SEABISCUIT - HD DVD review

Betting on horse racing is something I am no longer allowed to take part in due to moral obligations. It has absolutely nothing to do with my view on gambling or anything like that. The reason I have moral issues with horse racing betting is because when I bet on horses – horses get hurt. The last time I went to Penn National, the first horse I bet on lost stride and finished last. The very next horse I bet on threw his rider and didn't fare much better. The third and final horse I bet on during the night decided to continue running in a straight line when confronted with a turn and broke both of his front legs when he tried to run through the fence. The poor animal had to be destroyed and I couldn't bring myself to bet on another horse. I am cursed and when I try to place my luck on such a beautiful animal, it turns out to be quite unlucky for the horse and its jockey.

The Gary Ross directed "Seabiscuit" allows me to appreciate the magnificent stallions without putting the animals at risk. The historical drama, which is based upon the book written by Laura Hillenbrand and chronicles the true life story of the little horse that could takes some liberties on the actual historical events, but pays wonderful homage to the three men behind this thoroughbred that became the "People's Champion" during the Great Depression and provided hope and excitement to a nation that was devastated by unemployment and a grim economic outlook. Jeff Bridges portrays car salesman Charles Howard, who found a new life and a new start after the cars he loved brought disaster into his life and he found his second chance at happiness through horse racing and Seabiscuit. Chris Cooper slips into the skin of horse trainer Tom Smith with a great and underappreciated performance. Finally, the last of the three men who made Seabiscuit a legendary champion was jockey Red Pollard, a rider whose own story was quite amazing. Pollard is portrayed by "Spider-Man" actor Tobey Maguire, who also serves as Executive Producer of the film.

Charles Howard moved to California with only twenty one cents in his pocket. He was a bicycle repairman and sought riches under the sunny sky of San Francisco. His life changed when he was asked to fix a Stanley Steamer automobile and Howard soon convinced carmakers to allow him to set up dealerships and the bicycle man found great wealth on the horseless carriages. However, automobiles brought not just great wealth and success, but tragedy and a ruined life when his son was killed in an automobile accident and his wife left him. Howard found redemption and a new life in horse racing. Where Charles Howard actually owned and ran a number of horses, the film "Seabiscuit" shows the horse as the only stallion in his stable.

Seabiscuit was discovered by a trainer hired by Charles Howard, a man named Tom Smith. Smith was a quiet man who spent his life training wild horses and working in the freedom on the open ranges of the Wild West. However, the world was changing and Tom Smith found hard times himself. Tom Smith was a quiet man who was uncomfortable with crowds and society. Horses were his great love and he hated to see one of the animals destroyed. He had a natural way with the majestic animals and understood how they felt and Smith was able to train more difficult animals because of his husbandry with the stallions. Howard quickly hired Tom Smith to serve as his trainer and to help find a stallion that would bring success to his efforts to become a championship horse owner. On a foggy night, Seabiscuit caught the eye of Tom Smith. The horse was undersized and had a lazy way about himself, but Tom Smith saw great potential in the animal.

The final piece of the puzzle was a jockey who could handle the temperamental Seabiscuit. That jockey was Red Pollard, who had the opposite problem of the small Seabiscuit. Pollard was very tall for a jockey and Howard found himself with a horse that was too small and a jockey that was too big. In real life, Pollard had a stone fly into his eye and lost vision to his right side. The movie explains the blindness due to a boxing injury. Pollard was a boxer and a tough individual, but the manner in which Pollard became blind is one of the liberties taken by the filmmakers. Pollard's blindness would cause one loss as Seabiscuit's rider, but he was able to keep his physical problem a secret during his entire career as a jockey. For most of Seabiscuit's career under the ownership of Charles Howard, Pollard was the horse's jockey and the man and the horse found a strong friendship that aided their success.

