Stop-Loss

DVD Review
Paramount Home Video
MTV Films

Paramount Home Entertainment has released the MTV Films project called Stop-Loss, a film which seems to realistically showcase what it is like returning home from Iraq, and facing problems when you arrive.

An MTV Films project typically should come with a warning label considering films that have been released in the past. This is not as much the case here though, as the movie begins with a huge action scene in Iraq. It goes from Iraq warfare to back in Brazos County, Texas, where soldiers are receiving heroes’ welcomes.

This is when things get interesting, as the return home from war leads three vets into quite a bit of drama and trouble, from domestic abuse, alcohol, etc.

You focus on three vets here, including staff sergeant Brandon King (Ryan Phillippe), sergeant Steve Shriver (Channing Tatum), and private Tommy Burgess (Joseph Gordon-Levitt).

What happens is Brandon finds out he has to return to Iraq per the stop-loss policy of the military. Brandon refuses to go back, without any real reason. From here, a struggle ensues between him and his fellow vets.

Stop-Loss is not a perfect movie, but the it is watchable and definitely has that MTV Films style to it, appealing to the teenage crowd. Personally, I enjoyed Stop-Loss for what it was, as there are some solid young actors here who manage to tell a pretty respectable story.

The video quality for the DVD release is actually pretty well done, being presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen. The picture is extremely sharp and clean throughout, with some nice vibrant colors from start to finish.

The same can be said about the audio, which was presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and manages to showcase some great explosions with good spatial surround usage. There are also some nice instances where ambiance is used to create a nice atmosphere in spots.

In terms of special features, the biggest extra is the feature audio commentary by director/producer/co-writer Kimberly Peirce. She does a great job throughout the entire commentary of really laying out the story, visuals, and what she wanted to accomplish throughout. Co-writer Mark Richard also adds his two cents into the mix.

There are also some featurettes, starting with the standard Making of Stop-Loss, which reveals a great deal of set footage as well as to how it was all put together.

A cool featurette is called a Day In Boot Camp, which documents the actors’ preparation in a boot camp, where they simulated military training, meals, guns, etc.

The nicest aspect of the extras come in the form if 11 deleted scenes, which all come with option commentary from Peirce.

The deleted scenes are very unique and are actually great to watch-through as they help fill in the blanks of a lot of the story plots.

Stop-Loss does its job to appeal to the teen crowd out there, as it is a drama which is based around the modern-day Iraq war. For those fans of MTV-style entertainment, you will likely find enjoyment in this as a rental.

Overall, it can be said that Paramount did more than their fair share to give this a great DVD release!

Film: 6.0 The characters and story are respectable, a decent film but nothing memorable.

Video: 8.5 Great video quality, very bright and sharp throughout.

Audio: 8.5 Clear and crisp audio from start to finish with special effects, explosions, dialogue, etc.

Special Features: 8.5 Paramount did a great job of giving this film plenty of extras, a few nice featurettes and tons of deleted scenes!

Final Score: 7.8