with no extras included, many will not see any justification in buying this release, unless it is in the bargain bin of course.


  • LINK: http://www.dvd.net.au/review.cgi?review_id=2279
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      And I quote...
    "Bruce Willis gives a good dramatic performance, but there is little more to entice viewers here."
    - Adrian Turvey
      Review Equipment
    • DVD Player:
          Sony DVP-NS305
    • TV:
          AKAI CT-29S55AT 68cm
    • Receiver:
          Sony STR-DE685
    • Speakers:
          Sony SAVE815ED
    • Centre Speaker:
          Sony SAVE815ED
    • Surrounds:
          Sony SAVE815ED
    • Subwoofer:
          Sony SAVE815ED
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