Sand Pebbles / Movie

"The Sand Pebbles was arguably Robert Wise's greatest movie, and it featured the best performance of Steve McQueen's entire career, in the best script he ever had to work with (which earned him his only Oscar nomination). In contrast to Wise's other movies -- most of which have yet to show up on DVD -- it's also gotten deluxe, almost exalted treatment in the digital format. The picture quality of this disc puts Fox's fine early-'90s laserdisc (which was twice as expensive) to shame. The colors are deep and rich, the detail excruciatingly fine, and even the night scenes (which look like real night scenes) offer a wealth of detail. The soundtrack (in stereo) is rich and robust as well, and very finely balanced between the intimate and the expansive scenes. The disc also contains a pair of radio documentaries and three radio spots promoting the movie, as well as the theatrical trailer. But the most alluring bonus is the commentary track, which features Robert Wise, Candice Bergen, Mako, and, for reasons not entirely clear, an uncredited Richard Crenna, who accounts for almost as much of the commentary as the director. Alas, one wishes that Wise could have recorded his commentary a decade ago, because he sounds like he is on his last legs -- his memory isn't what it ought to be, and his talk is littered with admissions of his failure to recall the information to which he is alluding. There is some good and interesting material in his talk, but overall his portion of the commentary is an opportunity missed by bad timing; the others prove far more edifying in their recollections. All of these supplements are accessible on a menu that opens up automatically on start-up, with the bonus materials on their own menu frame. The movie, which contains the original overture and intermission music, has been given 36 chapters, which are perfect in their selection and names."