Directed by Kevin Macdonald
USA 2006

 

  If ever there was a film that lives and dies with its lead actor, it’s this one. Forest Whitaker gives a terrific, ambiguous performance as Idi Amin, the army commander in post-colonial Uganda who seized power from President Milton Obote in a military coup in 1971 and who spent the next eight years amusing the world with his bullish and bizarre rhetoric, from awarding himself a CBE to claiming kingship rights to Scotland. But with Amin’s headline-grabbing, near-comic banter came a rule of terror, expulsion and murder that was peculiarly coloured by the many years Amin served in the British imperial army. The complexity is there for a dramatist to mine, and unsurprisingly there have been other films about Amin, including two quick-to-screen TV movies, ‘Raid on Entebbe’ and ‘Victory at Entebbe’ (both 1976) that reacted to the Israeli commando attack on Kampala’s airport in 1976, and the fascinating 1974 documentary by Barbet Schroeder, ‘Général Idi Amin Dada: Autoportrait’, which instigated the taking of French hostages in Kampala until Schroeder made cuts demanded by Amin.

Excerpt from TimeOut Film Guide located HERE

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Theatrical Release: September 1sr, 2006

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DVD Review: 20th Century Fox - Region 1 - NTSC

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Distribution 20th Century Fox Home Video - Region 1 - NTSC
Runtime 2:02:52 
Video 2.35:1 Aspect Ratio
Average Bitrate: 5.63 mb/s
NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.

Bitrate:

Audio English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
Subtitles English, Spanish, None
Features

Release Information:
Studio: 20th Century Fox Home Video

Aspect Ratio:
Original Aspect Ratio 2.35:1

Edition Details:

• Commentary by director Kevin Macdonald
• Deleted scenes with optional commentary by Kevin Macdonald
• Documentary: Capturing Idi Amin
• Forest Whitaker Featurette
• Fox Movie Channel Presents: Casting Session- The Last King of Scotland
• Theatrical Trailer
• International Trailer

DVD Release Date: April 17th, 2007

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Chapters: 28

 

 

Comments:

I didn't see the film theatrically so it is hard for me to make some concrete statements about the appearance. Digitally it looks as good (possibly a notch below) what you could expect from a modern film-to-DVD. My only reservations are some blown out contrast in some scenes (usually outdoors) that may, or may not, have been a function of the production. It gives the DVD the impression of edge enhancement but going by Fox's usual stellar past track record I would be more inclined to dismiss manipulation as an probable cause. Other than that - detail is acceptable and black levels look quite strong.  It is, of course, very clean and the anamorphic and progressive image is tight to the frame edges. The 5.1 audio nicely defined the many background noises (crowds etc.) prevalent in the film.

In a complete audio commentary Kevin MacDonald fulfills the role very well describing details that only the director might be fully cognoscent of as well as his appreciation and respect for the cast. There are seven deleted scenes which include optional commentary by MacDonald. There is a featurette - Capturing Idi Amin – a kind of mini documentary on Idi Amin, - it is very worthwhile - quite fascinating giving some pro and con about the Ugandan leader with some archival footage. Forest Whitaker on “Idi Amin” – has the actor giving his intelligent perceptions of the film and his preparation for the portrayal. After that we have a Casting Session - amounting to a press conference with some rather superfluous interviews and finally a theatrical trailer. Quite complete supplements and supporting the film very nicely.

I'm a big fan Forest Whitaker and I thought he was worth the purchase price alone. Fox should be given credit as they put some real attention into this DVD and I can't see any reason not to give it a strong recommendation! 

Gary W. Tooze

 

 



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DVD Box Cover

   

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Distribution 20th Century Fox Home Video - Region 1 - NTSC




 

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