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The Dominator reviews

Far and Away

Distributed by
Pioneer LDCE

Cat.no: PLFEC 35571
Cert: 15
Running time: 134 minutes
Sides: 3 (CLV/CLV/CAV)
Year: 1992
Pressing: UK, 1997
Chapters: 31 (17/10/3+1)
Sound: Dolby Surround
Widescreen: 2.35:1 (Panavision)
Price: £29.99
Extras: Trailers for Apollo 13, Backdraft, The Paper.

Director:

Apollo 13, Backdraft, The Paper, Ransom

Producers:

Brian Grazer and Ron Howard

Screenplay:

Music:

John Williams

Cast:

Joseph Donelly: Tom Cruise

Top Gun, Days of Thunder, Jerry Maguire

Shannon: Nicole Kidman

To Die For, Batman Forever, Days of Thunder

Stephen: Thomas Gibson

Love and Human Remains, Sleep with Me

Christie: Robert Prosky

Last Action Hero, Miracle on 34th Street

Kelly: Colm Meaney

The Commitments, Star Trek: The Next Generation (TV)

Colm: Steven O'Donnell

Far and Away was the second film that now husband-and-wife team, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman made together following 1990's Days of Thunder, and was directed by Ron Howard: ex-Happy Days star, and director of several films including the recent Mel Gibson starrer, Ransom.

The film opens in the West Coast of Ireland, 1892, where the poor tenant farmers are seeking to take matters into their own hands as the landlords put up their land rent again. Cruise is Joseph Donelly, one of these farmers, whose father dies, and incensed with rage after the landlord's men set fire to his house while the funeral takes place, he sets off with the intention to kill the landlord, but instead finds himself taking a shine to the landlord's daughter, Shannon, played by Nicole Kidman, and accompanying her to America in a quest for a piece of land to which every American inhabitant is entitled to.

Once in Boston, and posing as brother and sister, Joseph seeks accommodation while turning out to be a natural at bare-fisted boxing, but after constant arguing, they are thrown out. Just as they realise they are made for each other, events beyond their control tear them apart. Later on, while working on the railroad, Joseph remembers his goal to own a piece of land, and in the midst of planning his strategy he comes across Shannon, back with her former fiancee...

When the Oklahoma land rush begins, will they find a way to get back together and join the search for the land which brought them together in the first place?

Tom Cruise gives a fine performance as always, as the Irish farmer, putting on a very strong accent, while Nicole Kidman does marginally better than she does in most films she's appeared in as the love interest, swapping her own Australian tongue for the Irish.

It's interesting to note that part way through side one, when Kidman checks underneath the bowl covering Cruise's modesty, her look of surprise as she lifts it is a genuine one, as in reality she thought he'd have pants on underneath....but he didn't.

It's also interesting, if not bizarre that this film was one of the very few to be released on widescreen video to rent, but not to buy. Considering that it's very rare for a rental shop to order a widescreen copy when available, it's unsurprising that I never came across it, and the price of this laserdisc is almost three times cheaper than that tape would have cost...

Picture quality is very good indeed, the 2.35:1 Panavision frame essential for all of Howard's panoramic compositions, and the surround sound being mainly used for ambience and spot effects. Also, it is well chaptered, with 30 spread over the film's three sides, although for some unexplained reason chapter 27 is split over sides two and three. The last chapter contains stereo trailers for three Ron Howard films available on PAL Laserdisc from Pioneer, Apollo 13, Backdraft and The Paper.

A final note is that side three is mastered in CAV enabling you to witness the Oklahoma land rush with frame by frame analysis.

Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 1997.

Check out Pioneer's Web site.

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