Con Air Blu-ray delivers great video and superb audio in this enjoyable Blu-ray release
A prison parolee- on his way to freedom- faces impossible odds when the maximum security
transport plane he is on is skyjacked by the most infamous murderer Cyrus "The Virus"
Grissom! Buckle up and hang on tight as explosive, high-flying action soars to new
heights...and delivers high-caliber motion picture enjoyment!
I've never been a huge fan of Jerry Bruckheimer, but I will say this: when you go see a JB-produced
film, you know exactly what you're going to get—a big budget blockbuster crammed with impressive
set pieces and punctuated by mammoth explosions. And obviously, as audiences have attested year
after year, there's a market for this kind of filmmaking. People want mindless, salt 'n butter-coated
popcorn fun, and no one has mastered the glossy art of eye-gouging, ear-piercing escapism—and it
is an art—quite like Jerry Bruckheimer. The man was on a roll during the mid 90's, giving us Bad
Boys, The Rock, Con Air, and Armageddon in less than five years.
Con Air is probably my second favorite of the four—it's hard to touch The Rock—
but it's also problematic. The action sequences are frenetic and tight, but the emotional elements
drag and the plot has more holes than the socks I wore in college.
"On your left, coming through, pardon me!"
Let me start by saying that the film is bookended by two terrible moments of piled-on, extra-
thick, sentimental cheese, both set to Trisha Yearwood's tear-jerking ballad, "How Do I Live." The
first time we hear the cloying country tune is when Cameron Poe (Nicholas Cage) is reunited with
his wife Tricia (Monica Potter) in a dive bar after serving in the Gulf War. The reunion is short-
lived, though, when, in the act of defending himself and his wife's honor, Poe sends the nose
cartilage of one the bar's seedier patrons straight into the man's pea-sized brain. He gets eight
years in jail for involuntary manslaughter. The film finally revs up when Poe is put on a cargo
plane bound for Alabama, where he'll be released on parole. Unfortunately for him, the plane's
passengers—minus Poe's diabetic cellmate Baby-O (Mykelti Williamson)—are all criminally insane
inmates who hijack the flight in an attempt to flee to a "non-extradition territory." Meanwhile,
U.S. Marshall Vince Larkin (John Cusack) and DEA Agent Duncan Malloy (Colm Meaney) butt
heads over how best to apprehend the convicts and retrieve the stolen plane.
Director Simon West compares Con Air to a lifeboat or submarine film, and in a way it
does seem like the evil cousin of U-571 or the similar, a men-on-a-mission flick set in a
confined space that sustains the simmering tensions felt by the cloistered characters. And
Con Air has no lack of absolutely insane characters. Ving Rhames is Nathan "Diamond
Dog" Jones, a black supremacist waiting to seize power. Dave Chappelle is Joe "Pinball" Parker
—"armed robber, arsonist, dope fiend." Steve Buscimi channels a more weasel-ish Hannibal
Lecter as Garland "The Marietta Mangler" Greene. And yes, everyone in this film has a nickname.
The ringleader of this aerial circus is Cyrus "The Virus" Grissom, a bald-headed, whacked-out
intellectual whose guard-killing proclivities are "well known and often-lamented facts of penal
lore." John Malkovitch carries the role with a maniacal twinkle in his otherwise steely eyes, and
his do-or-die interactions with Nick Cage, along with some genuinely impressive action
sequences, are what keep the film aloft.
And this is fortunate, because there's a steady downdraft of outright ridiculousness that
threatens to ground the film at every turn. When the already-hijacked plane lands in Carson City
to pick up additional prisoners, are we really to believe that none of the law enforcement officials
on the ground would pop into the plane to make sure everything is going smoothly? This seems
particularly odd when we've already witnessed the great lengths that the guards go to in order to
restrain the prisoners. Then, when the plane lands at the nearly deserted Lerner Airfield, there
just happens to be a little girl playing in a dried-out swimming pool, conveniently placed to tempt
Garland Greene's child-predator instincts. Perhaps the most gimmicky plot device is Baby-O's
diabetes—he claims he'll die in two hours if he doesn't get insulin—and Poe, as an Army Ranger,
can't leave a fallen man behind.
