![[box cover]](../../reviewimgs/m/mission_se.jpg)
The Mission: Special Edition
Jeremy Irons and Robert De Niro star in The Mission (1986) as 18th Century Jesuit priests caught between the political power struggles of the Spanish and Portuguese monarchies, the survival of their order, and the fate of their careful missions to the Guarani people of South America. Irons and De Niro give incredible performances, as does a Colombian Waunana Indian tribe standing in for the extinct Guarani. Likewise, Chris Menges' cinematography and Ennio Morricone's score are of the highest quality. However, the film is surprisingly emotionally impotent. Director Roland Joffé and veteran screenwriter Robert Bolt show a deflating predilection for the obvious, and the film's crucial moments emit the passive whimper of a lost cause. Still, there's little Joffé or Bolt can do to diminish the incredible power of the film's technical properties. Warner presents The Mission in a decent anamorphic transfer (2.35:1) and a newly remastered Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track. There is a commentary from Joffé, but even better is the hour-long documentary Omnibus: The Making of The Mission, found on the second platter of this two-disc Special Edition. Also includes a trailer and a foldout case inside a cardboard slipcover.
—Gregory P. Dorr
