Reviewed by Johnny McNair

Warner Home Entertainment– 113 minutes – 1993 – Rated R – 1080p – 2.35:1 – Dolby TrueHD 2.0 Lossless Audio – DigiBook

When Falling Down hit theaters in 1993, it attempted to send out a message about how society can affect an individual when they are pushed. But back then it didn’t have that much of an impact, because the country wasn’t in turmoil. Now flash forward sixteen years later, with America suffering from a major recession that has put so many people out of work and caused others to lose their homes, and a film like Falling Down has a whole new meaning. If you’ve never seen this film before or maybe just forgot about it, Falling Down is now available on Blu-ray from Warner Home Video, and after watching the news lately you may see some similarities.

MOVIE

Falling Down stars Michael Douglas as William Foster, an unemployed man who is struggling to keep his life together, but everything around him is falling apart. He is referred to as “D-FENS” because he formally worked for the defense department, and it’s the name on his license plate.  D-Fens has the worst day ever that begins with traffic jam that makes him abandon his car and walk the streets of L.A. where he keeps running into one insane situation after another. This causes him to reach the boiling point and snap after dealing with greedy store clerks, street gang members, and an insanely racist Nazi guy. Things get worse when he weapons and decides to take justice into his own hands. On the flip side a detective named Prendergast (Robert Duvall), is riding out his last day on the force before he retires, but the events lead him to cross paths with D-Fens. He begins to fit events of the day together and sees this as one final mission to accomplish before he hangs up his badge.

Directed by Joel Schumacher, Falling Down is actually more complex than people will give it credit for.  Douglass with his crew cut and Dilbert glasses is the model for the so-called average man who is a raging inferno inside, because they can’t deal with the obstacles life is tossing at them. The one main issue with the film is that it avoids being too dark, which defeats the purpose, because it should be a dark film. If the same movie were made in the 70’s, attempts at humor that were tossed in to soften things up would have been eliminated.

Falling Down shines a light on how many people feel about minorities, gays, and the society they live in, but before you can think about it too much, the light is turned off. This subject could easily be revisited today with D-Fens now being the guy at General Motors who just lost his job, or the guy who doesn’t like the idea of the President having a different skin color. It’s dated as a canvas, but the subject matter still sparks interest, which is why the film still remains a cult favorite. It’s worth your attention, flaws and all.

VIDEO

Falling Down comes to Blu-ray with a full 1080p image in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio, and even though it looks better than the old DVD it still has some issues. There seems to be plenty of grain in places, and while some scenes look sharp and crisp there are some soft spots that look blurry. Skin tones are solid and you can see all the lines and beads of sweat on Michael Douglas’ face. Colors are muted purposely to set a dark tone, and this works to pull you into D-Fens’ world. It’s not the best-looking Blu-ray out there, but it is better than the DVD if you’re looking to upgrade.

AUDIO

This is odd, instead of the standard TrueHD 5.1 audio that would be offered on a Blu-ray, Falling Down decided to go with a Dolby TrueHD 2.0 sound mix. For this reason the sounds are relatively flat, which is a big mistake for a film that has so many exterior scenes that would benefit from the extra waves of audio. Dialogue sounds clear, but certain background audio sounds as if its been squeezed through a tube. Your rare speakers won’t get much of a workout on this one,  and you’ll be baffled why Warner decided to go this way.

EXTRAS

The bonus features are a big letdown, because Warner decided to release Falling Down in their ‘DigiBook’ format, so the disc is packaged in a 32-page hardcover booklet. As for supplement material, there’s not much there in the clever packaging.

Director Joel Schumacher and Michael Douglas sit down for an audio commentary track, talking about the journey to get Falling Down onto the big screen. It’s an interesting commentary that is actually worth listening to all the way through.

Deconstructing D-Fens as a ten minute interview with Michael Douglas who talks about what made him interested in doing the movie, as well as how he molded himself to become D-Fens.

The 32-page booklet the that holds the disc offers some still from the film with the characters, as well as a summary of the film and production.

Other than the theatrical trailer, that’s all there is inside this bag of goodies, so if you enjoyed this film you will be very disappointed.

BOTTOM LINE

Falling Down is not your typical adventure or action film; instead it attempts to make you think about society and how it may affect an individual who has reached their boiling point. While the film itself is worthy of viewing, the Blu-ray leaves a lot to be desired with decent image quality, but a limited sound mix and no stand out bonus features. Unless you are a hardcore fan of the film, rent it first.

SCORES: (out of 5):

The Movie: 4.0

Video: 3.0

Sound: 2.5

Extras: 2.5

Bottom Line: 3.0