not so wide screen; engineering responses

Rating: 7/10 (14 December 2006)

The movie is okay, though it does play fast and loose with the facts in the name of "drama"; since Stone was just the hired hand on this one, I guess he wasn't motivated enough to worry about the accuracy of the script.
But the DVD is a bit of a let-down. Originally shot in 1.85:1 ratio, the DVD (commemorative edition, so-called) actually projects at about 1.66:1. Some of this is undoubtedly an overscan problem, but by no means all. What it means is that, on each shot, we are missing information on the sides, that is, it's been reformatted to look optimal on an HD monitor, without much regard for the actual aspect ratio. Too bad.
Oh yeah, there's also a little too much in the movie with the guys in the hole saying goodbye to their lives. I would have preferred more on the actual rescue itself, since in McLoughlin's case, it took something like 8-10 hours to actually get him out. Once again, however, and in spite of the huge audiences that TV shows about engineering get, the Hollywood producers have decided to dumb down the process, so that the average 11-year old will "get it." Almost as bad as "CSI: Miami" in respect of depiction of technical processes, but not quite.