GREEN ZONE - Blu-ray review

Director Paul Greengrass broke taboo when he was one of the first filmmakers to create a film based upon the September 11th terrorist attacks that brought down the World Trade Center with "United 93." He had previously created films based upon recent wars with the Falklands War drama "Resurrected" and Gulf War television film "The One That Got Away." He is known for his documentary style productions based upon real life stories. His biggest successes in Hollywood have not been these films, but the two "Bourne" pictures he helmed that star Matt Damon. "The Bourne Supremacy" and "The Bourne Ultimatum" have made Greengrass an A-List director and he combines his love for war-based films with the actor from the "Bourne" films, Matt Damon in "Green Zone."

"Green Zone" is inspired by the 2006 book "Imperial Life in the Emerald City" that was written by journalist Rajiv Chandrasekaren. This book takes a critical look at the civilian leadership of the American invasion of Iraq. Screenwriter Brian Helgeland has come a long way since his work on "Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master" and ties in some of the events told in Chandrasekaren's book and combines these with the real life experiences of US Army Chief Warrant Officer Richard Gonzales. With a non-fiction book and a real-life person behind the story, one would suspect Greengrass has crafted a truthful story based upon the search for Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs), but in this film he takes an Oliver Stone approach and adds a conspiracy theory to the story.

The movie tells the story of Chief Roy Miller (Matt Damon), who is the lead soldier for a dedicated team of Infantrymen who search for WMDs in Iraq after the 2003 invasion. His first three targets are supposedly based on solid intelligence, but he finds abandoned factories where pigeon shit covers the floors and begins to question the intel when he finds himself losing men for targets of no value. He questions this intelligence through his chain of command, but Chief Miller is told the intel is good and asked to stand down on his questioning. He isn't alone in his quest for knowledge as journalist Lawrie Dayne (Amy Ryan) is also asking the tough questions and inquires with Pentagon Intelligence boss Clark Poundstone (Greg Kinnear) about meeting the "Magellan" source where the WMD info is coming from.

After the third raid, Miller is approached by an Iraqi man nicknamed Freddie (Khalid Adballa), who informs Miller of a Sunni meeting in a neighborhood house. Miller and his team raid the house and nearly capture high ranking Iraqi General Mohammed Al-Rawi (Yigal Naor). They capture one of Al-Rawi's men and a notebook with information, but Miller is surprised when an Army special forces Delta Force team shows up and Major Briggs (Jason Isaacs) takes away his prisoners and demands the notebook. Miller manages to keep the notebook and hands it over to CIA Chief Martin Brown (Brendan Gleeson). Miller is then approached by Poundstone about the notebook and they demand to have it given to him and Briggs. Miller finds himself in an intelligence battle between Poundstone and Brown, but also finds that he has to uncover the truth about Magellean and the bad WMD intelligence.

The trailer for "Green Zone" gave a definite "Bourne" vibe and the film was marketed in a way to capitalize on the director and star's attachment to that solid franchise. They didn't reveal the film's political undertones and Greengrass' desire to make a statement about his personal feelings towards the WMD fiasco surrounding the second Gulf War. The film was marketed as an action film where the hero is wronged by those he supported; much is the same way Jason Bourne is wronged by the CIA, but this time around it is the Army. This marketing decision was smart as the film stirred up a little controversy and backlash over its political agenda. The $100 million dollar film didn't earn back its cost during its box office run and pulled in roughly $35 million domestically.

I've never had a personal issue with the Oliver Stone approach to remaking history to fit an agenda and don't necessarily have a problem with Greengrass following in his footsteps. "Gree Zone" certainly does make a statement regarding the possibility of no WMDs ever existing and does pose a few other questions regarding the American occupation and decisions to even enter a war in Iraq. While the film does provide a documentary style experience and its does base itself on real situations, I was aware that much of it was based in fiction. There will forever be debate as to whether or not there were WMDs in Iraq and I have my own personal feelings in the Gulf War and am a former member of the US Army Infantry. Everybody can voice their own opinion and that is what Greengrass does in this picture.

"Green Zone" is entertaining and does provide some very good realistic action scenes in the film. I am typically critical of these types of films given my background and I didn't have any overly large arguments with "Green Zone" aside from some military liberties taken in sake of entertainment. This movie does come across at times as being a rehash of the "Bourne" pictures, but that formula has worked and is not necessarily a bad thing. Damon is very good at portraying an action hero and I enjoy him as an actor and Greengrass is one of the best at creating this type of film. I don't particularly like his style of cinematography, but I've come to accept his style and while I don't go to see a movie because it is a Greengrass film, I do accept his skills as a filmmaker.

