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Stars:
Michael Sacks, Ron Leibman, and Valerie Perrine
Writer:
Stephen Geller
Based
On The Novel By: Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Director:
George Roy Hill
Feature
length: 104 minutes
Extras:
Trailer
Languages:
English Two-Channel Monaural Sound
Subtitles:
English Captions and French and Spanish Language Subtitles
Packaging:
Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 18
Sound:
Two-Channel Monaural Sound
Year
of Theatrical Release: 1972/DVD Release: 2004
Theatrical
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Home
Video Distributor: Universal Studios Home Video
MPAA
Rating: R
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
Often
science fiction is not looked upon with the same respect as other genres when it
comes to being studied as literature. In the English Department where I earned
my Masters Degree I had only one professor that taught a course on science
fiction literature and I was lucky to get into the class because after that
semester the professor retired. The stigma of science fiction in some literary
circles is that it is nothing more than pulp. So some authors try to evade
having their work classified as science fiction to avoid being pigeonholed into
one genre. Yet some of the brightest minds of the last two centuries were
writers of science or fantastic fiction. Jules Verne, HG Wells, Isaac Asimov,
Ray Bradbury, and Philip K. Dick are just a handful of authors whose work I
consider to be literature and not just pulp. I mean who defines what is
literature and what is not literature anyway? As far as I’m concerned if the
author thinks of his work as literature then even if I disagree with him or her,
I will not go up to them and say “Oh well that story is not really literature.
Heck omitting dictionary definitions that are as cold as a marble flaw in
winter, I can’t define what is or is not literature without feeling like I am
just spewing rhetoric. I follow my heart and if I can’t articulate it into
words than that just might be a good thing because language can’t describe
everything. It has limits too.
Kurt
Vonnegut Jr. is one of those gifted authors whose work transcends any specific
labeling and yet one can find elements of sci-fi, drama, tragedy, romance,
comedy and more in his works so it is okay to read Vonnegut because he is not
some trashy hack, but that other guy whose book is a bestseller, now he is just
an embroiderer. In a perfect world there would be no stigmas, but the reality is
that for better or for worse, everyone judges and I’m guilty of it too because
otherwise I wouldn’t have wrote this DVD review and you would not be reading
it.
So
we come to George Roy Hill’s feature film adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s
“Slaughterhouse Five.” A poignant film that speaks to the heart as well as
the mind as we watch Billy Pilgrim (Michael Sacks), a man forever unstuck in
time travel to various moments in his life from his early childhood to his death
and then back again to the far off planet Tralfamadore, where he lives in a
little zoo like biosphere with his Hollywood starlet girlfriend, their newborn
baby, and his faithful dog. The concept of being unstuck in time has inspired
many sci-fi programs that include the cult TV series “Quantum Leap” as well
as the “Star Trek: The Next Generation” series finale “All Good Things”
and the two-part third season episode of “Babylon 5” entitled “War Without
End.” Ron Leibman gives a great character turn as an insane World War II POW
that blames Pilgrim for the death of his friend and vows to one day avenge that
death. There is a scene where just before the bombing of Dresden, a character
named Howard Campbell, Jr., an American with a bizarre mix of the American flag
and the Nazi swastika, attempts to convert the prisoners into serving the Reich.
He is played here by Richard Schaal, but Nick Nolte portrayed the character in
the acclaimed film “Mother Night” based on the Vonnegut book so like many
authors, there are recurring characters in what may seem like unrelated tales,
yet like anyone else have they still have their own stories to tell.
Originally
licensed to Image Entertainment in a letterboxed edition from the early days of
DVD, Universal Studios Home Video has finally released an anamorphic widescreen
(1.85:1) aspect ratio version of “Slaughterhouse Five” that is a definite
improvement over the previous DVD release. A clear two-channel English Monaural
Soundtrack is included along with optional English Captions for the hearing
impaired and French and Spanish Language Subtitles. Unfortunately there are no
extra value features in this DVD release though the theatrical trailer (4:31) is
included. Considering the special features Universal Studios Home Video had
provided for their own DVD re-releases of “The Andromeda Strain,”
“Fahrenheit 451,” and “Silent Running,” all of which were originally
licensed to Image Entertainment too, the lack of any additional materials beyond
the trailer is a disappointment. However if you admire the film as I do this is
still a better DVD release than the previous version and I think it is well
worth the upgrade or just purchasing it for the first time now if you have been
waiting for this film to arrive on DVD and missed the original Image disc. The
menus are standard interactive still frames that are easy to navigate.
“Slaughterhouse
Five” is available on DVD-Video now at retailers on and offline from Universal
Studios Home Video.
©
Copyright 2004 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
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