The Film
It took 62 years to bring the story of Amelia Earhart to the big screen -- and this is all they could come up with?
Of course, various incarnations of Earhart have been seen on-screen over the years. Rosalind Russell, Diane Keaton and Amy Adams have all delivered their take on the infamous aviatrix. However, Amelia is Earhart's first official biopic, and boy, did they screw up royally.
Earhart wasn't just an icon and inspiration, but her story is insanely fascinating. Obviously, much of the morbid curiousity is due to her unexplained demise. Type her name into Google and you'll see countless sites dedicated to just what the hell happened on that fateful night in 1937. So you'd think that with Earhart's iconic status and all, star Hilary Swank could manage to maintain the same accent for five minutes.
Isn't this the same woman that has dueling Oscars on her mantel?
Much of
Amelia seems designed to bank the actress her third statuette. Unfortunately, the film lacks something that made Earhart who she was: passion. It's not all Swank's fault, though. We also can't blame her cohort Richard Gere or even Ewan McGregor -- in fact, we
really can't blame him since he doesn't get a whole lot of screen time. Despite almost two hours of flying around the screen, the movie comes off like a quickie recap of the facts, with very little vision of its own.
Want to know more about the movie? Check out Joe Lozito's review of the theatrical release of
Amelia.
The Picture
The story may be lacking, but the cinematography sure isn't. This 2.35:1 transfer is simply gorgeous from start to finish. Despite its slow pace and so-so story, Amelia is one that you'll want to whip out for demo material. Each of the aerial views boasts beautiful colors and enough detail to make you actually feel each flight. No wonder Earhart wanted to fly so badly; it just looks awesome here. Of course, there are also plenty of ground-based images that make this one worthy of a look. Earhart in particular is a wealth of excellent imagery, from her textured leather jacket to her bold red hair to the many freckles on her pale face.
The Sound
At one point in the movie, Earhart says, "The motors are humming sweetly and I feel at home." The same goes for this DTS-HD Master Audio track. Like the image, the audio is another saving grace in this otherwise disappointing biopic. Dialogue was always clear, even during moments when the engines should drown out everything within a 100-mile radius. Of course, there are a few muffles, but that's intentional. If you think current air travel is loud, imagine what it was like 60 years ago. Those noises, including the roar of plane engines, thunder and crowd chatter, however, is what will keep your eyes (and ears) glued to the screen.
The Extras
Like the movie, the special features come off as a lot of wasted opportunity. "The Power of Amelia Earhart" really has very little to do with the woman and seems more like outtakes from the 23-minute making-of featurette. However, there are two worthy pieces here. "The Plane Behind the Legend" does highlight production, but focuses on the biggest star of the film: the plane. Another must-see piece is "Movietone News," which sounds like a bunch of promos for upcoming films, but actually shows off several newsreels from Earhart's actual adventures. It's a shame that those two features only amount to 11 minutes in this set.
Final Thoughts
If you've ever sat on the runway for two hours, you know what it's like to sit through Amelia. There's some anxiety and some boredom, but in your heart, you know something good has to happen at any minute. At least the audio and video of Amelia are more impressive -- at least out of the many runways we've ever seen. That material alone makes it a must-see. Aviation fans will definitely want to scarf this one up, just for subject matter and imagery alone. All others might want to rent, just to see if it's going to fly as part of your Blu-ray collection.
Product Details
- Actors: Hilary Swank, Richard Gere, Ewan McGregor, Christopher Eccleston, Joe Anderson
- Directors: Mira Nair
- Audio/Languages: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (English)
- Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
- Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
- Region: A
- Number of Discs: 2
- Rating: PG
- Studio: 20th Century Fox
- Blu-ray Disc Release Date: February 2, 2010
- Run Time: 111 minutes
- List Price: $39.99
- Extras:
- Deleted Scenes
- Making Amelia
- The Power of Amelia Earhart
- The Plane Behind the Atlantic
- Re-Constructing the Planes of Amelia
- Movietone News
- Digital Copy