The main character is based upon real life Army veteran Richard Gonzales and he stated in an interview that he was against the conspiracy theory, but considers "Green Zone" a "Bourne in Baghdad thriller" and I will hold that same viewpoint. The conspiracy theory is revisionist history that is acceptable as fiction to push the film as a thriller and I don't watch "Green Zone" to be influenced by this element. I have seen that Michael Moore loved this film and I consider him one of the true evils of this world, but I won't let that influence my decision to recommend this movie to all of those that love the "Bourne" series. "The Hurt Locker" is a far superior look at the Gulf War and there are a few other recent pictures that are superior to "Green Zone," but that doesn't change the fact that this is a fun movie.

Did I enjoy "Green Zone?" Yes, I did. I didn't particularly enjoy the preachy moments interjected by Greengrass and I'll never fully accept his style of filmmaking, but this was a fun action/thriller centered around a modern conflict. The movie has a lot of good action scenes and the story is interesting as it unfolds with some very good actors hamming it up. I enjoy watching Greg Kinnear as a sleazy political nemesis and he fits the role well. The man is highly underrated and Jason Bourne… errr… Matt Damon is very good as Roy Miller. In some ways, I liked "Green Zone" more than the Bourne films and while there won't be a sequel, Damon and Greengrass prove they can make one very good Gulf War picture.

Video:

I've never been a fan of the gritty style of Paul Greengrass and "Green Zone" is the latest film created by the filmmaker to look like nearly every other film he has created. This is a look that has been commonplace for Gulf War pictures and for some reason I find it a little more accepting this time around because it has been so common with Gulf War pictures. The 2.40:1 framed picture looks just like the two "Bourne" films created by Greengrass. Detail is very sharp and the stylistically tinted colors are none too shabby. The documentary look of this film is done very nicely and if you are familiar with the director's works you know that his films are not a showcase of what Blu-ray and 1080p can do. Black levels are good, but the purposeful grain and noise do distract at times.

Audio:

Now Mr. Greengrass and company may know how to drag a film down visually, but he and his crew have created a very impressive sounding film. The movie may not have the Oscar winning sound of "The Hurt Locker" ("Avatar" should have won), but this is a great and realistic sounding Gulf War drama. I enjoyed the sounds of the Humvee's engines and the machine gun fire and this film had me fondly remember my days around this type of equipment. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix is alive throughout the film with very good sound coming from every direction. There is a lot of movement in this film and the six channels keep up nicely. With the film being an audibly noisy experience, I was also happy to hear that no vocals were lost in the mayhem. This is a top notch mix that is very nicely handled.

Extras:

"Green Zone" doesn't come with a lot of bonus content for owners of the DVD version, but they have packed in as much Blu friendly technology as humanly possible. The disc starts up with pushed advertisements over BD-Live. After that the disc is full of next gen features. For starters, Pocket Blu and Social Blu is featured. The first allows for the migrating of bonus content to a smartphone and also remote control capabilities with a smartphone such as the iPhone. Social Blu allows for direct linking to social media outlets to chat about how much you enjoyed the film. Viewers can access the BD-Live center to view promotional advertisements from Universal. The disc is also D-Box Motion Enabled and for a limited time its billed as a "2-Disc Limited Edition" that comes with a DVD containing the Digital Copy of the film.

For those with Blu-ray, there are two features that utilize Universal's U-Control technology. A very good Video Commentary runs through much of the length of the film and this features both Matt Damon and Director Paul Greengrass. They talk about the making of the picture and cover topics sensitive to the picture. These two men have worked on a couple films together and they share an apparent friendship. Thirteen of the twenty chapters have video commentary and it's just a shame it doesn't run the full length. There is also a Picture-in-Picture feature that includes many of the behind-the-scenes footage and interviews that is typical of EPK and U-Control PiP features.

Three bonus features are available to all formats. The Deleted Scenes (12:27) can be played with optional video commentary featuring Greengrass and Damon. Greengrass' son Kit is on hand to watch the bonus footage with the two and these scenes are decent and easily worth watching twice to view the optional video commentary. Matt Damon: Ready for Action (9:47) is a making-of-feature that capitalizes on Damon's involvement with the film to promote it and show off some good making-of footage. Damon and veteran's of the Gulf War give their comments and I enjoyed some of the candid moments with the vets. Inside the Green Zone (8:53) is your typical making-of feature, but it lacks the real time with real soldiers that made the earlier piece superior. The video commentary is available as an audio only Feature Commentary with Director Paul Greengrass and Matt Damon.

Closing:

If you would ask me what I like the least about the two "Bourne" sequels, I would tell you that I don't like the style and faux documentary filmmaking style of Paul Greengrass. I'm just not a fan. However, it is starting to grow on me a bit and I didn't mind it as much while watching the entertaining and fictional "Green Zone" that ends up being a fine action/thriller about some Army Infantry soldiers looking for WMDs in Iraq. Greengrass' style does affect the visuals as this is a stylistically hindered visual transfer, but the disc sounds top notch. There isn't a lot of bonus content pertaining to the film, but Universal appears to have had a fun time throwing in all of the next gen bells and whistles and the disc showcases what all Blu-ray and its BD-Live connection can do. If you enjoy Damon and can stomach Greengrass, this is a good time.