Blu-ray Movie Reviews

In the summer of 1977, disgraced former president Richard Nixon (Frank Langella) agreed to sit down for a series of interviews with British commentator David Frost (Michael Sheen) to answer questions about his time in office and the Watergate scandal. Would Frost be able to match wits with one of the most astute politicians of the mid-20th century? Or would Nixon be able to dictate the outcome and restore his image with the American people?

Richard Nixon was one of the most polarizing figures in modern politics and used the power of television in 1952 to refute an accusation of political corruption in his famous "Checkers" speech. But in this go-round, he didn't have complete control of the situation, and Frost surprised him with the help of his investigative team who discovered some previously unknown dirt on Watergate that left Nixon no other choice but to apologize to the American people for his actions. Director Ron Howard does a fantastic job telling the story of how the interview was put together and its subsequent taping.

The AVC encode is another outstanding effort from Universal. Black levels are rock-solid with brilliant depth and shadow detail. The color palette is burdened with the hues of the seventies —browns, greens, and mustard yellow—but they perfectly capture the time period. Detail is equally impressive with every pore and bead of sweat visible on the actors' faces.

The DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack is much better than I anticipated for a dialog-heavy drama. Voices sound natural, especially Langella's deep baritone, and the soundstage is surprisingly active with ample pans of passing vehicles, the bustle of congregating reporters, and even the subtle sounds of an airplane in flight. The somber score by Hans Zimmer has a strong midrange, but it never truly tests the dynamics on the upper or lower end of the audio spectrum.

The rich assortment of supplements includes both BonusView and BD-Live functionality, although the latter isn't available until street date. The "U-Control" PIP commentary presents a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film while the feature film is playing, which is more of a distraction than anything else, but I really enjoyed "The Nixon Chronicles," which shows the archival video of the original interviews alongside the shot-by-shot recreations in the movie. The more traditional supplements include deleted scenes, a making-of featurette, footage from the actual interview, a feature commentary by director Ron Howard, and a look at the Nixon library in Yorba Linda, CA.

Nixon's downfall proved that no one, not even a sitting president, is above the law. It also should serve as a warning to current and future leaders that the cover-up is always worse than the actual crime. Nixon accomplished many things as President of the United States, most notably opening up a dialog with China, but he will always be remembered as "Tricky Dick" for his deviant behaviors and not for the good things he did for the country. Highly recommended.

Release Date: April 21, 2009
Studio: Universal

Movie: 9/10
Picture: 9/10
Sound: 9/10

Review System

Source
Oppo BDP-83 Blu-ray player

Display
JVC DLA-RS1 projector
Stewart FireHawk screen (76.5" wide, 16:9)

Electronics
Onkyo Pro PR-SC885 pre/pro
Anthem PVA-7 power amplifier
Belkin PF60 power conditioner

Speakers
M&K S-150s (L, C, R)
M&K SS-150s (LS, RS, SBL, SBR)
SVS PC-Ultra subwoofer

Cables
Monoprice HDMI cables (source to pre/pro)
Best Deal analog-audio cables
PureLink HDC Fiber Optic HDMI Cable System (15 meters) from pre/pro to projector

Acoustical treatments from GIK Acoustics