The Movie
With his Best Director Oscar win for Traffic, Steven Soderbergh beat not only Ridley Scott (for Gladiator, 2000's Best Picture) but also himself, nominated for Erin Brockovich as well in that same category. Brockovich star Julia Roberts copped her own statue that night, and announced that she would be on the set of Soderbergh's Ocean's Eleven the next day.
Now that's a year.
The direction is key to the complex Traffic, juggling a large cast and multiple storylines in this examination of The War on Drugs, from the trenches to the most exclusive corridors of power in Washington, D.C. We meet an honest Mexican cop (Benicio Del Toro) who risks his life and resists abundant temptation to do his job. Here in the U.S., there are brave DEA agents (Don Cheadle and Luis Guzmán) looking to take down a major cocaine dealer. And in an affluent suburb, America's new drug czar (Michael Douglas) hits the ground running while his own, decreasingly pure honor-student daughter (Erika Christensen) is rapidly approaching rock-bottom, and no one seems able to help.
That sense of futility echoes throughout Stephen Gaghan's smart, Oscar-winning script (adapted from the 1989 U.K. TV mini-series Traffik), introducing us to scumbags at every level of the illegal substances trade and creating a rich portrait of a complicated problem. There are no clear-cut answers or happy endings here, but at least we walk away understanding why nothing ever seems to improve.
Ready for another hit? Then you have to try Joe Lozito's review of Traffic.
The Picture
One of Soderbergh's tricks was to utilize distinct looks for each of the three main storylines, and the different film processes, the stylized techniques lead to wildly ranging levels of grain and noise, Artistically this choice is undeniably compelling, but it doesn't make for slick home theater. We can certainly appreciate the transitions from one sequence to the next however, the shifts in color and contrast as well as the actual quality of the 16:9 image.
Even so, this is not billed as a new master (Criterion first issued their DVD of Traffic in 2002, and rights-holder Universal Studios previously released their own Blu-ray) so I wonder how much better it might have looked with a fresh run through the telecine. Blacks are often flat and undefined, while fine picture data like the weave of a sweater or a brick wall can show a minute twitch and flicker. Edge enhancement is evident in many scenes. Not awful, but disappointing.
The Sound
Also a deliberate choice, the audio here relies largely upon simple dialogue, captured live on the set whenever possible. The quality of the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1-channel track is clean, and there is some fill in the rears, but in general the mix is noticeably relegated to the front channels. Even a major explosion late in the film is deliberately muted, albeit for greater impact. A tremendous amount of work went into this track, but it's not a flashy affair. And voices can sound a trifle thin in places, actually. The music at least enjoys a fine, subtle spread across all speakers.
Also, in an unusual offering, a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 remix is available, although it was purposely created with restricted dynamic range. English subtitles for the Spanish portions are a part of the film and cannot be switched on or off.
The Extras
The outstanding complement of bonus materials from Criterion's DVD is ported over here. There are three quite different audio commentaries, the first from director Soderbergh joined by screenwriter Gaghan. Up next are producers Laura Bickford, Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick, and the consultants: journalist Tim Golden and former DEA Chief of Intelligence Craig Chretein. Lastly, composer Cliff Martinez weighs in with a cue-to-cue commentary as each piece of music comes up in the soundtrack.
Two dozen deleted scenes are assembled here, with optional Steven and Stephen commentary, plus an on-set gag involving Catherine Zeta-Jones (27 minutes total).
The filmmakers' techniques are revealed to an extent seldom seen outside of a classroom, via three "Demonstrations": Film Processing, Editing and Dialogue Editing, all elaborately produced, some with interactive angles and audio.
The "Additional Footage" is in raw form, in contrast to the deleted scenes, but bringing further context to the story and to the scope of the production. Parts of this section offer optional commentary, alternate angles or alternate takes, or are sub-indexed to individual sections.
Last up is a collection of on-screen "trading cards" depicting the hardworking narcotics-detection dogs who take a bite out of crime. All of this video content--cards included--is in some form or another of HD, although the quality of the original source material varies a lot.
Final Thoughts
The Criterion Collection Blu-ray of Traffic is tough to get excited about, as there is nothing really new about it. The movie is still a fascinating achievement, worthy of the exploration made possible by the generous extras. But the limited audio and video upgrade here don't really merit a re-buy for current DVD owners.
Product Details
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