AMELIA - Blu-ray review

You know while watching James Cameron's "Titanic" that the big boat will sink and many people will die. That brings with it a definite finality to the plotlines of the film, but characters had the opportunity to survive. There was some hope. With "Amelia," you also know the tragic ending, but in the case of this film there is nothing more for the main character after history repeats itself. With a well known story and books written about the primary subject matter, a biographical film such as "Amelia" requires strong performances, amazing period replication and an injection of drama to make the already known something new. Cameron mastered these elements and "Titanic" sits as the second biggest film in history behind that director's latest creation. "Amelia" bombed at the box office and it is because it lacks the elements it needed to pay proper homage to Amelia Earhart.

Star Hilary Swank has the boyish looks that are a near doppelganger for the first woman who flew across the Atlantic. She is a fine actress and has the chops necessary to bring Earhart to life. Swank stars against strong leading man Richard Gere in what should have been a stellar cast that included Ewan McGregor and Christopher Eccleston in supporting roles. The Englishman and Scot are both highly talented. Unfortunately, the first problem that arises is the near wooden performance of Swank that loses the ambition and charisma of Earhart. She was one of the largest figures in America in pre-World War II days and Swank does not conjure up a woman so universally loved. Gere, on the other hand, has been one of the favorite actors for women since 1982's "An Officer and a Gentleman," but he doesn't share chemistry with Swank and at sixty years old is perhaps losing some of his charm.

The movie begins almost immediately showing some of the final moments of Earhart's (Swank) failed flight around the world where her husband and publicist George Putnam (Gere) is getting word that Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan (Eccleston) are flying against stronger headwinds and may not have enough fuel to reach the tiny island of Howland Island. The film then moves back to Earhart's earlier days when she fell in love with flying and, like everything else in the film, it spends precious little time proving depth to her history. This is a movie where almost everything is glossed over except for a few long looks between Earhart and purported lover Gene Vidal (McGregor). It isn't long before Putnam hires Earhart to fly as a passenger to cross the Atlantic. This first flight is one of the film's better scenes and whether or not Earhart almost fell out of the plane happened, it contains the most dramatic moment of the film.

Putnam is portrayed as a charismatic businessman who knows how to promote and make money on an image and he hires Earhart for the first Atlantic flight. The film omits showing the reasoning for Putnam to fall in love with the character and when he steals a first kiss on Earhart's cheek, it feels tacked-on and unemotional. The marriage proposal and fit of jealously also do not feel genuine and the whole romantic arc between Putnam and Earhart feels as if it were a secondary thought while filming. More time is spent on her rumored indiscretions with West Point graduate and athlete Gene Vidal. Whereas Swank does not seem to have any chemistry with Gere, she does blend well with the talented McGregor. The few moments between Earhart and Gene's son Gore Vidal (William Cuddy) are some of the better character moments of the film for Swank.

The unfortunate ending to Earhart's highly publicized flight around the world is not hypothesized by the filmmakers and screenwriters Ronald Bass and Anna Hamilton Phelan deserve some credit for not taking an Oliver Stone-like route to telling the story. Director Mira Nair though needed to add just a little more drama to the final moments and I feel she spent entirely too much time on the radio communications between Earhart and the Naval forces that were waiting for her at Howland Island. The point was gotten very quickly and any emotion that Earhart was unable to communicate and find the island was lost. A few shots at distraught Noonan showed that the navigator understood death was upon him, but Swank gave little emotion during this drawn-out sequence. The filmmakers could have done without the hypothesized moments in the cabin of the Electra and focused on how everybody else handled the events.

Where the film lacks story and substance, it does recreate the aircraft, cars and feel of Depression Era America. I absolutely loved seeing these old birds fly in full color and enjoyed the brief looks at cities in the 1930s. The outfits, sets and props were all first rate. Of course, you can't just dress up a film and hope for a good outcome as there wasn't much in "Amelia" to fill up its attractive duds. I enjoyed the recreation of some of Earhart's commercial shoots and enjoyed how the black and white newsreel transitioned into full color. Some of the high altitude photography was amazing. This was certainly a lovely film to look at and aviation enthusiasts should appreciate the attention to detail of these ancient flyers.

