4K ULTRA HD REVIEW / HDR SCREENSHOTS
Samuel L. Jackson plays U.S. Marine Colonel Terry Childers, who leads a rescue mission to the U.S. Embassy in Yemen, that’s under attack from a violent crowd.
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“RULES OF ENGAGEMENT”
4K Ultra HD & Blu-ray; 2000; R for violence and profanity
Best extra: Commentary with director William Friedkin
DIRECTOR WILLAM FRIEDKIN helmed two of the best films of the 1970s: “The French Connection” (1971) winning an Academy Award for Best Picture, and possibly the scariest film of all time, “The Exorcist” (1973). However, at the time, he considered the morality tale of “Rules of Engagement” his most important film.
Straightforward and tough, Friedkin was nicknamed ‘Hurricane Billy,’ although he still attracted heavyweight actors. Here, Tommy Lee Jones (“The Fugitive,” “No Country for Old Men”), plays an ex-Marine lawyer Colonel Hayes Hodges, who is recruited to defend his Vietnam War buddy Colonel Terry Childers, played by Samuel L. Jackson (“Pulp Fiction,” “Captain Marvel”). Childers, a “blood and guts” 30-year Marine veteran is chosen to lead a rescue mission to the U.S. Embassy in Yemen, but it quickly turns into a bloodbath, and he now faces court-martial.
“Rules of Engagement” is a kind of ‘Rocky’ for the courtroom. It raises important questions, but doesn’t quite hold up to other military courtroom favorites “A Few Good Men” (1992) starring Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson, and “The Caine Mutiny” (1954), that received seven Oscar nominations including Best Actor for Humphrey Bogart as the erratic Lieutenant Commander Philip Francis Queeg.
Vietnam - 1968
(1-3) Marines Lt. Hayes Hodges (Tommy Lee Jones) and Lt. Terry Childers (Samuel L. Jackson) and their squads are ambushed by the North Vietnamese. Lt. Childers threatens to kill a prisoner to stop a mortar attack on Lt. Hodges and his men. (4&5) Hodges is wounded and returns to the U.S. where he gets a law degree and becomes a military lawyer. 28 years later, Col. Hodges retires and Col. Childers gives him the Officer Marine Sword at his retirement party.
EXTRAS
The 4K disc and Blu-ray features an insightful 2000 commentary with Friedkin, who details the production forced to shoot in Morocco – home base for dozens of American films with Middle Eastern storylines – because Yemen harbors terrorist groups, especially after the attack on the U.S. Navy destroyer U.S.S. Cole, which killed 17 U.S. sailors. Remember, the fictional story was released a year before 9/11. He also mentions how he surrounded his stars with real Marines and ex-Viet Cong during the Vietnam sequence filmed in South Carolina. Similarly, Friedkin used real cops as secondary characters in “The French Connection” and Catholic Priests in “The Exorcist.”
The Blu-ray includes a 13-minute carryover featurette “A Look Inside” in which Friedkin details how producer Scott Rubin (“No Country for Old Men,” “The Truman Show”) courted Universal Studios for a decade with the project. Eventually, the studio backed out and Rubin attached himself with Friedkin and producer Richard D. Zanuck (“Jaws,” “Deep Impact”). The trio met with “Rules of Engagement” author James Webb, a Vietnam Marine veteran, who was awarded the Navy Cross and two Purple Hearts. Webb also served as a U.S. Senator from Virginia; he was the first Naval Academy graduate to serve in the military and was appointed Secretary of the Navy.
Friedkin pushed Webb’s original script from a mythical Central American country to Yemen, and the “Two Marine officers who hated each other to have mutual respect and friendship,” Friedkin wrote in a U.S. Naval Institute article.
The disc also includes a 23-minute behind-the-scenes featurette with interviews from the director, lead actors Jones and Jackson, and co-stars Ben Kingsley and Anne Archer, who play the U.S. Ambassador and his wife.
Yemen Rescue Mission
(1&2) Col. Childers and his men are ordered to a Navy amphibious assault ship in the Red Sea. USS Tarawa subs for the USS Wake Island, and was filmed off the Southern California coast. The Marines rush to waiting helicopters and head toward the U.S. Embassy to rescue the ambassador, his family, and staff. (3-5) U.S. Ambassador Mourain (Ben Kingsley) watches as the crowd gets more violent. (6&7) The helicopters arrive and Col. Childers escorts the family outside the embassy compound. (8&9) Ambassador Mourain yells, “We can’t wait here,” but Col. Childers rushes off to retrieve the embassy U.S. Flag.
“And, that’s the question of the film, is Col. Childers’ act an act of extreme heroism and courage, or an act of murder?” – Director William Friedkin
VIDEO
This topnotch KL Studio Classics 4K/Blu-ray combo is the first physical disc release of “Rules of Engagement” in the U.S. since 2000, with its original DVD release. Paramount scanned the original 35mm camera negative (2.35:1 aspect ratio) filmed with anamorphic Panavision lens and mastered the digital files in TRUE 4K. The clarity from close-ups to Friedkin’s documentary-style wide shots captured by cinematographers William A. Fraker and Nicola Pecorini is super crisp. The film grain is consistent and natural throughout.
The HDR10 and Dolby Vision grading is excellent with rich color saturation. Black levels are superb while holding detail in the shadows and keeping overblown highlights at bay. The peak HDR10 brightness hits 717 nits and averages 102 nits. Everything was encoded onto a 100 GB disc, with video bitrates from 25 Megabits per second to over 80 Mbps.
The visual results make this one of the best-looking 4K discs of the year.
(1) Several Marines are killed and wounded. (2&3) Col. Childers believes he has the right to order his men to open fire into the crowd. It’s a massacre, with 83 killed and over 100 wounded. (4&5) General Perry (Dale Dye) meets with National Security Adviser Bill Sokal (Bruce Greenwood). U.S. intelligence suggests the attack was a terrorist operation, but Sokal wants Col. Childers to be court-martialed with hopes to salvage the U.S. relations in the Middle East. (6&7) Childers wants Hodges to defend him, while his emotions are taking a toll. (8&9) Hodges returns to Yemen to interview survivors and Dr. Ahmar (Amidou).
AUDIO
As expected, no Dolby Atmos upgrade from Kino, but it carries over the powerful six-channel DTS-HD soundtrack with a powerful bass response during explosions. The enveloping soundstage during the embassy attack is intense.
“Rules of Engagement” received so-so reviews from critics during its theatrical run, while the box office response broke even against its $60 million budget. Still, this military thriller has been on my shelf for nearly 25 years, and the 4K and Blu-ray upgrade is a welcome addition.
— Bill Kelley III, High-Def Watch producer
The Court-martial Trial
(1) Retired Col. Hodges provides his opening remarks to defend Col. Childers. (2) Major Mark Briggs (Guy Pearce) is the lead military prosecutor. (3&4) Ambassador Mourain and Captain Lee (Blair Underwood) testify. (5&6) Hodges presses Bill Sokal with the whereabouts of the videotape that recorded the crowd from a high-security camera. The footage could vindicate the actions of Col. Childers who salutes the American flag outside the courthouse.