The Express – Blu-ray Disc Review
January 22, 2009 – 5:34 AM --- by: Brendan SurplessTags: BD-Live, Charles Leavitt, Charles S. Dutton, Darrin Dewitt Henson, Dennis Quaid, Gary Fleder, John Davis, Nelsan Ellis, Omar Benson Miller, Rob Brown, Universal
has an average rating of 6.7 on IMDb
1080p in VC-1 on a 50gb disc
DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio
are mostly in HD with an exclusive
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– 2008
– 130 minutes
– Universal
– 
This uses 33.7GB for the movie out of 40.5GB total.
Overall Verdict – Recommended
Buy it for $27.99 @ Amazon.com
— Review by: Brendan Surpless —
The Film is directed by Gary Fleder (known for “Runaway Jury“). Based on the true story of Ernie Davis (portrayed here by Rob Brown), “The Express” tells of a time when Davis fought obstacle after obstacle. Having been drafted by the NFL at an early age, Davis was set to take the field when he was struck down by leukemia. Even though he never thought it possible, Davis would go on to not only become a legendary running back for the Syracuse Orangemen, the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy, but also a symbol for the civil rights movement during the struggling 1960s.
As inspirational sports films go, “The Express” felt ordinary throughout never really doing much to change how this formula works. We have the underdog, in this case Ernie Davis, who is trying to prove himself and rise above whatever is holding him back, in this case discrimination, in hopes of showing everyone that he is more than just a ‘negro’. But for some reason all these films are always undeniable worth your invested time. Perhaps it’s because of how each and every person feels like an underdog in their own society trying to prove to that bigger person that they are truly something different, something that can make them succeed. But I feel in the case of “The Express” what make this film work is the great acting.
What really makes this film rise above the standard sports drama film is the acting, particularly by the two leads. Rob Brown (probably best known for “Finding Forrester“, a film that he was excellent in) gives another great performance. Channeling perhaps his character from his first role via 2000’s “Finding Forrester“, Brown has many fine sequences. In particular I found the scenes where both Ernie and Ben were on screen acting to be some of the best the movie had to offer. I’ve always found Brown to be quite the exceptional actor, it’s a sure shame that his doesn’t receive more acting roles as he could possibly become the next great actor.
Dennis Quaid, quite possibly, has given his finest performance to date. As head coach Ben, Quaid easily excels here giving us that role that shows his determination not only to win and be the best coach out there but also the struggle that Ben went through trying to overcome his inner demons. There are numerous scenes where he feels he must adhere to the view of African-Americans had to some during this time period. He wants to stand up but doesn’t want to be looked at differently. Battling these emotions and thoughts, Quaid delivers quite the performance that is inspirational enough making us want to follow and see his character become something better.
Video Quality on this release is in full 1080p using the VC-1 codec on a BD-50 (50 gigabyte Blu-ray Disc). The film’s color palette has a somewhat vibrant look and feel to it. Using mostly brighter, stylized colors that give each character a glow, the brighter sequences hold up well with no bleeding colors or smeared colors. The darker sequences hold a bit less detail with film grain taking away some of the detail. Please don’t think I’m saying that the grain is bad I’m just more mentioning that the grain does lose a bit of the detail. Speaking of grain, comparing this to his other big picture in 2003’s “Runaway Jury“, director Fleder typically shoots in lower lit sequences when in doors not really brightening anything up. Perhaps this is done to give more focus on the characters stylistic wise in hopes of seeing what they’re going through.
With that said “The Express” has a fine transfer that fans will be pleased with. This earns a solid “4 Star Rating.”
Audio Quality on this release is presented in DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio Surround. Dialogue is kept in check with no instance of drop out or muddled dialogue. While the film does tend to focus on a more frontal mix, there actually is a bit of surround activity outside of the normal hits on the football field. The film’s score opens up the surrounds presenting us with a nice mix of effects and music. Dynamic Range had a solid feel to it giving us a sense of atmosphere of actually being there. LFE is deep and punchy throughout, mostly courtesy of the film’s score by Mark Isham. The varying musical selections from the 50s and 60s mix well with the score really throwing us into the time period. The provided DTS-HD track isn’t going to be the first disc you grab for a demo scene but rather one that simply presents an all-around great aural experience. This earns an exceptional “4.5 Star Rating.”
Bonus Materials are presented in High Definition and Standard Definition video with Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround Sound.
- BD-Live: My Scenes Sharing allows the viewer to share their favorite scenes with their friends. Also included is access to Universal’s own BD-Live network. This requires the user to be on a “Profile 2.0” capable Blu-ray Disc Player.
- Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary by director Gary Fleder: Here we get a total of three different scenes that total 7min37sec.
- The Making of The Express: Here in 13min58sec director Fleder and other cast and crew members speak on bringing the film to the big screen.
- Making History: The Story of Ernie Davis: Here in 13min18sec we get to see what Davis’s life on and off the field was like spoken of by a few different folks including hall of fame legend Jim Brown.
- Inside the Playbook: Shooting the Football Games: Here three different plays are looked at through different angles showing production from start to finish.
- From Hollywood to Syracuse: The Legacy of Ernie Davis: This runs 5min19sec and goes over what the cast and crew thought of shooting in and around Syracuse.
- Audio Commentary by director Gary Fleder
- 50th Anniversary of the 1959 Syracuse National Championship: Is an exclusive to the Blu-ray Disc release. It utilizes rare archival footage and interviews with players, coaches and fans. It’s purpose is to show the viewer really how Ernie Davis and his football team from Syracuse University won the National Championship in 1959. College football fans will get a real kick out of this, no pun intended.
Blu-ray Disc packaging:
Screenshots:
NOTE: The full-sized 1920×1080 files are in a .PNG file format and uncompressed. Bare with the slow loading times, keep in mind these files are at least 1MB (1 megabyte) in size each.