"Amelia" is an interesting, but emotionless ride through one of histories most amazing women's flight into history. There are things shown in the film that I found quite interesting, but too much focus was placed on providing a very high level view of the record-setting pilot's life and little time was spent on what actually made Earhart special. The film is worth watching for the purpose of getting an education on "Amelia," but unlike the Howard Hughes' biopic "The Aviator," this movie never gets off the ground. It's flat and feels flat from beginning to end. Hillary Swank is a very talented actress and she looked the part, but this is an uninspired performance. The filmmakers glossed over what truly mattered in Earhart's life and seemingly went for more style than heart. Earhart's legacy deserves better.

Video:

I was not overly impressed with the film itself and felt the story and performances were sub-par, but I did feel that "Amelia" was a strong visual experience. The colors of the vintage aircraft were superb and the red Lockhead Vega 5b that Earhart flew over the Atlantic is stunningly reproduced in the film. The metallic sheen of other aircraft's aluminum skin was a sight to behold and it was hard not to appreciate the flyovers showing wildlife in Africa or the canyons, rivers and cliffs of Ireland. Detail was very good and you could pause the film and enjoy the giraffes in fine detail. The black and white newsreels looked aged, but this was intentional and the contrast of these monochromatic scenes was very good. Black levels were good and a nighttime flyover of Washington D.C. allowed the viewer to pick out the Washington Monument in the distance. The film is mastered in 2.35:1 widescreen.

Audio:

As is the case with every release from Fox Home Video, "Amelia" utilizes a DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio sound-mix that is as strong audibly as the transfer is visually. An early scene with tickertape devices providing ambience sounds great and a near final scene where the ocean can be heard getting increasingly closer provides detailed audio. There are sounds to be heard from each direction throughout the film, but the beauty of the mix is the reproduction of the vintage rotary engines that powered Earhart's flights. A few of the period musical selections are also among the stronger offerings in the film and the musical score by Gabriel Yared is warm and fills the room with sound. Dialogue was strong, but a few quotes from Gere and Swank were slightly muffled. All-in-all, this was a solid mix.

Extras:

The Blu-ray version of "Amelia" is a two disc set that includes the film and its bonus offerings on one disc and throws in a DVD disc with a Digital Copy of the Film for Portable Media Players on a second disc. It appears that more and more they are advertising iTunes as the preferred method of using this, but it will work on Windows media based players as well. This is a fairly ho-hum release as far as bells and whistles go and from the minimalist menu to the actual content, there isn't a lot of extra content included. The disc doesn't push the technology afforded by the format and anything found on the Blu-ray is also contained on the standard DVD release. The disc boots with a few forced trailers, including a public service announcement for the American Film Institute, but there are no commentaries or other features to enjoy while watching the film itself.

The standalone offerings begin with a collection of Deleted Scenes (13:53). These ten clips include subplots and people not told in the film, including Dorothy Putnam and Earhart's first fiancé and Earhart's early career as a social worker. A number of featurettes on the film and Earhart are also included. Making Amelia (23:06) is the lengthy EPK style documentary that looks at the film, the historical figure and promotes the picture. The Power of Amelia Earhart (10:45) has a number of people, including the director, discussing the historical figure. The Plane Behind the Legend (4:33) looks at the Lockheed Electra in wonderful high definition and provides more information on the plane and how they needed to find one for the film. Re-Constructing the Planes of Amelia (6:37) discussed re-creating the authentic aircraft for the film. A collection of seven brief Movietone News Reels (6:41) are the final bonus offering. I always enjoy these old news clips and think they are the supplement I enjoyed the most.

Closing:

Mira Nair's "Amelia" is a lackluster telling of the story of aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart. The film lacks heart and only touches the surface of what made Earhart the "Queen of the Sky." The film tried to cover far too much ground in two hours and failed in providing any depth to her story. It provided a nice historical overview of Earhart's life, but the story and the unimpressive performance by Hillary Swank left me feeling emotionless towards her tragic disappearance over the Pacific Ocean. This movie and its cast should have reached high heights, but it too crashed shortly after takeoff. After watching this film, I was given the impression that Earhart was a boring floozy and I wondered why everybody was so enamored with her. The Blu-ray looks and sounds great. There are a few supplements and they are decent enough, but the film itself leaves a lot to be desired.