Wind on DVD

By Jim Bray

Matthew Modine stars in this tale of loss and dedemption set against the America’s Cup yacht racing spectacle.

Director Carrol Ballard, whose “The Black Stallion” was a gorgeous movie for the eyes and ears, helmed this production that succeeds in putting you on board the racing boats as they slip through the waves in search of glory. There’s beauty in many shots, and you really feel a part of the excitement during the racing scenes.

Unfortunately, the beauty hasn’t translated to the DVD which, with a few exceptions, is grainy and with a front centered soundtrack that displays plenty of audio distortion.

It’s a shame, because it’s the beautiful look and sound for which Ballard is known that convinced me to give this disc a try. I loved the Black Stallion for precisely those reasons (and I’ve only seen it on VHS!), and was curious to see how Ballard would turn that creative vision onto the waves.

Well, he does an excellent job; it’s merely that the DVD has fallen down in bringing it to us in our home theaters.

The plot is kind of a fictionalized retelling of the time during the 1980’s when the United States lost the America’s Cup to Australia, the first time in over a century that the cup had left the Land of the Free. It was perceived as a devastating blow to the Yanks, and perhaps it was, and they redoubled their efforts to win back what by that time they undoubtedly thought was rightfully their own.

Modine is Will Parker, a gifted sailor who’s given a leadership role on Morgan Weld’s (Cliff Robertson) team. He’s a flawed hero, naturally, and a mistake on his part during the climactic race off the U.S. East coast costs the team and the nation the title.

Meanwhile, his girlfriend Kate (Jennifer Grey) has split and months later Will shows up in Nevada where she’s working as, it appears, some kind of aeronautical engineer with egotistical designer Joe Heiser (Stellan Skarsgard). Kate and Joe are now an item, but that’s okay because by the time Will has enlisted Joe to design the boat that’ll hopefully bring the Cup back to the States he’s taken up with Abigail Weld (Rebecca Miller), Morgan’s flaky daughter, who helps him finance the effort to design the boat and contest the cup.

It’s actually a fascinating story, the weakest parts being the human relationships. The technical stuff, from the designing of the boat to the spectacular footage of the racing itself, is quite riveting. Ballard gives us shots looking down from on high as the boat(s) pass below, from low as they pass right by, and from various setups on board both boats (the movie only deals with the final races when other teams have been eliminated). It really does make you feel a part of the action and, though I had no particular interest in yacht racing at all, Wind succeeded in hooking me and keeping me involved right through the final race.

Even though the outcome is predictable…

Columbia Tristar has at least presented the movie in anamorphic widescreen (as it usually does), 16x9 TV compatible, in a release they say that (as usual) is digitally mastered in high definition. But what the film really needed as a restoration or refurbishing to get rid of the grain and let Ballard and DOP John Toll’s beautiful shots shine as I had expected them to.

It’s a shame. Now, it isn’t as if Wind is unwatchable, but it could have been so much better. And should have been.

Likewise the audio, as mentioned, exhibits plenty of distortion. And the use of surround is sparing at best, which is a shame. The sounds of the races, with the wind and the ocean around us, make a terrific excuse to surround the viewer and put him even more into the action, but this wasn’t done. This, of course, is undoubtedly a result of the movie’s original mix and not specifically a fault with the DVD, but it’s still a shame.

Extras are limited to a couple of trailers.

Wind, from Columbia Tristar Home Entertainment
126 min. anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1), 16x9 TV compatible, Dolby Digital
Starring Matthew Modine, Jennifer Grey, Stellan Skarsgard, with Cliff Robertson
Produced by Mata Yamamoto and Tom Luddy
Written by Rudy Wurlitzer and Mac Gudgeon, Directed by Carroll Ballard

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