The film is beautiful and I loved how it showed two sides of Afghanistan.
The visuals of "The Kite Runner" were among my favorite parts of the film. The aerial views of the Afghanistan city during the kite fights were absolutely amazing. The soft blue skies were a wonderful contrast to the dusty sand blown horizons. The contrast on the city between Amir´s growing up and his eventual return were heart wrenching as the city fell into complete ruin after the Russian invasion and Taliban rule. Afghanistan is a world we seldom have any opportunity to step into and "The Kite Runner" allows us two distinctly different opportunities to do so.
I can´t call "The Kite Runner" one of the absolute best films of 2007. It is a good film and teaches some important lessons about the nation of Afghanistan and the dangers of cowardice. However, I found myself suffering from a strong dislike of the main character and had difficulty in cheering for his ascent into adulthood and attempts at redemption after treating his best friend as a disease and not as a boy who loved him like a brother; something that would take on a different meaning when the main character learned more about the relationship with his best friend. This is a beautifully shot film that is worth watching and you should form your own opinions about young Amir.
Video:
"The Kite Runner" is brought to DVD with a detailed and clean anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen transfer. The DVD release looks quite stunning with very good coloring and strong detail. Detail was apparent on the sandstone-built structures of Afghanistan and also the rocky hill where Amir and Hassan carved a remembrance into a pomegranate tree. Colors stood out very nicely and where quite natural through the entire film. There were numerous blues found throughout the movie and were perfectly saturated. Red was not too populace in the film and with its absence for most of the film, the color stood out vibrantly in the post-rape scene. The film has a very thin sheen of grain during a number of scenes, but it is fine enough that it never becomes distracting. No flaws are apparent through the transfer, edge enhancement is held in check and black levels and shadow detail are strong. With the visuals of the film a strong part of my enjoyment, I´m happy to report that "The Kite Runner" looks great on DVD.
Sound:
The film is presented in English 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround and contains equal soundtracks for both French and Spanish. Subtitles are provided for all three films, but with much of the dialogue in the film presented in Dari Persian, the decision to include multiple language tracks seems slightly puzzling as only a fraction of the film featured the English language. "The Kite Runner" is a good sounding film, but is far from being a great sounding DVD. This is a fairly reserved sounding film that hedges must of its sound design on dialogue. There are a number of very good sounding sequences, such as when Amir is fleeing the Taliban with Sohrab and the kite fighting sequences. The musical score by Alberto Iglesias brings a cultural honesty to the picture and I felt aided the film greatly. The mix is clean, but the rear surrounds are not used beyond a few scenes and the .1 LFE channels is silent for most of the mix. This is a front-heavy Dolby Digital mix that is tame due to its content and it is not a fault of the transfer to DVD.
Extras:
The primary and most important supplement is the Commentary with Marc Foster, Khaled Hosseini and David Benioff. It was interesting to hear Foster and Benioff converse with Hosseini on his novel and they discussed how they adopted the novel to the screen. Hosseini gives additional details on Afghanistan and various things shown in the film. He provides depth to the film and the three share a very nice discussion on the making of the film. This is a very nice commentary track. They talk about the difficulties of making a film about Afghanistan that is filmed in China, but also provide so much detail about the film. A small history lesson about the "Afghanistan Elvis" was just one of many small nuggets of information that enhanced my appreciation for the film after watching it with the commentary track turned on.
A few other supplements are also included. The featurette Words from the Kite Runner (14:24) talks about bringing the story from pages to celluloid. Marc Foster, Khaled Hosseini and David Benioff all talk about their original interest in the story and Hosseini talks about how he became a writer after originally taking the profession of being a doctor. This was a nice little fifteen minute featurette. The companion piece, Images from the Kite Runner (24:38) is a longer making-of feature that takes less focus on the story, but other aspects of making the film. Between the two featurettes, a nice documentary on creating the film is provided. A Public Service Announcement with Khaled Hosseini (1:19) finds the writer giving a very brief introduction to the film based upon his book, but also talking about the turmoil, poverty and suffering of his home nation of Afghanistan. The PSA asks for support to helping Afghanistan by providing the URL www.takepart.com. This PSA may be selected from either the bonus features menu or at the beginning of the film. The Theatrical Trailer and some Previews complete the bonus offerings.
Closing Comments:
There were things I disliked about "The Kite Runner," but also things I loved about the film. Mostly, I disliked the cowardice of the main character and the complete omission of Hassan after the two main characters part ways. This is one of those films that I found a stronger appreciation for after writing my review and its portrayal of Afghanistan and many of the themes contained in the film are done beautifully. I am going to hold to my original impressions of Amir and state that I still find him to be a terrible and unforgiveable coward. The film asks me to understand that he found redemption, but I had such a bad taste towards his acts while he chased redemption that I cannot call "The Kite Runner" a great film because of my dislike towards the cowardly Amir. The film is beautiful and I loved how it showed two sides of Afghanistan. The DVD release provides strong visuals and a soundtrack that is limited by the sound design of the film. The supplements are not that numerous, but they are quality. All-in-all, this is a pretty good film and a solid release that may not appeal to mainstream America, but it is something easily worth watching.
