Hollywood salutes a diving hero in "Men of Honor" and, courtesy of the new DVD release, you can now find out what the guy who inspired the film really thinks of his heroics.

TECHNICAL FEATURES

Picture Despite what are clearly meant to be murky waters, there's a high level of detail, and no nasty grain to contribute to the murk.

Sound The 5.1 mix does all it can to add to the drama with a bass-enhanced music score and plenty of dramatic effects during the diving sequences.

SPECIAL FEATURES

Audio Commentary Director George Tillman Jr sits in with writer Scott Marshall Smith, producer Robert Teitel, and star Cuba Gooding Jr for an often-entertaining group commentary. As we find out, the idea for the movie was born back in '94, the first draft of the screenplay was delivered in '95, but it wasn't until 2000 when production began. There's plenty of chat about the technical difficulties of making the film, including the variable weather conditions that made matching scenes difficult.

HBO Special Cuba Gooding Jr is in no doubt as to what this film means to him: "This movie to me is my "Rocky"." Contrast this with the comments of Carl Brashear, upon whom the motion picture is based: "I don't think I'm a hero." Clearly everyone else disagrees with him, as this featurette dives into the history behind the film and the making of the movie.

Carl Brashear Mini Documentary Modest though Brashear is, a fuss is made over him in this featurette, and once you've seen some of the photos of the man in action, you'll understand why.

Deleted Scenes The first cut of this movie ran at three hours and ten minutes. As Tillman Jr explains, "A lot of scenes were cut that I love." Twelve of these make it onto the DVD, and Tillman provides a commentary for all of them. Most of the material is good, but clearly there was an excess of De Niro over-acting that we could all live without ever seeing. The final scene is an extended ending that was wisely shorn off.

Animatics Tillman sits in for another short commentary as he talks us through this animated storyboard sequence, complete with test CGI effects.

Additional Extra Features A music video, trailer, and two TV spots complete the extra features on this disc.

Region: 2
Chapters: 15
Ratio: 2.35:1 (anamorphic)
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
Extra Features: Scene selection, animated menus, multiple language subtitles, and English captions for the hearing impaired.

This DVD was reviewed on a JVC XV-S57 DVD player.