The film does a fine job detailing the ups and downs of the three men and their horse. Seabiscuit and Pollard would both find injuries that typically would have ended their career, but the two would overcome their injuries and once again taste victory. This series of events is one of the focal points in the film. Another focal point is the rivalry with the horse War Admiral, a massive stallion that was tearing up the East Coast tracks while Seabiscuit found great success in the West. Seabiscuit and War Admiral raced in one of the most memorable races in horse racing history and the underdog Seabiscuit is perhaps best known for his victory over the much larger and stronger War Admiral. Howard, Pollard and Smith were all interesting individuals and none were typical types in the world of horse racing. Along with their horse that was sold for practically nothing and never expected to have any success, "Seabiscuit" is a true underdog, feel good story.

"Seabiscuit" also serves as a reminder of the Great Depression and some of the bad times that hit America during the period. Through black and white footage, narrator David McCullough chronicles the Depression and how the little horse helped deliver some comfort to those that were experiencing great unhappiness. People game out in droves to see the horse win race after race. An estimated forty million people listened to the Seabiscuit vs. War Admiral match race. The film beautifully recreates the automobiles, trains, clothing and styles of the late Nineteen Thirties. "Seabiscuit" is intended to be a visual historical record of how the unlikely champion overcame diversity and hardship and how in doing so, he helped a nation overcome hardships. Gary Ross has succeeded in creating a very good historical drama and even those that may not be interested in horse racing or placing unlucky bets, "Seabiscuit" is good entertainment.

Video:

Universal Home Video has done an excellent job thus far with their HD-DVD releases. Their films have been of consistent high quality and "Seabiscuit" is no exception. The film is stunning in its visual splendor. With many great outdoor vistas and lovely period sets, the film about Depression Era America is, in a word, beautiful. The muscular and majestic horses used in the film are incredible looking animals and the film's high definition transfer does them great justice. You are able to see each and every hair on Seabiscuit's long nose during close-ups. The muscle structure and definition of these strong animals is very apparent. I can guarantee that a horse has never looked as good on home video. The old Buick race cars and their brightly painted bodies exhibit each rivet and seam of their classic build. A number of black and white scenes are contained in the film to help define the mood and environment of the times. These moments, too, are stunning in appearance.

This is, without a doubt, one of the better looking transfers I have yet to see on HD-DVD. There have been a number of very good ones so far, and "Seabiscuit" joins the upper echelon. The 2.35:1 image is presented in a VC-1 encoded, 1080p transfer. Using perfect source materials, there is hardly a flaw to find in the visuals of the film. The film contains vibrant colors that cross the entire color spectrum. They are perfectly recreated here and are nicely saturated. Red is a color that is typically problematic for digital transfers, but the bright red's of Red Pollard's outfit, one of Charles Howard's cars and other items in the film are perfect. There is hardly a spot to be found with the source materials, which is to be expected for a film of this age, but very welcome none-the-less. Detail is incredibly strong and among the best detailed titles yet released.
"Seabiscuit" is an absolutely gorgeous film and a true gem of an HD-DVD.

Sound:

As a period film and a drama, "Seabiscuit" is not the kind of film that typically contains and loud and bombastic soundtrack. It aspires to be quiet and tender in nature for long periods of time, but fortunately, there are moments in the movie that leap to life and place you nicely in the center of the action. The English Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 multi-channel surround mix is very nicely done and especially remarkable during the horse racing sequences when you are placed in the middle of the hard galloping animals. The sequences are loud. Each heavy hitting hoof can be felt. If you've ever wandered what it sounds like to be on a horse and to be directly between two other horses as you round the corner before the home stretch, "Seabiscuit" on HD-DVD will give you that sonic experience. During these scenes, the rear surrounds and subwoofer are heavily used and all six channels nicely spring to life. Scenes that take place in the countryside or among the streets of the Great Depression have nice atmospheric and ambient effects and serve as a nice contrast to the heavy hitting racing scenes. The horse racing scenes of the film sound strong enough to show off your home theater setup. Dialogue is strong and clear and both Spanish and French soundtracks are provided in 5.1 sound.