I can´t call "The Kite Runner" one of the absolute best films of 2007. It is a good film and teaches some important lessons about the nation of Afghanistan and the dangers of cowardice. However, I found myself suffering from a strong dislike of the main character and had difficulty in cheering for his ascent into adulthood and attempts at redemption after treating his best friend as a disease and not as a boy who loved him like a brother; something that would take on a different meaning when the main character learned more about the relationship with his best friend. This is a beautifully shot film that is worth watching and you should form your own opinions about young Amir.
Video:
"The Kite Runner" is brought to DVD with a detailed and clean anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen transfer. The DVD release looks quite stunning with very good coloring and strong detail. Detail was apparent on the sandstone-built structures of Afghanistan and also the rocky hill where Amir and Hassan carved a remembrance into a pomegranate tree. Colors stood out very nicely and where quite natural through the entire film. There were numerous blues found throughout the movie and were perfectly saturated. Red was not too populace in the film and with its absence for most of the film, the color stood out vibrantly in the post-rape scene. The film has a very thin sheen of grain during a number of scenes, but it is fine enough that it never becomes distracting. No flaws are apparent through the transfer, edge enhancement is held in check and black levels and shadow detail are strong. With the visuals of the film a strong part of my enjoyment, I´m happy to report that "The Kite Runner" looks great on DVD.
Sound:
The film is presented in English 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround and contains equal soundtracks for both French and Spanish. Subtitles are provided for all three films, but with much of the dialogue in the film presented in Dari Persian, the decision to include multiple language tracks seems slightly puzzling as only a fraction of the film featured the English language. "The Kite Runner" is a good sounding film, but is far from being a great sounding DVD. This is a fairly reserved sounding film that hedges must of its sound design on dialogue. There are a number of very good sounding sequences, such as when Amir is fleeing the Taliban with Sohrab and the kite fighting sequences. The musical score by Alberto Iglesias brings a cultural honesty to the picture and I felt aided the film greatly. The mix is clean, but the rear surrounds are not used beyond a few scenes and the .1 LFE channels is silent for most of the mix. This is a front-heavy Dolby Digital mix that is tame due to its content and it is not a fault of the transfer to DVD.
Extras:
The primary and most important supplement is the Commentary with Marc Foster, Khaled Hosseini and David Benioff. It was interesting to hear Foster and Benioff converse with Hosseini on his novel and they discussed how they adopted the novel to the screen. Hosseini gives additional details on Afghanistan and various things shown in the film. He provides depth to the film and the three share a very nice discussion on the making of the film. This is a very nice commentary track. They talk about the difficulties of making a film about Afghanistan that is filmed in China, but also provide so much detail about the film. A small history lesson about the "Afghanistan Elvis" was just one of many small nuggets of information that enhanced my appreciation for the film after watching it with the commentary track turned on.
A few other supplements are also included. The featurette Words from the Kite Runner (14:24) talks about bringing the story from pages to celluloid. Marc Foster, Khaled Hosseini and David Benioff all talk about their original interest in the story and Hosseini talks about how he became a writer after originally taking the profession of being a doctor. This was a nice little fifteen minute featurette. The companion piece, Images from the Kite Runner (24:38) is a longer making-of feature that takes less focus on the story, but other aspects of making the film. Between the two featurettes, a nice documentary on creating the film is provided. A Public Service Announcement with Khaled Hosseini (1:19) finds the writer giving a very brief introduction to the film based upon his book, but also talking about the turmoil, poverty and suffering of his home nation of Afghanistan. The PSA asks for support to helping Afghanistan by providing the URL www.takepart.com. This PSA may be selected from either the bonus features menu or at the beginning of the film. The Theatrical Trailer and some Previews complete the bonus offerings.
Closing Comments:
There were things I disliked about "The Kite Runner," but also things I loved about the film. Mostly, I disliked the cowardice of the main character and the complete omission of Hassan after the two main characters part ways. This is one of those films that I found a stronger appreciation for after writing my review and its portrayal of Afghanistan and many of the themes contained in the film are done beautifully. I am going to hold to my original impressions of Amir and state that I still find him to be a terrible and unforgiveable coward. The film asks me to understand that he found redemption, but I had such a bad taste towards his acts while he chased redemption that I cannot call "The Kite Runner" a great film because of my dislike towards the cowardly Amir. The film is beautiful and I loved how it showed two sides of Afghanistan. The DVD release provides strong visuals and a soundtrack that is limited by the sound design of the film. The supplements are not that numerous, but they are quality. All-in-all, this is a pretty good film and a solid release that may not appeal to mainstream America, but it is something easily worth watching.
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