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Tears of the Sun - Special Edition

Following his successful 2001 entry "Training Day," director Antoine Fuqua tackles a more serious subject in "Tears of the Sun," a war thriller that, unlike others of its type, manages to inject a human touch into the usual hodge-podge of military tactics and maneuvers. The plot carries us into a war-torn Africa, where the nation of Nigeria is in peril after the assassination of the president and his family by a group of nefarious rebels. With the United Nations pulling out all foreign ambassadors and nationals, one Lieutenant A.K. Waters (Bruce Willis) is sent into the danger zone to retrieve an American doctor (Monica Bellucci) who refuses to leave those under her care. His conscience getting the better of him, Waters finally agrees to see them all to safety, knowing full well that hope for success is something in very limited supply. ***

Although the plot becomes increasingly predictable as the film moves from one tense encounter to the next, Fuqua and writers Alex Lasker and Patrick Cirillo manage to make the most of their material by placing a strong, much-welcomed focus on the characters rather than scenes of battle or visual effects. In the wake of masterpieces like "Black Hawk Down" and "We Were Soldiers," they choose to play a different tune, keeping our attention right there with Waters and his men, as they bear witness to a number of horrific events, and must decide whether to act, or carry on with the mission as planned. That we see the uncertainty in the faces of these soldiers lends truth to the film's end quote: "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing" (Edmund Burke). With Willis remaining true to his stoic action roots, all that's left is for "Tears of the Sun" to dazzle us once in a while with some heightened action sequences. That it does, but thankfully, it does much more.

The 2.40:1 anamorphic transfer for "Tears of the Sun" is one that is chock full of lavish detail and superb clarity, with only a few minor blemishes to mar the overall wonderful presentation. With much of the film taking place in the jungle, lots of small objects like leaves, branches, and weaponry are all in need of attention. Fortunately, detail is striking through the sharp edges that bear only some slight enhancement halos in daytime sequences, while the terrific contrast and spot-on shadow detail help to bring out the clarity in the nighttime scenes. Color saturation ranges from being subdued in places to being vibrant in others, and each scheme looks terrific, with accurate fleshtones throughout and no signs of noise or smearing. Aside from the occasional compression artifact here and there, this is one very clean-looking transfer. ***

The sound, however, mastered in Dolby Digital 5.1, may not be everything that some hope for. I myself was expecting a little more aggression during some of those action scenes, and I noticed that during much of the proceedings, there seems to be an uneven feel between the high and low ends. Dialogue sounds natural and remains audible even in the most intense sequences, while atmospheric effects are some of the better that I've heard on DVD, especially in scenes taking place in the wilderness at night, where animal sounds can be heard coming from all channels. Surrounds are used generously, especially when bullets start to fly, and imaging works wonders as well. The low end, particularly the .1 LFE, doesn't really shine as much as it should, and although it does make itself known in places, it could have been better-defined.

In addition to the commentaries, the movie can also be played back with the "Africa Fact Track," which sounds at first like it's going to give us lots of encyclopedic facts about the continent, but in reality offers even more subtitled information about the making of the film. Then we have the featurette "Journey to Safety: Making Tears of the Sun," which carries with it the general cargo of cast and crew interviews as they muse about the process of the production, the characters and their motivations, and the underlying themes and morals of the film. This is nice, but more interesting is the collection of interviews entitled "Voices of Africa," in which actual Africans put in their two cents about their experiences in the plight of war-torn Africa. These pieces provide a much more intimate retelling of these events, are very personal in tone, and some are absolutely heartbreaking. ***

Closing out the disc is a gallery of eight deleted scenes- some of which are rather interesting, the others of which are basic fodder- an interactive map of Africa detailing various locations, and a pretty enormous gallery of trailers for nine different titles. A pretty speedy release, but in no way do the extras feel rushed.