Extras:

"Seabiscuit" was previously released as a single disc and two-disc editions. In typical Universal fashion, all of the supplements from the limited 2-disc set have been carried over to the HD-DVD release. They had done this previously with "Jarhead" and "Ray." "Seabiscuit" contains a wealth of bonus materials that detail both the making of the very good film and recount the actual history of the little Stallion and his storied career. One of the reasons I have given HD-DVD the nod over Blu-Ray in the early going is because of the efforts of both Warner Bros. and Universal to port over all of the materials from their best standard definition releases. I had passed on "Seabiscuit" when it was released on standard definition DVD, but had seen it theatrically. Part of the reason was that I wanted the limited edition release, but didn't have the money on me when it was released and had never gotten back to purchasing it. That is a moot point now that the HD-DVD contains everything the pricier limited set contained.

The Feature Commentary with Director Gary Ross and Filmmaker Steven Soderbergh is the sole commentary track on the disc. Soderbergh is a friend and colleague of Gary Ross and had nothing to do with the actual production of "Seabiscuit," but his involvement here is welcomed. The two have a wonderful dynamic and Soderbergh routinely asks nicely pointed questions to Ross about the development of the movie. Most of the commentary is centered on the actual production of the movie and details are provided in the commentary that can only be found in the commentary. There are some minor details on the historical aspects and accuracy of the film, but the vast majority of it is about brining the story of "Seabiscuit" to the silver screen.

The feature Bringing the Legend to Life: The Making of Seabiscuit runs for about a quarter of an hour and contains the typical promotional interviews and segments that serve to not only promote the film, but provide a quick look on the making of the movie. It is not a bad feature and contains some nice pieces on "Seabiscuit," but only scratches the surface of the effort. Anatomy of a Movie Moment is another relatively short feature and finds the film's director breaking down a scene from the film and details how he started with the screenplay and lays out the various steps in bringing that scene to life. Seabiscuit: Racing Through History is another fifteen minute feature involving Gary Ross. This vignette gives historical background on Seabiscuit and details the horses place in history. I was disappointed at the length of this particular supplement and found myself wanting to know more about the horse and the interesting men that helped mold him into a champion stallion. Photo Finish: Jeff Bridges' On-Set Photographs is an interesting feature. The actor took a series of very nice photographs during the making of the film and they are shown here as an animated gallery that is accentuated with various bits of music.

Archival footage of Seabiscuit vs. War Admiral: The 1938 Match Race are included on the disc and it is fascinating to look at the actual race and then compare it to how the race was recreated for the film. The footage is old and scratchy, but I enjoyed seeing the real horses that the film was based upon. Winner's Circle: The Heroes Behind the Legend is a very good supplement that details the men who were part of the Seabiscuit legend. The True Story of Seabiscuit is another relatively lengthy supplement that deals with historical information on the racehorse. A lot of information about the horse is provided here and you get a good sense on where he came from and what he accomplished. The story of Seabiscuit is quite remarkable and these historical documentaries help cement that fact.

Finally, the major supplement that adorned the limited edition 2-disc DVD set is the HBO First Look special and is included here. These half hour specials are commonplace on HBO and commonly do a good job detailing the making of the film they are centered on and provide additional background on the story. The "HBO First Look" special on "Seabiscuit" finds William H. Macy providing narration and looking at the legendary horse and the historical personalities that were involved with the horse. The actors that portrayed their real-life counterparts give their own thoughts on the real life people and others who were involved first-hand with Seabiscuit offer there remembrances. With the HD-DVD release, there are no theatrical trailers, but to the best of my knowledge, they were not contained on the standard DVD releases either.

Closing Comments:

The "Seabiscuit Gift Set Limited Edition" finds all of its on-disc content delivered to HD-DVD with very impressive visuals and quality sound. Although the HD-DVD packaging is not nearly as nice as the limited edition DVD, it is a quality addition to any film collection. The historical drama that tells the tale of an undersized and lazy horse and how a quiet outsider, scarred auto dealer and a half-blind and oversized jockey became a national phenomenon that helped an America deep in a Depression recover and find comfort. The story is captivating and interesting. There are inaccuracies, but the film keeps close enough to actual events to keep "Seabiscuit" honest. With a great cast and great performances, Universal has picked a winner from its catalog and delivered one of the better overall titles yet to be released on HD-DVD.