Allow me to paint a picture for you.

I really loved A Few Good Men when I first saw it years and years and… never mind, you get the point.  But the only way I ever watched it was on either:

• television or
• a dodgy VHS copy that I’m reasonably sure may have cut the very very end of the movie off.

But I never bought it on DVD.  I never bought it even on home video.  I’m not sure why.

A Few Good Men Blu-ray

When Tracey wanted me to buy her a Blu-ray online in a special promotion I saw that A Few Good Men was one of the movies in the offer and really only on a whim I thought I’d finally pick up a legitimate copy for a pretty decent price.  If I didn’t enjoy it then it would be off to eBay with it and a recoup of at least some of my cost, certainly less than it would cost as a rental when you factor in all the other bullshit that you’ve got to go on with, like leaving the house, talking to the weird kid behind the counter (I used to be that weird kid so it’s okay for me to say it… you shouldn’t though @_@) and parking and walking… oh it’s all too much bother.

Which of course leads me back to the fact that I bought A Few Good Men on Blu-ray.  I was actually surprised because I really wasn’t expecting much out of it to be honest.  I expected a nice clean transfer and the film that I remembered what I got was some very fine performances and an overall quality film experience.

I think the improved sound quality is what impressed me the most simply because there was dialogue that I don’t think I’d heard before of course I could be just forgetting since it’s been a while since I’ve seen the film (VHS!!!).  But the dialogue I picked up this time seemed to add more depth to the storyline especially surrounding one of the accused Lance Corporal Harold Dawson who was protecting the victim from receiving the infamous Code Red’s in the first place and again it may just be a more mature mind picking up finer points.

The cast is remarkable if only for the supporting cast that features such talent as:

• Cuba Gooding, Jr.
• Noah Wyle (who is exceedingly likeable in this)
• James Marshall (from Twin Peaks)
• J. T. Walsh
• Kevin Pollak (who does a great Capt. Kirk impression)
• Kiefer Sutherland
• Kevin Bacon

I found myself enjoying the performance by Kevin Bacon who generally doesn’t do anything for me in most of his movies except of course Tremors which is golden.  His character would traditionally be the asshole enemy character in this film but he and the direction reminds us that he’s a good guy just doing his job and at the end it’s really interesting as he swaps roles, going from defending/protecting Colonel Jessep to having to charge him and build a case against him.

Jack Nicholson is an absolute force of nature in this film.  He is amazing and he thunders through his scenes as only Nicholson can, it is not by fluke that when you mention the name of this movie you are immediately met with a round of “you can’t handle the truth”s (four on Facebook and three on Twitter when I mentioned I was watching).  For some reason I thought he was passed over for a nomination at the Academy Awards but he wasn’t, he was beaten by Gene Hackman which if you have to it’s not too bad to be beaten by someone of that calibre.

Jack Nicholson as Col. Nathan R. Jessep

I’m not going to go as far as to criticise Demi Moore in this as she isn’t really bad but she also doesn’t exactly shine at the same time.  I guess other actresses could have filled the role but then it probably wouldn’t have the same feel and frankly in that cast it’s probably not easy to really shine!

Finally I’ve got to talk about Tom Cruise.

He’s just great in this, does a very passable Jack impersonation and generally keeps this movie with all of its quality performances together.  I could easily write off his performances because I think he’s a little nutty in reality but I honestly don’t care, all I care about is what’s on that screen.  Mel Gibson is still great in Lethal Weapon despite his… ahem issues.

Oh one last thing! Rob Reiner is a director who I only seem to remember his comedic/lighter movies such as When Harry Met Sally, This is Spinal Tap and the wonderful  Princess Bride so I always think of this movie as a departure from his usual work when in fact he directed Stand By Me, Misery and Ghosts of Mississippi as well and there is plenty of serious work in those movies.  I attribute A Few Good Men’s success to his direction as it is very detailed, subtle and keeps moving along.

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