Big Picture Big Sound

The Film

Having recently watched the new HD-DVD release of "Lethal Weapon" I've been in a Richard Donner mood lately. But while "Lethal Weapon" effectively pairs a seemingly mismatched black cop with a white cop, Donner's "16 blocks" isn't quite as effective pairing a white cop with a black criminal-turned-state's-witness. In fact, the film seems like something I've seen before. Oh yes, that's right, I did, and it was called "48 Hours."

In "16 Blocks," Bruce Willis plays Jack Mosley, a washed-up has-been detective with a drinking problem (if you consider whisky for breakfast a problem, that is), who is reluctantly charged with transporting a witness 16 blocks from a holding cell to the courthouse. Jack Mosley should not be confused with the hard-nosed hard-drinking cop, Jack Cates (Nick Nolte) from "48 Hours" who is paired with a criminal in order to investigate a murder case.

In "16 blocks," Mos Def plays Eddie Bunker, a wise-cracking petty criminal turned state's witness who absolutely positively has to be in the courthouse by 10:00 AM to testify in a very important case. This character should in no way be confused with the wise-cracking criminal/reluctant partner Reggie Hammond, played by Eddie Murphy in "48 hours." There are many other parallels between the films, except that "48 Hours" for the most part, works, and "16 Blocks," for the most part, doesn't.

It's just too unbelievable to think that Bruce Willis can't make it past a few corrupt cops (oops, sorry, spoiler alert) on his way through downtown Manhattan from the precint to the courthouse. Along the way, the pair gets nabbed when they should be free and clear, and escapes when they should be caught, slowly creeping closer and closer to their destination.

Over the course of this two-hour ordeal, which unfolds roughly in real-time, the mismatched pair learns to appreciate each other, and in this sense, the film does have some redeeming qualities. The same qualities as found in, say "Lethal Weapon," and yes, "48 Hours." Characters who have seemingly nothing in common are able to find common ground and gain each other's respect. But the impact is lessened by the repetition, and by the mostly unintelligible jibber-jabber that Mos Def injects into nearly every spare moment of the film. Will they make it to the court-house on time? And ultimately, do we really care?

The Picture

If nothing else, "16 Blocks" on HD-DVD certainly looks good. As a New York City native, it's cool to see actual Manhattan locations represented in such vivid detail. But the rats in the subway in "16 Blocks" are larger than life... and they wear badges. The widescreen 16:9 transfer is presented in full HD 1920X1080 (1080p) resolution, though our Toshiba HD-XA1 player then converts the signal to 1080i (interlaced), which is still far more detailed than DVD. The aspect ratio of the movie is the original theatrical ratio of 2.4:1 which means you'll get black bars at the top and bottom of a standard 16:9 HDTV display but you'll see everything the director intended.

Side B of the disc features the film in standard DVD format, for playback on any DVD player. It looks pretty good as standard 480p DVD goes, but certainly lacks the clarity and detail of the HD-DVD version on the flip-side.

The Sound

The Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 sound mix offers excellent spatial cues, and an immersive surround sound experience. As the lead characters slink about in the avenues, alleys and basements of Chinatown and Little Italy, you feel like you are there with the sounds of the city surrounding you at each step and around every corner.

The inevitable gunshots and explosions come through loud and clear, with deep bass extension, without losing articulation. Sometimes the dialog is a little unclear, but part of this is caused by Eddie Bunker's high-pitched, cityspeak whine, which permeates the film. I found myself turning on the subtitles track from time to time, just to catch what the character was saying.

The Extras

As it seems is the norm on this first batch of HD-DVDs, much effort has gone into assuring that the video and audio portions of the disc offer a substantial upgrade from standard DVD, but less effort is going into developing new extras exclusive to the new format. Once again, the extras on this HD-DVD are no different than on the previous DVD release of the film. But as far as extras go, these ones are pretty good, with an alternate ending, that can be viewed in context in the film, or separately.

Unfortunately, in order to view this ending, or any of the other extras on the disc, you have to flip the disc over from the HD-DVD to the standard DVD side. Warner does not present the alternate ending option in the HD version of the film. This is a bit of an annoyance, particularly with the fairly sluggish delays in unloading and loading discs in the first generation players, but I'm not too bothered by it. I'm happy that Warner doesn't sacrifice the limited storage they have on the HD-DVD layer by piling on extras that are "good enough" in standard definition.

Other extras include deleted scenes with director/screenwriter commentary and a theatrical trailer.

Final Thoughts

Taste in films is subjective. One man's trash is another's cult classic. Resident film guru Joe Lozito enjoyed the film a bit more than I did while cinema snob David Kempler enjoyed it somewhat less.

In terms of audio and video quality, the HD-DVD represents a clear step up over the DVD release. And the "combo" format of this release, with HD-DVD on one side and standard DVD on the other, allows you to purchase one disc to play in all of your players, be they HD-DVD-compatible or not. The deleted scenes with commentary, and the alternate ending (viewable as part of the film), add a dimension of insight into the film-making process that is always welcomed by this writer. But whether the picture and sound quality advantages are worth the relatively high list price ($34.99) is something prospective buyers will have to decide for themselves.

Technical Details

• Director: Richard Donner
  
• Actors: Bruce Willis, Mos Def, David Morse
  
• HD-DVD Release Date: June 13, 2006
  
• US theatrical release date: March 3, 2006
  
• Feature film running time: 102 minutes
  
• Feature Film video transfer: 1080p 16:9 HD transfer
  
• Aspect Ratio: Widescreen, 2.4:1
• Sound format: Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 (English, French (dubbed in Quebec))
  
• Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish
  
• Number of discs: 1
  
• MPAA Rating: PG-13
  
• Studio: Warner Home Video
  
• Extras:
  • Alternate ending (viewable separately or incorporated into the film)
  • Deleted scenes with optional commentary
  • Theatrical trailer