FIELD OF DREAMS: 4K Blu-ray (Universal/Imagine, 1989) Universal Home Video
“If you build it, they will come.”
A movie about a
man who hears celestial – even spooky – and cryptic voices in his head,
decidedly to motivate and stir a reunion with his late father, director, Phil Alden
Robinson’s Field of Dreams (1989) is
a sublime sports-themed masterpiece, and one of the most profoundly stirring
emotional experiences one is apt to have at the cinema. I recall so well the
impact it had on the audience the night I attended its theatrical premiere; the
unassuming way Costner’s Ray Kinsella suddenly became the divining rod in this heartfelt/homespun
human saga that left not a dry eye in the house and created a flurry of applause
with its penultimate night game – the last act for some very fine ball players,
collectively resurrected with humility, awe and gratitude, and, in their prime
for the love of the sport itself. Field of Dreams, apart from entering
the public lexicon as the atypically great ‘lump
in your throat’ movie, ideally bonded to the hallmarks of time-honored
sportsmanship and America’s favorite pastime, instantly became the movie adult
sons could take their fathers, and especially, their fathers before them to go see. In an age where men seemingly
glean their kinship from a mindless barrage of chest-thumping actioners and super
hero dribble, Field of Dreams
continues to stand tall as a testament to the male animal’s softer side; its
tenderness, manly, and beyond reproach, its subtlety, extolling the virtues of solidly
crafted storytelling over the usual clodhopper-ish, anesthetizing CGI – signaling
the eye, but completely overlooking the heart. If anything, the picture has only continued to improve with age, if, in fact, improvement was ever needed.
It is difficult,
if not damn near impossible, to quantify exactly what makes Field of Dreams work so beautifully;
the exquisitely understated screenplay by Robinson, based on W.P. Kinsella’s
book, and, inspired performances by virtually all of its principle cast; John
Lindley's sumptuous cinematography and James Horner's lyrical underscore. All
of it conspires to create a truly expressive and earnest manifest destiny,
steeped in a generational and kinetic human energy. Our innate desire to intimately
connect with the yesteryears, Field of Dreams teleports the viewer on a Byronic sojourn down memory lane. It is one of those human ironies that, later in life, we
desperately yearn to 'go home again.'
The tragedy, of course, is that such a trip is never possible – time, having
moved on, and those who once occupied a distinct place within our tapestries of
life, long since committed to the earth and our distant memories. So, Field of Dreams taps into this bizarre,
and frankly haunting wish fulfillment we collectively share for missed
opportunities, delivering its home run straight to our hearts, bases loaded,
and, with a tear memorably caught in the eye. The results are both
life-affirming and a confirmation of this collective desire to believe in a
life after death; that someday, somehow, we will all be reunited with our
ancestors in the ever-after. Field of
Dreams therefore possesses an unusual and unique quality that goes well
beyond mere ‘charm’ or its ability to
generated from within what is oft discounted superficially as a ‘warm and fuzzy feeling’ for nostalgia. In
reviewing it again, I find the picture remarkably - even uncannily – unchanged,
the strength of its sentiment as ever relevant to our base and
raw human compassion. Remembrance, you
see, does not age; nor, does it date with the passing years. Rather, it remains
an eternal quality that connects the present with the past, and undoubtedly
will continue to ground humanity at large in its lineage destiny – wherever it
may lead – and well into the future.
Based on the
novel ‘Shoeless Joe’ by the real Ray
Kinsella, Field of Dreams is both a
fond valentine to the sport of baseball and a poignant homage to familial bonds
transcending time and space. Except for a few locations photographed in Boston,
most of the action takes place on adjoining farms in Jo Davies County, Illinois
– the fictional home of Ray (Kevin Costner) and Annie Kinsella (Amy Madigan).
