Days of Freedom - Battle for Mexico - Blu-ray

Content: Mexico in 1861: After many years, the bloody reform war is finally over. The country is in ruins and completely bankrupt, so the president has to stop repaying the foreign debt. In this situation, it is easy for the conservatives who fled to Europe to get the French, Spanish and English to invade Mexico. While the Spanish and English are willing to enter into peace talks with the Mexican government, the French are in the mood for a war of conquest. In 1862, this also seems inevitable. A war would be over quickly, as the Mexican army is hopelessly outnumbered and outgunned by the enemy. Juan, a young soldier, is also sent into battle against his will. After trying to desert with his girlfriend Citali, he had to watch his best friend being killed. Now he wants to fight for freedom and democracy in his memory. It is through men like Juan that the war takes an unexpected turn on 05 May 1862...

Days of Freedom tells of one of the most important chapters in Mexico's history. Director Rafa Lara takes a great deal of time to trace the events leading up to the battle on what is now a national holiday, Cinco de Mayo. He focuses primarily on the political level, but still tries to give it a human face through the story of Juan and Citali. It's true that he follows the usual pattern for the genre of the modern historical film to tell a dramatic love story against the background of a historical event. But this turns out far less striking than in many other representatives of the post-Titanic era.

With strong images and a very authentic-looking set, Lara succeeds very well in drawing the viewer directly into the events and never let the whole thing seem too dry or boring, despite many long dialogues about military tactics. The actual battle is extremely thrillingly staged and excellently filmed. Even if the movie has some small flaws on a dramaturgical level, it really offers great visuals, especially in the battle sequences. And even if interested viewers the outcome of this David-against-Goliath story should of course be known, but especially the last third of the film is staged so exciting that you can not help but as a viewer to fever with Juan and the other Mexican soldiers in their fight for freedom.

days of freedom reinvents the genre of historical war film admittedly not. Nevertheless, the work, which is one of the most expensive productions of Mexican cinema, offers enough power and show values, especially on a visual level, to offer its viewers an exciting and moving history lesson. And for that then there is a clear: worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: The very clean picture of the Blu-ray convinces with a somewhat undercooled, very earthy color scheme and a good overall sharpness. Some detail is swallowed up in darker scenes, but overall the very positive overall impression prevails. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix is able to come into its own, especially during the big battle towards the end of the film. The dialogues sound powerful, thereby very centrally mixed, while sound effects such as explosions, gunshots or rain provide a lot of movement on the surround channels. Good!

Extras: As a bonus, the Blu-ray has a worth seeing Making of (approx. 23:53 min.) to offer, which consists of many shots from the shooting and interviews. There is also a music video (approx. 4:59 min.) and the trailer for the film. Good!

Conclusion:Days of Liberty - Battle and Mexico is a visually stunning war film that recreates in detail the legendary battle of May 05, 1862. Through the plot line around the common soldier Juan and his girlfriend Citali, the story also gets an emotional level, which was implemented very rousing. The Blu-ray presents the film in very good picture and sound quality and also has a making of worth seeing to offer. For friends of rousing war films quite recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp