The Beast [P&S]

"Long before he ran amok in Sherwood Forest with Kevin Costner in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), or got waterlogged with the same Mr. Costner in the post-apocalyptic fantasy film Waterworld (1995), director Kevin Reynolds made this low-key, character-driven war film. Adapted by William Mastrosimone from his play +Nanawati, The Beast focuses on a tank crew of Russian soldiers lost in the Afghanistan desert while being hunted by a small band of Mujahedeen guerrillas who want revenge against the soldiers. Columbia/TriStar's DVD may be light on the extras, but the picture and sound quality are very high indeed. Many of the film's scenes are filmed in the desert during daylight, so the high contrast of the picture mixed with the hot desert colors could have made trouble for the disc. Thankfully, it doesn't. The picture always looks stable and the colors never bloom or undulate. Side A of the disc is the anamorphic, letterboxed version of the film (1.85:1), and Side B is the full-screen version of the film. The letterboxed version is preferable since picture information is lost on the sides of the full-screen version. There was no indication of any picture loss on the top or bottom in the full-screen version. The film has also been digitally mastered in Dolby Surround 2.0. Language options for French, Spanish, and Portuguese are also available, as well as subtitles in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, and Thai. Brief bios of Reynolds and actors Jason Patric, Steven Bauer, and Stephen Baldwin are also included, along with trailers for three other Columbia/TriStar releases."