Nixon Blu-ray Review

Nixon

Blu-ray Review
Walt Disney Home Entertainment
Released: August 19, 2008

Oliver Stone was the man behind this film, a political biography focused on Richard Nixon, and starring none other than Sir Anthony Hopkins. Needless to say, it has been a long time coming for this to hit the Blu-ray format.

Nixon released a few years after Oliver Stone put out the other controversial political film, you remember, that little known picture known as JFK…

Anyways, the movie follows Richard Nixon through his entire presidency, with a great deal of focus being put on the Watergate Scandal, which resulted in Nixon having to resign from office before he could be impeached.

Nixon is also shown in great detail with his wife Patricia, played by Joan Allen, and J. Edgar Hoover (Bob Hoskins).

The entire film builds and builds until you actually get to the hearings, as everything is centered around the man that Nixon was in such a way that you will be truly enthralled.

The cast here is phenomenal, as there is no surprise at all why Hopkins, and Joan Allen both received Oscar nominations for their roles.

The other major aspect of the film that I have to mention is the amazing level of depth from the musical score by legendary John Williams. Oliver Stones’ direction, without question, is a masterpiece in itself.

This Blu-ray release contains the director’s cut, which is 20-minutes longer tahan the theatrical release.

The video for Nixon on Blu-ray is presented in 1080p AVC encode, in a 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. The transfer itself is very well-done, while the film on the other hand is meant to appear grainy in some spots. Nixon looks very respectable in high-definition though, with natural skin tones, and strong black levels.

The audio mix is presented in an uncompressed PCM 5.1 track, as well as an English Dolby Digital 5.1 track. The way in which the audio was presented is quite impressive, as the dialogue is allowed to take center stage, while the great John Williams’ score, and other noises add for great background noise and ambience.

The 2-disc set on the Blu-ray format has a series of extras, which kick off with two audio commentaries from director Oliver Stone.

Beyond the commentaries, you get a 35-minute documentary called Beyond Nixon, which was directed by Oliver Stone’s son, Sean Stone. This is an exclusive Blu-ray extra, and is a documentary that looks at Oliver Stone’s take on Nixon in a very interesting way.

Other extras include the Charlie Rose Interview With Oliver Stone, which runs for nearly 60-minutes and is very interesting, as well as deleted scenes, nearly 60-minutes worth, and an introduction from Oliver Stone himself.

On top of that, you also get many trailers on the first disc, which are unrelated to the movie itself.

The Blu-ray release of Nixon is very impressive from top-to-bottom, with a great audio/visual transfer to the high-def format, as well as some great extras to go along with a classic film. A must buy on the Blu-ray format for those who love a political flick!

Film: 9.0 A classic film from top to bottom with a great cast, great direction, and a fantastic musical score.

Video: 8.5 The video quality is very impressive as it comes across natural and clear throughout.

Audio: 8.7 The audio does a great job of allowing everything to mesh, creating a great atmosphere.

Extras: 9.0 A stacked two-disc release with a great Blu-ray exclusive documentary, and much more!

Final Score: 8.9

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