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BOBBY
Alliance/Atlantis DVD
As a feature film, Emilio Estevez's
docudrama about the events of
June 4, 1968 at the Ambassador
Hotel in Los Angeles, would have
made a great TV mini-series.
But unfortunately, as a feature film,
it did not work, and disappeared
from the theatres upon original
release last fall, within weeks.
Too many big name
actors-Anthony Hopkins,William H.
Macy, Sharon Stone, Heather
Graham, Marty Sheen, et al, and not
enough script time to hold them.
And just plain too many characters
altogether, and not enough time to
figure out exactly why they are
there.
So, interestingly, the transfer to
DVD actually makes the film more
watchable, shrinking it down to the
realm of TV drama.
With the best parts really being the
inclusion of grainy,original TV
footage of RFK which if you have
not seen for nearly 40 years, is
incredible.
According to the 30 minute
featurette about the making of the
film included on the this DVD,
director and writer Estevez had
been greatly impacted by the
murder of Robert Kennedy, even
though he had been only 5 years
old at the time.
But being impacted, and viscerally
understanding it, are two different
things.
Besides the aforementioned
featurette, there is a slightly
disappointing 30 minute panel
discussion with several
individuals-including two
journalists, and a doctor who first
examined Kennedy after he had
been gunned down-but no
outtakes, alternate of extended
scenes.
So a "director's cut" may be in the
offing later this year.
Yet there is something very
compelling about this DVD if you
are a 5.1 surround sound fan.
Besides a generally good job at the
5.1 and DTS sound all round, the
60s period pop tunes featured in
the film are also given the
multi-channel treatment.
Simon and Garfunkel's seminal
Sounds of Silence, in what appears
to be a new 5.1 mix, is simply
stunning.
But overall, this film could be
described as a noble attempt, that
did not quite hit the mark.
Although it did bring back a lot of
"what may have been," had RFK
lived.
BOBBY
Alliance/Atlantis DVD
As a feature film, Emilio Estevez's
docudrama about the events of
June 4, 1968 at the Ambassador
Hotel in Los Angeles, would have
made a great TV mini-series.
But unfortunately, as a feature film,
it did not work, and disappeared
from the theatres upon original
release last fall, within weeks.
Too many big name
actors-Anthony Hopkins,William H.
Macy, Sharon Stone, Heather
Graham, Marty Sheen, et al, and not
enough script time to hold them.
And just plain too many characters
altogether, and not enough time to
figure out exactly why they are
there.
So, interestingly, the transfer to
DVD actually makes the film more
watchable, shrinking it down to the
realm of TV drama.
With the best parts really being the
inclusion of grainy,original TV
footage of RFK which if you have
not seen for nearly 40 years, is
incredible.
According to the 30 minute
featurette about the making of the
film included on the this DVD,
director and writer Estevez had
been greatly impacted by the
murder of Robert Kennedy, even
though he had been only 5 years
old at the time.
But being impacted, and viscerally
understanding it, are two different
things.
Besides the aforementioned
featurette, there is a slightly
disappointing 30 minute panel
discussion with several
individuals-including two
journalists, and a doctor who first
examined Kennedy after he had
been gunned down-but no
outtakes, alternate of extended
scenes.
So a "director's cut" may be in the
offing later this year.
Yet there is something very
compelling about this DVD if you
are a 5.1 surround sound fan.
Besides a generally good job at the
5.1 and DTS sound all round, the
60s period pop tunes featured in
the film are also given the
multi-channel treatment.
Simon and Garfunkel's seminal
Sounds of Silence, in what appears
to be a new 5.1 mix, is simply
stunning.
But overall, this film could be
described as a noble attempt, that
did not quite hit the mark.
Although it did bring back a lot of
"what may have been," had RFK
lived.
BOBBY