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| Martin
Sheen, Sissy Spacek, Warren Oates, Ramon Bieri |
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Anamorphic
widescreen |
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Dolby Digital
5.0 |
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DTS |
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Trailer(s) |
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Featurette(s) |
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Documentary |
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Audio commentary
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Deleted scenes
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Concept art
/ storyboards |
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Multi-angle
feature |
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(after
the shooting of Cato)
Holly: How's he doing?
Kit: I got him in the stomach.
Holly: Is he upset?
Kit: Didn't say anything to me about it.
Loosely
based on the Charles Starkweather murder spree in the 1950s, Badlands
tells
the story of two teenagers on the run after killing the girl's father.
 One
of the most remarkable things about Badlands is how simple
and effective the central story is: told in voice-over narration
by teenage
Holly (Sissy Spacek), it shows what happens when people have no moral
center to hold on to and can turn to murderous actions for no
apparent
reason. Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek deliver totally realistic performances.
Sheen is frightening and likeable at the same time: he utters
self-contradictory
lines like "listen to your parents and teachers, they got a line
on most things so don't treat them as enemies" just a mere few
days after shooting his girlfriend's father, whose objection to their
relationship
proved too much of an obstacle to deal with in any other way. His fascinating
contradictions are never explained away as he grows more
and
more wrapped up in his over-inflated sense of self-centered mythology
and pathology. Similarly, Holly's attraction to Kit remains something
of a puzzle for
the viewer:
her boredom
and naiveté
more than anything else seem prime motivators to hang out with Kit.
Badlands has the feeling of a dream: the characters never seem
to be fully present, and the discrepancy between the actual story
events
and Holly's romantic schoolgirl narration leads to some wonderfully
strange moments. Their narrative only seems to make sense within their
own world, as the viewer is slowly drawn into their mindframe by Malick's
outstanding use of stillness as well as pictures. The stunning
cinematography and music make up the other elements that turn this
movie into such
a complete and powerful emotional experience that it will stay with
you for weeks and that offers rewarding material for repeated viewings. |
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Released by Warner Home Entertainment
as part of the long row of bare-bones back catalogue releases
from late 1999 and early 2000. A Region 2
version was released in May 2003, with the same transfer (widescreen only)
and the addition of a newly produced 24-minute documentary.
The Region 2 release served as the basis for this review.
The anamorphic widescreen transfer
is framed at 1.85:1, while the full-frame version uses an open matte
to reveal more image at the top and bottom of the screen. The widescreen
framing however reveals the director's intention, and the tighter framing is
clearly much better. There are plenty of grain, nicks and
scars in the print, and the transfer's general lack of fine detail reveals how
far DVD technology has advanced in the years since this transfer was mastered. Darker shots
suffer the most, looking soft and suffering from obvious compression artifacts.
The original mono soundtrack has been remixed into Dolby Digital 5.0
but this fails to add much to the experience. A few brief moments inside,
the surround speakers have nothing to do.
The dialogue is always clear and there's hardly any distortion on the
track, with the music sounding especially good. The subwoofer channel included in the Region 1 audio mix
was not utilized at all, and has been left out of the mix on the Region 2 release altogether.
For its long-awaited European DVD release, Warner may not have invested
in a much-needed movie-restoration, but the new documentary Absence of Malick has thankfully been included.
Its 24-minute running time consists of new interview footage with Martin Sheen, Sissy Spacek, production designer Jack Fisk,
executive producer Edward Pressman and editor Robert Estrin, illustrated by still images and clips from the film. Unsurprisingly,
notoriously shy writer/director/producer Terrence Malick is absent throughout, but the contributing speakers do an
excellent job providing a substantial degree of background context, as well as singing Malick's praises to a rather
embarrassing extent. Martin Sheen also reveal - quite gleefully - that Malick makes two brief appearances in the film,
intended by the director to be temporary shots because the actor in question didn't show up for his scene. The documentary
is presented in good-looking anamorphic widescreen, and it provides some welcome added value. The theatrical trailer
is also included. The
menu screens are static with images from the movie.
Gerard Castelein
Reviewed: 2001; updated: May 27, 2003
Click
here for IMDB info on Badlands.
Click here
to return to the front page.
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