COLUMBIA TRISTAR has just released a Special Edition of "IN THE LINE OF FIRE." It's a terrific thriller and certainly one of Eastwood's best films.
Eastwood portrays Frank Horrigan a tenured Secret Service Agent, racked with guilt for his failure in preventing the JFK assassination as a young agent.
This storyline attributes the "one" gunman theory to that assassination.
Now, near retirement age, Horrigan finds the chance of redemption as a new crazed killer(John Malkovich) makes his intent to kill the current President
well known. The film is cleverly written, with some real surprises and there is nary a cliché, save the ending. Malkovich all but steals the film, and
his various disguises, while reminiscent of "Day of the Jackal" is convincing. The supporting cast if fine, although this reviewer can't stand
Rene Russo. Their "romantic" interlude is one of the few entirely unoriginal scenes in the film. In a fashion that openly steals from her own similar
scene in "Lethal Weapon 3", Russo and Eastwood begin to get passionate, whileremoving an arsenal of weapons from each other. It wasn't funny in "LW3",
and it isn't funny now!
One of the film's most welcome surprises comes in the form of Dylan McDermott. He's introduced as Eastwood's partner, and while his storyline is
outstanding and convincing, we wish he'd have had a longer part in the film.
Director Wolfgang Peterson has always been adept at creating suspense, and "IN THE LINE OF FIRE" provides a good share of "nail-biting" tension all the way until its conclusion.
The transfer to this "Special Edition" looks to be the same as the one in the previous dvd version. COLUMBIA TRISTAR has presented the film in its
original 2.35:1 aspect ratio with 16:9 enhancement. The colors values are solid. There's great resolution and contrast is excellent, providing deep blacks and grays in the darkest scenes. Fleshtones are the only problem, tending to stray a little at times.
The Dolby Digital 5.1 sound mix is excellent. It's an extremely active mix, offering aa creative and often increase the dynamic of the onscreen action,
they're realistic as well, creating an outstanding sense of atmosphere. A motorcade sequence, early on, demonstrates just how effective this combination of creativity and realism really is.
COLUMBIA TRISTAR has gone all out to make this a "Special Edition." To begin with, Director Wolfgang Petersen provides a running commentary. Petersen has
already provided some great commentaries, eg. "DAS BOOT," "AIR FORCE ONE," and "PERFECT STORM." The one he provides for "IN THE LINE OF FIRE" offers a
great deal of technical information, but never at the expense of other themes relating to the filmmaking process. He's always entertaining, and the
dialogue never lags.
There are also some great featurettes. "IN THE LINE OF FIRE:THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE" offers several interviews with McDermott as well as the film's
humble writer, Jeff Maguire, and more. A Showtime featurette, "BEHIND THE SCENES WITH THE SECRET SERVICE", is basically a fluff piece, although there's some insightful footage concerning the Secret Service and information relating to the Kennedy assassination and attempt on Reagan's life. Another
featurette examines the film's outstanding visual effects, explaining how what we don't see, is as important an accomplishment, as what we do see!
Another brief featurette, "CATCHING THE COUNTERFEITERS" examines the Secret
Service's lesser-known responsibilities of catching counterfeiters.
Additionally, there is a "deleted scenes" segment. Unfortunately, "all" of these scenes are non-anamorphic, and none of them add anything to the film.
More disappointing still, is the lack of any director's commentary for them.