Syriana DVD Review (George Clooney) Empire Movies

SYRIANA DVD REVIEW

Syriana
(Warner Home Video)

The Movie

The Extras

Reviewed by

7.5/10

6/10

Liam

I like to think that I'm pretty up-to-date with current events. Even if I'm not, I'd still like to think that I'm more up-to-date than your average person. I read the headlines. I watch the news. But if watching Syriana tought me anything, it's that I'm an idiot.

Syriana is an ensemble political thriller dealing with the global politics of oil. The movie follows 3 different plotlines involving George Clooney, Matt Damon and Jeffrey Rush. From what I gather (keep in mind that for some reason I could not wrap my brain around this movie) Clooney stars as a spy who is involved in a plot to assassinate an Arab Prince who stands to inherit his father's kingdom. From there, the prince (soon to be Emir) plans to build a society independent of America. It's a noble plan but because it conflicts with US interests in the Middle East, he needs to be assassinated. Matt Damon stars as a consultant of Prince who sees the bigger picture and supports the plan (despite the fact that his own son died at a resort owned by the Prince's family). Jeffrey Rush stars as an investigator (I think?!) who is looking into the merger of two giant oil companies with interests in the region in question in the Clooney/Damon plot lines. The movie also stars the likes of Chris Cooper, Christopher Plummer, William Hurt, Tim Blake Nelson and Amanda Peet.

Like I said, I didn't really get this movie. I wanted to. I really wanted to. Maybe I was tired. Maybe I was coming off a pretty rough week. But I couldn't get into this movie. However, this isn't to say that the movie is a write-off. I WILL watch this movie again. I WILL understand it better next time. This movie deserves it.

Special features on this DVD begin with a 9-minute "Conversation with George Clooney" where he talks about making the movie, the challenges of the movie and about former CIA agent Robert Baer who wrote the book upon which the movie is based. Next, "Make a Change, Make a Difference" is an 11-minute feature where the stars and filmmakers talk about some of the issues dealt with in this movie the importance of making this movie. This is followed by 3 deleted scenes (without commentary) and the film's theatrical trailer.

I can easily see this movie being something you'd have to watch more than once (maybe even more than twice) to completely understand. It's a complex movie. But we live in a complex world. And if watching this movie more than a few times will help anyone understand the world even just a little better, isn't that a price worth paying?

Features
Additional Scenes
A Conversation with George Clooney
Make a Change, Make a Difference
Theatrical Trailer

Video
Widescreen Version

Audio
English Dolby Surround 5.1
French Dolby Surround 5.1

Subtitles
English
French
Spanish
Closed-Captioned

Release Date
June 20, 2006

Rating
R

Length
128 mins.

Email Liam About This Review:

Your Name:

Your Email Address:

The information entered on this page will not be used to send unsolicited email
and will not be sold to a third party. Please refer to our Privacy Policy.