Companions - Exclusive Amazon Limited Edition - Blu-Ray

Film: Steven Spielberg has always successfully moved between art and commerce and between demand and entertainment. Few other directors know how to stage big emotional moments that would probably degenerate into dripping kitsch with other filmmakers, but with Spielberg are just pure emotion. Just think of the ending of E.T., which is nasty kitsch in itself, but works perfectly because of Spielberg's feeling for such scenes and has become one of the great moments in cinema history. And it's that flair, then, that ensures Spielberg's latest, Companions, still works quite wonderfully despite plenty of kitsch and pathos and a somewhat overstuffed story.

Based on the novel Companions of Fate by Michael Morpurgo and the stage play based on it, Spielberg's film tells the story of the deep friendship between a horse named Joey and a young boy named Albert (Jeremy Irvine). After his father Ted (Peter Mullan) spends all his money on the horse at an auction, the stubborn animal quickly seems to turn out to be an absolute bad buy, leading to repeated arguments between Albert's parents. But the young man believes in the horse and, with a great deal of perseverance and dedication, manages to tame Joey and train him to work in the fields. But then World War I breaks out and Ted, in order to ensure the survival of his family, has to sell Joey to a British cavalry officer. From then on, the horse embarks on an adventurous and dangerous journey, meeting new companions along the way, from British officers to German soldiers to a little French girl. Somewhere between life and death, between opposing lines, the war seems to have separated Joey and Albert for good.

Whoever thinks that Companions is a typical horse movie, more for little girls and merely harmless family entertainment, is sorely mistaken. Steven Spielberg has made a visually stunning epic that not only tells the wonderful story of a friendship, but also captures the horror of World War I in very raw, realistic images. His film is at times sad, at other times amusing, at other times terrifying, at other times just beautiful. It sounds like a pretty crude mix that shouldn't actually work. And that's exactly what would probably be the case if Spielberg hadn't pulled out all the stops of his skills. With great imagery captured by his regular cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, a wonderfully epic and sultry theme by his court composer John Williams, and great set design by production designer Rick Carter, Spielberg has tied all the various elements of the story together so expertly that it's hard not to just drift along with what's going on.

Admitting that this review is not entirely objective, Steven Spielberg has been one of my all-time favorite directors since an early age. Even in his weaker works I've always been able to find something positive, so there really isn't a Spielberg film that I don't like as a whole. However, even if I try to put aside my personal attitude towards the director and concede that companions is not one of his best works, I can't see the weaknesses that are definitely present as serious enough to not consider this film as quite great emotional cinema.

One of those weaknesses is certainly the fact that the almost episodic narrative structure makes it difficult to engage with the human characters. True, all the actors, from newcomer Jeremy Irvine to Sherlock Benedict Cumberbatch to the great German hope David Kross, deliver more than convincing performances. But their characters almost inevitably remain superficial, as they are only brief companions on the journey Joey must face in the turmoil of war. Spielberg does try to take enough time at the beginning to establish the close friendship between Albert and Joey, ensuring the film's big emotional climax. However, after the horse is separated from its owner, so many other plot lines follow that by the end it's hard to still feel the intensity of the bond between Albert and his horse, which is conveyed very believably at the beginning. That's not to say that the ending doesn't work and might not provide a tear or two for viewers who are built close to the water. Still, the way it gets there feels a bit overstuffed and drawn out at times, which probably doesn't help the film's emotional impact.

Long story short, companions is kitsch and pathos the way only Steven Spielberg can direct it: big, moving, and just plain wonderful. If you like his style and are willing to invest a little seat meat, you'll be rewarded with a great film about friendship and loyalty, where horror and beauty are very close, and which isn't ashamed to manipulate its audience's tear ducts without restraint. Absolutely recommended!

Picture + Sound: The film's gorgeous images come through very well on the Blu-ray. The picture is clean, the detail is very good and the color scheme is coherent. Even in dark scenes, the image sharpness is still completely convincing. In addition, the picture depth and the matching of the contrasts are also convincing. The sound is also on a similarly high level. Dialogues, music and ambient sounds are very well coordinated. The numerous sound effects during the fight sequences also provide some decent surround moments. Very good!

Extras: The DVD and regular Blu-ray of the film each have rather meager extras to offer. While DVD buyers have to be fobbed off with a featurette about the set design, the Blu-Ray only offers a 20-minute conversation between Spielberg and some of the cast, framed with quite a few film clips (approx. 20 min.), as well as a featurette about the extras' work on the film (approx. 3 min.). The whole thing is quite superficial and offers hardly any deep insights into the shooting. If you want to have exactly that offered, you have to reach for the Limited Edition, which is distributed exclusively via Amazon.

This set also offers a second Blu-ray with over 80 minutes of additional extras. The centerpiece is the very good 64-minute Making of How an Epic is Made, which goes into detail about various aspects of the filming through interviews and behind-the-scenes footage. This documentary is joined by shorter featurettes on editing & film music (approx. 9 mins), sound design (approx. 7 mins) and on producer Kathleen Kennedy and the photos she took on set (approx. 4 mins). Good.

Conclusion: Companions may not be among Steven Spielberg's best work; at times, the drama is simply too long-windedly staged for that. Nevertheless, the whole thing is, on balance, great emotional cinema that tells its beautiful story in great pictures. These come on the Blu-Ray thanks to the good technical implementation of the film then also excellent to the validity. Only the bonus material weakens the normal purchase version. Here it is worthwhile to get the Limited Edition, which is however only distributed via amazon.de. So if you value good extras, you have to invest significantly more in the film

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp