Nixon [Blu-ray]
![Nixon [Blu-ray]](/images/Nixon-Blu-ray-B0019PL2JI-L.jpg)
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Anthony Hopkins, Bob Hoskins, Ed Harris, Joan Allen, Powers BootheBrand: Buena Vista Home Video
Blu-ray: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language)
Format: AC-3, Color, Director's Cut, Dolby, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 213 minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: 2008-08-19
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: WALT DISNEY VIDEO
Movie Reviews of Nixon [Blu-ray]
Movie Review: Probably Stone's best political drama, In a great Blu-Ray edition
Summary: 5 Stars
The Film:
Let me say right now by way of disclosure: I love Oliver Stone films. I don't think he's the "conspiracy nut" he's often painted as. I do think he is a biased historian. He has an ideological axe to grind, especially insofar as American politics are concerned. But it's easy enough to detect and set aside (if you want to), and nonetheless he is a stunningly talented filmmaker.
"Nixon" presents probably the best of Stone's "presidential" films (JFK, Nixon, W.). It contains a spectacular performance by its principal character (Anthony Hopkins), and a great set of supporting players, as per usual in Stone's films (particular standouts include Bob Hoskins as J. Edgar Hoover, James Woods as Bob Haldeman, Paul Sorvino as Henry Kissinger, and Joan Allen as Pat Nixon). Hopkins does something amazing - without directly aping every little thing about Nixon, he portrays the inner Nixon so well that he ends up replacing the original in the mind of the viewer, to the point that when at the end Stone shows us the real Nixon's farewell helicopter ride, it is phenomenally bizarre to see someone else as Nixon.
Stone weaves a story of Nixon as a sympathetic, troubled, perennially downtrodden little guy who claws his way into power through tenacity, dirty tricks, perseverance, and canny manipulation of current events. Nixon is a man who has the highest aspirations of power, and is brought to the lowest possible point through his own frailties, paranoia, and personal demons. Stone at once makes him sympathetic and demonic.
I think Stone is a humanist, and a person who is seeking the truth. His humanism puts him at odds with those who would use mass populations as pawns and destroy vast populations for policy objectives - but it also drives him to seek what is human in these sorts of manipulators. He seeks to tell the truth - the human truth - of the events and the times he focuses on. He uses different kinds of footage, and compresses times and conversations, creating montages, almost collages, of images and words that evoke the spirit of a time.
"Nixon" may well be Stone at his best in this art of collage film-making. It is utterly absorbing, despite its 3.5 hour heft, to anyone who enjoys deep character drama, and of course any political history aficionado.
The Blu-Ray:
At its best, this HD transfer presents images of amazing detail. Certain scenes show incredible facial detail, with pores, whiskers, fine lines, and the like shown in pristine clarity. But, as with many Stone film, detail is often obscured by intentional choices on his part - so many types of video sources are used, from 35mm to 8mm, TV broadcasts, all kinds of material with all different levels of inherent detail. This Blu-Ray displays them all probably as well as they'll ever be displayed. Whatever grain is inherent in the source image is always faithfully presented, never scrubbed away by excessive DNR. So, no, this is not a transfer you'll want to choose to really blow away a viewer with "HD" quality (try Stone's "Alexander" for that). But it's faithful, and as the film works on you for its 3.5 hours, I think most viewers will appreciate it.
Audio is an uncompressed Dolby Digital 5.1ch mix. It does a fine job presenting the sometimes booming soundscape Stone employs with all of his complex cuts from dialogue scenes to documentary shots and pictures of war. Dialogue is never drowned out, and John Williams' score comes through very nicely.
Stone has recorded two commentaries for the film, one dealing with the movie-making end of things, one dealing with the political backdrop of the age. Both are entertaining, as per usual with Stone commentaries. Sometimes there are gaps (heh heh), but when he is speaking he is always lucid and informative.
The second disc has a wealth of extras. 58 minutes of deleted scenes (more like 30, when you cut out Stone's explanations and the contextual bits of the actual film) are presented in 480p. Most of them have been reintegrated into the director's cut on the main disc however. So this is more interesting for Stone's intro than anything else. A 35-minute HD documentary by Sean Stone is the new item here, collecting many big-wigs discussing the pros and cons of the film. An hour-long Charlie Rose interview with Stone presents a deep and occasionally tense conversation between a master interviewer and a master filmmaker. Overall, it's a pretty good slate of extras.
If you're a fan of Stone and you have a Blu-Ray player, you need this disc, pure and simple. It's an essential part of any Oliver Stone collection.
Fans of biopics should give this a hard look, too. This may not be a movie for those who dig Vin Diesel movies (not that there's anything wrong with that).
For my part, it's something I watch every year or two. It rewards multiple viewings in the way that dense Oliver Stone films can. With this Blu-Ray edition, I now have the best possible video quality and a great set of extras.
Summary of Nixon [Blu-ray]
UPC:786936747935DESCRIPTION:From Oscar®-winning* director Oliver Stone and starring Anthony Hopkins in an Oscar® nominated performance, Nixon is the monumental motion picture that delves into the inner sanctum of a tragic world leader, uncovering his greatest moments and his shattering demise! An all-star cast powers this epic look at American President Richard M. Nixon a man carrying both fate of the world on his shoulders while battling the self-destructive demands within. From his victorious presidential election to the shocking Watergate scandal that would seal his doom, Nixon was hailed by critics and audiences everywhere as a great film one you don t want to miss!
* Best Director, Born On The Fourth Of July, 1989; Best Director, Platoon, 1986
** Best Actor Nominee, Nixon, 1995
END
Oliver Stone's controversial drama about the Nixon years in the White House stars Anthony Hopkins in a genuinely great performance as the scandal-plagued president. The film attempts to wed suggestions of Nixon's formative experiences as a boy to his political connections with shady movers and shakers and finally to his self-destructive tenure in the Oval Office. The Watergate scandal is revisited rather impressionistically--it may be hard for viewers who weren't alive then to get a sense of what the crisis was about. The parade of stars playing figures in Nixon's orbit--J.T. Walsh as John Ehrlichman, James Woods as Bob Haldeman, David Hyde Pierce as John Dean, etc.--is fun if a tad distracting. Joan Allen got a well-deserved Oscar nomination as First Lady Pat Nixon, and Hopkins got one as well. --Tom Keogh
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