I was flying economy class on a ten-hour flight when "The Terminal" was shown, and what a welcome diversion it turned out to be. Now DreamWorks has released this comedy on DVD, and when I watched it at home, I enjoyed it even more.
"The Terminal" is dominated by Tom Hanks' screen presence, and I found this likable actor to be at his most charismatic. But Hanks is well-supported by Catherine Zeta-Jones as his love interest and by Stanley Tucci as the comic villain.
I was impressed by the movie's behind-the-camera talent as well. Steven Spielberg directed in a Capraesque fashion, and Janusz Kaminski's cinematography is delightful. Alex McDowell's huge set is convincing, and I liked the lively music by John Williams.
The main character in "The Terminal" is Viktor Navorski (Hanks), a citizen of the fictional tiny Eastern European nation of Krakozhia. We never learn much about Viktor’s homeland, except that some Slavic language is spoken there, and a TV newscaster claims the country is trying to transition from Communist rule.
The movie is set almost entirely inside New York's JFK airport, where Viktor lives for months due to bureaucratic snafus. I think one of the most interesting things about the movie is that we see everything there from Viktor's point of view. I found the airport's commercialism ugly, but at the same time, I became immersed in a Spielberg world filled with possibilities.
The adaptable, self-reliant Viktor finds ways to get food and money, and he gradually makes himself part of the airport community. He befriends a Latino food-service worker (Diego Luna), an African-American baggage handler (Chi McBride), and a janitor (Kumar Pallana) who hails originally from India. Meanwhile, Viktor courts a flight attendant (Zeta-Jones), and he does some matchmaking for the food-service worker with a customs employee (Zoë Saldana).
But Viktor's presence at JFK is a continual source of irritation for Frank Dixon (Tucci), the airport's Director of Customs and Border Protection, who comes up with one scheme after another to rid himself of the Krakozhian. I found this part of the movie fun because Viktor possesses a certain purity of heart, a quality that tends to baffle bureaucrats.
As much as I enjoyed "The Terminal," I must say the product placement got on my nerves. The movie relentlessly plugs a burger chain, a coffee chain, a bookstore chain, and a variety of other branded products that have come to dominate the American landscape. But I must admit that this represents in some ways a legitimate reflection of one of the alienating features of real-life airport terminals.
I suppose I should warn you that I think "The Terminal" requires more suspension of disbelief than some viewers are going to be willing to give it. Also, the movie drags a bit towards the end, and Spielberg lays on the sentimentality a little too heavily for me. But I like the way the film pays tribute to the power of jazz, and when Benny Golson starts playing "Killer Joe" on his tenor sax, I wanted to hear more.
DreamWorks Home Entertainment has released three DVD versions of "The Terminal." The one I watched was the single-disc widescreen version, which provides no bonus materials at all. Below I've listed all the special features of that DVD version of "The Terminal."
There's also a single-disc full-screen version, which is the same as the widescreen version I watched except for the aspect ratio. Finally, there’s a 2-Disc Collector's Set, where the first disc is identical to the widescreen version I watched and the second disc contains bonus materials.
DVD Details:
- Release Date: November 23, 2004
- MPAA Rating: PG-13 for Brief Language and Drug References
- Run Time: 2 hr. 8 min.
- Widescreen (1.85:1), Color
- English DTS 5.1 Digital Surround Sound
- English 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround
- English 2.0 Dolby Digital Surround
- French 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround
- English Subtitles
- French Subtitles
- Spanish Subtitles
