Nic Cage signs up for more war action John Woo-style in "Windtalkers", which slips onto a fairly low-key DVD.

TECHNICAL FEATURES

Picture Every explosive moment is relayed in graphic detail thanks to a quality picture transfer.

Sound The 5.1 mix is something special. The battle scenes are reminiscent of the sound on "Saving Private Ryan", with bullets ripping between the front and rear speakers.

SPECIAL FEATURES

Audio Commentary One Nicolas Cage and Christian Slater form the star-studded line-up for this mildly interesting commentary. Nic apparently is not a fan of commentaries but agreed to do it for John Woo. Slater decides he feels the same, and indeed throughout the track is at pains to agree with everything Nic says.

There's not that much to learn here, except they both seemed to enjoy the shoot, Nic doesn't like CGI but does like the Michael Douglas thriller "Black Rain"... and Slater agrees.

Audio Commentary Two Actor Roger Willie and Navajo codetalker Albert Smith make up this quietly spoken commentary track. They enjoy a laid-back chat, but it's a little too slow paced. You'll learn a fair bit about Navajo traditions, though.

"Windtalkers" Bravo Special This 11-minute TV special is inoffensive in that it's not too cheesy in presentation and features a fair amount of behind-the-scenes footage. What's lacking is comment of any real substance, especially from Slater, who hardly impresses by earnestly telling us he completed an obstacle course when training for the movie.

Actor's Boot Camp It might be longer, but this 15-minute actor's boot camp isn't half as entertaining as the Alec Baldwin boot camp featurette you'll find on the "Pearl Harbor" Ultimate Edition DVD.

Our hardy actors are told, or rather shouted at, that "intensity is the key" to their training and performance. Slater is on hand to once again tell us about the obstacle course.

Fly on the Set Diaries Four short featurettes take us behind the scenes of the planning and execution of some of the main battle sequences. While the film didn't set the box office on fire, there's no denying the action is well shot, and it looks fantastic, even when shot on video.

Behind the Scenes Photo Gallery This little baby is fully automatic, so sit back and watch Slater on that obstacle course.

TECHNICAL INFORMATION
Region: 2
Chapters: 32
Ratio: 2.35:1 (anamorphic)
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
Audio Tracks: Multiple languages
Subtitles: Multiple languages
Captions: English
Menus: Animated, with war-based mayhem
Special Features Subtitles: All of the special features come with subtitles including the commentary tracks.

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