THE KINGDOM

Starring:
Jamie Foxx, Chris Cooper, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman, Jeremy Piven, Ashraf Barhom and Danny Huston

Director:
Peter Berg

Running Time:
110 mins

Out to buy on DVD/HD-DVD 28/01/08

"The evidence will be compromised"

When an American compound is devastated by a suicide bomb attack in Saudi Arabia, killing hundreds of men, women and children, FBI crime scene investigator Ronald Fleury (Foxx) insists that his team be sent to help in the investigation, much to the annoyance of the Saudi authorities, who consider this a local matter. As the team arrive in the country, it is clear that protocol and red tape will get in the way but Fleury and his team think the cell are preparing for another attack and the clock is ticking as to when.

Using a movie to make a political statement or comment on the current world climate can be a risky endeavour, especially for Hollywood but can 'The Kingdom' really have a say on the current situation in the Middle East?

American and Western involvement in the Middle East is a political hotbed in the present climate. The presence of US, British and NATO troops, citizens and businesses in the region have divided opinion not just in the countries they are stationed but within the countries they came from. With protests amongst political parties of these nations and the continued hostilities towards the presence of foreign nationals in Islamic countries, Governments, Businesses and leaders of the armed forces seem to be fighting a losing battle in the region. This, of course, has come to the attention of filmmakers and with a cavalcade documentary and drama based movies on the subject heading our way, 'The Kingdom' heads down the action route however.

Mixing the very popular plot devices of crime scene investigation, the FBI and terrorist attacks, 'The Kingdom' tries to insert an intelligent storyline into a collection of action sequences but doesn't quite pull it off. A devastating terrorist attack on an American compound leads the FBI to push for their best team to set to Saudi Arabia to investigate but of course this comes up against resistance from both the Saudi authorities and their own Government who want to stay on good relations with their oil producing allies. Of course when they go there they come up against an uncooperative police force and army, a culture clash and a reluctance for their help in the investigation but as their methods and professionalism come to bare, that a local officer risks his reputation to cooperate with the outsiders. This is absolutely nothing new in the plot department and it opens up too many storylines without enough decent resolutions.

There are quite a few positives to outweigh the frailties of the plot however. The quality of the cast is very good, with standout performances from the always-excellent Jamie Foxx as Ronald Fleury and Ashraf Barhom as the Saudi colonel assigned to the team. Jennifer Garner and Chris Copper are seriously underused however and Jason Bateman seems only to be there for the comic relief. The action sequences are the standout feature of the movie however, with the climatic, explosive finale a realistic edge of your seat thrill ride.

'The Kingdom' tries really hard to be more intelligent than it actually is when it is nothing more than just an action movie commenting on current political situation. The action sequences are superb however and make this more watchable than it could have been but it isn't quite the political hotbed you might have been expecting.

PICTURE & SOUND

Presented in Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1 with a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, the movie is presented well.

BONUS FEATURES

Deleted Scenes (11.07 mins)
Watch deleted or extended scenes from 'The Kingdom' that suffer from the lack of an introduction or commentary to explain why they were not used in the movie.

Character by Character: The Apartment Shootout (13.41 mins)
Watch the adrenaline filled shootout from the prospective of Fleury & Al Ghazi, Janet Mayes, Adam Leavitt and Sykes and Haythan. This feature allows you to watch all of the footage shot for each of the characters.

Constructing the Freeway Sequence (18.19 mins)
Director Peter Berg, special effects coordinator Burt Dalton, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Chris Cooper and Jason Bateman take you behind the scenes of the edge of your freeway sequence that transforms the movie into an action spectacular.

Creating the Kingdom (35.41 mins)
Split into sections entitled 'Obligation to authenticity', 'Fire in the hole', 'Simple ballistic issues', 'Building a Kingdom', 'On location in Abu Dabi', 'King style', 'Foreign relations' and 'Friendships' with contributions from director Peter Berg, producer Michael Mann, writer Matthew Michael Carnahan and stars Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Chris Cooper, Ashraf Barhom and Jason Bateman take you behind the scenes of 'The Kingdom' from the start of the story to the last day of filming.

History of the Kingdom: An interactive timeline
Discover everything you need to know about the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from its creation in 1932 to the present day.

Feature commentary with director Peter Berg
The man at the helm talks passionately about the film and the story the movie is trying to tell. He discussing casting the picture and he reasons for making it, as well as talking about the huge technical aspects of the film. This is a good commentary track from a filmmaker that is really getting into his craft.

OVERALL

The DVD treatment for 'The Kingdom' is good. The commentary track by director Peter Berg is a good listen and the featurettes cover most aspects of the films production. Fans should be very pleased with this DVD.

DVD

Rules of Engagement


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