The Express: The Ernie Davis Story on Blu-ray Disc Review
By Brandon A. DuHamel
The Film
[editor's note: Major spoiler alert - do not read this section if you want to watch this film with no knowledge of its back-story or plot]
The Express: The Ernie Davis Story is a biopic directed by Gary Fleder based on the book The Elmira Express: The Story of Ernie Davis by Robert C. Gallagher. It tells the story of Ernie Davis (portrayed by Rob Brown), a talented young football player who many believe would have gone on to become the first black athlete to win the coveted Heisman Trophy and the first black athlete to be drafted first overall in the NFL draft, had he not died tragically at the age of 23 before playing a single professional game.
Succeeding Jim Brown as halfback at Syracuse on the Orangemen, Davis would go on to help lead the team to its one and only National Championship in 1959 under the tutelage of coach Ben Schwartzwalder (played here by Dennis Quaid). The team went undefeated that year, ending the season ranked first in the nation, and outscoring their opponents by one of the widest margins in college football history.
Davis had to overcome the racism of the day, segregation, discrimination, even death threats to accomplish all that he did. That he succeeded and attained as much as he did in the face of so much pressure was a testament to his character.
The Express is not just a sports film; it is an historical film about a moment in time -- about a nation in turmoil. To paraphrase the film itself, there are some lines that divide a football field and some lines that divide a nation.
The Express tells the story of those lines that, even today, five decades later, as the nation watches another historic first unfold in its capitol, still divide us.
Want to get a different view on The Express? See our theatrical review by Mark Grady.
The Picture
The Express arrives on Blu in a 2.39:1 1080p/24 high definition VC-1 encoding that looks splendid. The nature of the film won't allow it to pop from the screen, but the transfer is sharp, clean and detailed capturing the different looks of the film without compromise. From the early scenes of Upstate New York with their de-saturated, warmly glowing palettes to the gritty, blown out contrasts and obsidian blacks of the Cotton Bowl,
The Express' VC-1 encoding never disappoints.
Macroblocking, mosquito effects, and other compression artifacts are never an issue, nor are there any processing misdeeds of note such as edge enhancement. Flesh tones are never quite natural due to artistic intention, but this is an otherwise reference quality transfer that should not let down even the harshest critic.
The Sound
The Express on Blu-ray Disc is provided with two audio options, an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix and a dubbed Spanish DTS 5.1 option. The lossless DTS-HD MA sound mix is thoroughly effective at capturing the material at hand. Though mostly front heavy with dialogue placed in the center channel, the surround channels are used effectively for some discrete information and ambient effects. They really come alive during the football segments where they fill with crowd noises and the musical score, which tries its best to imitate the music of NFL films and Monday Night Football themed music.
The sound effects of
The Express all sound natural -- each tackle, the clashing helmets, thud of shoulder pads and stampeding cleats on turf -- is mixed and mastered superbly with a solid midrange and just enough low frequency support from the LFE to give the right amount of weight and realism.
The Express has a fittingly mixed soundtrack for this sort of film.
The Extras
Universal provides a sizeable amount of supplemental materials for this release delving into the film's creation and the true story of Ernie Davis. Much of the material is provided in high definition, which is always appreciated. Football fans and those with an interest with the civil rights struggle in the United States will find much of interest here.
The extras available on this release are:
- BD-Live -- Promos for more Universal releases and a Community feature that allows users to create their own collection of favorite scenes.
- Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary by Director Gary Fleder (4:3/standard definition) -- About 10-minutes of scenes played consecutively that were cut from the film for pacing.
- 50th Anniversary of the 1959 Syracuse National Championship (4:3/standard definition) -- This 16-minute-long documentary explores the 1959 team with interviews from eight members of that team and archival footage.
- Making of The Express (1.78:1/high definition) -- The director talks about the production and the different techniques he used to capture the look of the film. The featurette also incorporates a look at coordinating the football scenes in which real ex-NFL and ex-college players were used for real football plays.
- Making History: The Story of Ernie Davis (1.78:1/high definition) -- Jim Brown, Bob Costas, teammates, family members and actors from the film discuss Ernie Davis. One revelation is that Davis didn't play halfback until the third game of his junior year in high school.
- Inside the Playbook: Shooting the Football Games (1.78:1/high definition) -- A dissection of the actual plays that were run to capture the football scenes for the film.
- From Hollywood to Syracuse: The Legacy of Ernie Davis (1.78:1/high definition) -- A discussion of the impact that Ernie Davis' struggle had on culture in the United States and a look at the ongoing diversity of the Syracuse campus today.
- Feature Commentary with Director Gary Fleder
Final Thoughts
The Express is one of the finest sports films to come along in a long while because it is more than just about sports or even society, it is about personal struggle and tragedy. This Blu-ray release does this fine film justice and is an enjoyable watch -- I highly recommend it to anyone.
Where to Buy
Product Details
- Actors: Rob Brown, Dennis Quaid, Charles S. Dutton, Aunjanue Ellis, Elizabeth Shivers
- Video Codec: VC-1
- Audio/Languages: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Spanish DTS 5.1
- Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
- Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
- Number of discs: 1
- Rating:
- Studio: Universal Studios
- Blu-ray Release Date: January 20, 2009
- Run Time: 130 minutes
- List Price: $39.98
- Extras:
- BD-Live
- The Making of The Express
- Making History: The Story of Ernie Davis
- Inside The Playbook: Shooting the Football Games
- From Hollywood to Syracuse: The Legacy of Ernie Davis