This is a summer action flick, though, and the jagged plot points are smoothed over by some big
budget shock and awe. The film's climatic descent onto Vegas' neon-lit Strip trades realism for a
kind of absurd action-hero bravado, and though some of the digital and model effects look
somewhat dated today, I found myself believing—for just a split second—that it was all actually
happening. Then they had to go and ruin it all by playing that song again.
With a 1080p, AVC-encoded transfer of its 2.35:1 OAR image, Con Air takes flight on Blu-
ray, but stops just shy of soaring. Gone are the dull colors of the DVD release, replaced by a rich
palette. Most of the film flies by
in dusty desert hues—see the sandstorm in Carson City—and the textured blues of prison denim.
Then, when we get to Vegas, the Strip comes alive with nicely saturated neon reds and purples.
Black levels are tight and strong, as evidenced in the early fight outside the bar, and the image
throughout has a decent sense of depth for a mid-90's title. Skin tones are warm and natural. The
negatives then are few, but noticeable. For one, the film looks sharper than I had expected, but this
comes with a price: the rampant, sometimes black sometimes white haloing that accompanies edge
enhancement. Other than that—and some slight wavering during a few scenes—this transfer is
crisp, bold, and provides plenty of explosive eye candy.
Con Air lands on Blu-ray with a pounding and volatile Linear PCM 5.1 surround track that
takes no prisoners in its sonic assault. A brawny low-end presence rumbles beneath the entire film,
bringing explosions and dramatic accents to thunderous life. The mid-range pops with crisp rounds
of gunfire and well-articulated vocal work. And high-end sound effects—like the brisk click of a
shotgun's pump action—are detailed and clear. There's rarely a dull moment in Con Air, and
the rear channels are put to frequent use, handling both the grim rock score and a never ending
ambient stream of whizzes, pans, and cross-fades. There's not a lot of subtlety in the mix—it's
overwhelming more than anything—and though there's plenty of immersive action, if you listen
closely, sometimes the movement of the audio doesn't exactly match up with what's happening on
screen. Still, the lossless mix is a powerful, heart-pounding affair, and it makes the also-included
Dolby Digital track sound thin and lifeless in comparison.
Movie Showcase
Movie Showcase is basically a series of bookmarks that lets you demo the HD picture and sound
by selecting three big cinematic moments. While it is presented in 1080p, the audio is in Dolby
Digital, so you're not really getting the full HD experience. A View From Above (SD, 4:39)
This is the very definition of EPK featurette, and offers nothing to anyone who has seen the film
before. Most of the scant running time is composed of footage from the film, with a few brief,
substance-free interviews from key cast members. The Destruction of Las Vegas (SD, 2:41)
The first forty seconds of this piece are rehashed from the previous feature, and we really only
get a glimpse of the destruction of Las Vegas for about a minute. Theatrical Trailer (SD, 2:28)
Con Air definitely belongs in the cinematic kiddy pool—shallow and fun—but it's a decent
enough way to pass a couple of hours on a lazy weekend afternoon. Nicholas Cage gives another
"white trash nobility" performance, John Malkovitch seethes with uncorked rage, and the film offers
up more than a few hold-on-to-your-butts action sequences. This Blu-ray release brings the goods
with a full-bodied AV package, but the lack of extra features, and the non-inclusion of the unrated,
extended cut keep me from giving Con Air a hearty recommendation. Unless you're really
jonesing for a Nick Cage fix, I'd hold out for the inevitable re-release.
Buena Vista Home Entertainment has announced that they have finally rescheduled a trio of action flicks which were postponed earlier this year. The Rock and Con Air will get a Blu-ray release on January 8th, followed the next month by Crimson Tide. No specs have ...
