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Traitor: Digital Copy Special Edition
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray A - America - Anchor Bay Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Jeremiah Chin (18th February 2009). |
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The Film
 M. Night Shyamalan often gets accused of overusing ‘the twist’ in his films, that dramatic turn that makes you reconsider what you’ve just seen, yet when he doesn’t use it his movies he gets accused of being boring or unintelligible. It’s more of a case of the twist becoming a trap for film, people get upset when the twist is too predictable or too unpredictable, those who like to think they called it before it happened and somehow broke the movie for them. Yet as a genre, the undercover agent/spy action/thriller movie tends to fall into the twist trap far more often without any kind of backlash, since people are more ready to acknowledge that the trap exists and that it should be taken as a ride. When a film manages to embrace the twist as a trap, great things can be built around it; you may see it coming, but it’s worth the journey getting there. Jeffrey Nachmanoff’s latest project “Traitor” (2008) seems to acknowledge the twist trap a little better than most, but really depends on the amazing talent of Don Cheadle to make the trip worthwhile. Cheadle plays Samir Horn, whose father was a Sudanese Muslim (possibly Imam) and killed in a car bombing while Samir was just a child. After his father’s death Samir moved around, living mostly in the United States and working for the U.S. army, though now he appears to work as an arms dealer in the Middle East. While selling detonators to a Islamist fundamentalist group, he gets caught in the middle of a raid by a joint force of the local government and the FBI, finding himself quickly imprisoned in Yemen. Soon he becomes close to Omar (Saïd Taghmaoui), a member of a terrorist group that plans different actions against the United States in a violent Jihad, eventually escaping with Omar and joining a terrorist group. At the same time, Samir is being closely investigated by FBI agent Roy Clayton (Guy Pearce) for his potential involvement with the group, calling in to question Samir’s allegiances. If you can’t really see the twist coming, you should be able to know that Don Cheadle doesn’t really play bad guys, though if Denzel Washington or Forrest Whittaker are for example, he may have to in order to win the Oscar. Either that or a musician. If “Hotel Rawanda” (2004) wasn’t strong enough I don’t know what would be. As usual, his performance is really good and helps to keep the film together. The writing otherwise is fairly cluttered, there are a few lines that try too hard to be loaded, rather than going for a more subtle script, but what can you expect from Nachmanoff, the writer of “The Day After Tomorrow” (2004). Cheadle’s acting rises above the mediocre script and with the help of supporting performances from Taghmaoui and Pearce help to string you through the film despite flaws with the plot and dialogue. Nachmanoff’s directing though is nothing special and doesn’t create any sort of look to the film, though he thankfully avoids the more "Jason Bourne" style of directing, writing and plot that would cheapen the film. There’s the fairly typical security camera footage that seems absurdly high quality (especially in blu-ray) and some other spy thriller standards that keep the film within the usual territory, though it would be nice to see something more to help vary the film. Overall it’s a nice enough film that accomplishes the task it sets out to do; it does try to complicate the relationship between fundamentalism, Islam and terrorism, but it seems to fall short of some of the more subtle and finer points that could have been brought out with a stronger script. It’s not terrible to watch, especially if you’re a Don Cheadle fan, but a bit frustrating reminder that he’s such an incredible actor that seems to get more mediocre film roles, especially after a heinous Oscar snub in 2004.
Video
The film is presented in anamorphic widescreen with a 2.40:1 aspect artio and 1080p 24/fps AVC MPEG-4 encoding that looks good. For the most part the video is really clear and looks great in high definition, though there are some points where the video quality seems a little off and doesn’t seem a stylistic choice. Otherwise the film looks great, though the directing doesn’t really make the colors pop or take the high quality footage to another level.
Audio
Presented in English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround, the audio comes through very clearly and moves well throughout the film. Since the film has a lot to do with bombings, the sound levels and movement become a little more crucial in creating a fuller experience and for the most part the sound lives up to the task. The sound moves well and the levels are all in sync for a good overall transfer. The disc also comes equipped with optional English for the deaf and hearing impaired and Spanish subtitles.
Extras
Anchor Bay has released this film with an audio commentary, two featurettes, some theatrical trailers, BD-Live features and a digital copy of the film. DISC ONE: First up is the audio commentary with director Jeffrey Nachmanoff and actor Don Cheadle. The commentary itself gives a few interesting insights into the film, though there are too many awkward silences that make it not as interesting as it could have been. There’s some interesting discussion of the film’s development from the duo, as well as filming troubles and typical commentary fare that add to the movie, but when the commentary itself doesn’t find a rhythm to keep going it’s harder to stay interested even if the facts and details are good. “Action!” runs for 4 minutes and 39 seconds, this featurette covers mostly the action sequences of the film, its interesting to see the stunt coordinators and Cheadle working out fight scenes, as well as going through some of the explosion special effects that were used in the film. A cool addition to look at coordinating explosions and stunts. “International Espionage” runs for 5 minutes and 13 seconds, the second and final featurette briefly looks at the set design and production for the film, taking about the international feel of the film that was created in a few locations, along with discussions with the actors and producers about the different locations. It’s a short, though fairly detailed look that includes some good behind-the-scenes coverage and shows off the great locations from a more Travel Channel perspective. Not a bad featurette for the runtime, though a bit underwhelming between the two very short, yet fairly detailed featurettes. The theatrical trailer for "Traitor" runs 2 minutes and 11 seconds. Bonus trailers on the disk are: - “Righteous Kill” runs for 2 minutes and 29 seconds. - “Henry Poole is Here” runs for 2 minutes and 21 seconds. - “The Visitor” runs for 2 minutes and 32 seconds. - “Sleepwalking” runs for 2 minutes and 32 seconds. There's a Blu-ray exclusive extra on this disc, a BD-Live feature that requires an internet connection and a profile 2.0 player to access. DISC TWO: The second disc is simply a digital copy of the film.
Overall
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