It's a good life, idealized in that necessary bucolic way Hollywood tends to pay
homage to the corn-fed Bible belt from its own safe distance, unencumbered by
pesticide spraying, dry rot, drought, tornadoes and, all the other tragedies
that have readily befallen, and continue to plague the American breadbasket. Too
many movies about such homespun folk merely resurrect the past from a visual
standpoint - the production values, impeccable but nevertheless bending to the
artifice of a film crew recreating them expressly for the camera, rather than
seeming to genuinely exist, at least for an hour or two. One can admire such
details at a glance from a purely visual perspective, and quite possibly even
appreciate them for the run of the tale. But recreation alone does absolutely
nothing for the heart, mind or soul. Field of Dreams is undeniably
different. It moves the viewer in unexpected ways, its quiet approach from
behind, gently tugging at the heartstrings without ever becoming maudlin or
contrived. It is the very rare movie indeed that achieves such unabashed
sentiment without making us feel manipulated by the process. Yet, Field of Dreams is such a movie; tenderly willed by craftsmen in front of and
behind the camera who so completely have the rosin and dust of natural turf
coursing through their veins.
Ray is a novice
farmer, his current crop of corn, the envy of his neighbors. Residing on the
land with Annie and their young daughter, Karin (the expressively wonderful Gaby
Hoffmann), Ray’s life is serene and peaceful…that is, until he hears a
mysterious voice repeatedly, and rather cryptically whispering to him from the
cornfield, “If you build it, he will
come.” To be sure, Ray is not a
mystic. And yet, almost daily he finds himself being compelled to build a
baseball diamond in the middle of his crop. Without further provocation, Ray becomes
entrenched in his beliefs. Indeed, he has always known that his late
father’s dreams of playing pro baseball were cut short. Although skeptical of
Ray’s decision, Annie is empathetic. Aside: it is most refreshing, especially
in this age, rather slavishly dedicated to the ‘power-struggling female protagonist’ – Hollywood’s latest
permutation of the forthright feminist – who either frowns upon, quietly cajoles
and/or placates, or even outright dismisses ‘her’ man as a quaint relic,
dragging his knuckles on the Linoleum, to otherwise discover a precisely
invested ‘good woman’ that actually believes wholesale in her man. And Amy Madigan,
with her expressive squinty-eyes, throaty voice and casually tussled hair, is
the embodiment of this kind of companion we really do not see any more in
pictures; one, supremely contented to be just that – a woman – not the appendage of any man, but his right arm, his
best friend, his greatest champion, and, most important of all, his supremely
supportive confidant. Now that is a
woman every man could love!
Ray’s neighbors,
however, clearly feel he has lost touch with reality. As the months pass
without incident, Ray and Annie are forced to face a cruel fact: their
investment in the baseball diamond has severely impacted their personal
finances. Ah, but then, the miraculous happens. Karin sees a ball player
dressed in 1919 garb, pitching on Ray’s field. The man turns out to be the
ghost of Shoeless Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta); a stellar Black Sox pitcher whose
dream of playing ball has been resurrected. Over the next few months, Joe
returns to the field, each time bringing more of the 1919 Black Sox team with
him. However, Ray and Annie are the only ones who can see Joe and his team
mates. Captivated by the magical time warp enveloping their farm, Ray refuses
to plow under the field, even at the behest of his ‘dollars and cents’
brother-in-law, Mark (Timothy Busfield). After a heated discussion at their
local PTA, Ray is compelled to contact reclusive author, Terence Mann (James
Earl Jones) whose own confession of having seen the Dodgers play on Ebbets'
Field is shrugged off as scandalous imagination by the pundits. Embittered,
Terence initially rebuffs Ray’s invitation to come to his farm. Eventually, he
softens - enough to help Ray seek out 1920's baseball legend, Archibald
Moonlight Graham (Burt Lancaster).
And here is
where the plot gets a little unsettling. Ray and Terence discover Graham – who
lived his later years as a county doctor - died sixteen years earlier. However,
that evening Ray is sent back in time to 1972, the year of Graham’s death.
Miraculously, Graham meets Ray and confesses he still has dreams about playing
baseball. Ray offers to fulfill Graham's destiny on his farm. But Graham
politely declines, returning Ray to the present instead where, together with
Terence, they begin the drive back to the farm. All is not lost, however. On a
lonely stretch of road, Ray and Terence decide to pick up a young hitchhiker
(Frank Whaley) who introduces himself as Archie Graham – the reincarnated
younger version of Moonlight. The last act of Field of Dreams is a supreme melding of this generational melodrama
tinged with the supernatural. The trick and the majesty of this ‘ghost story’
come to life, is that nothing ever seems weird, out of place or lacking. Director
Robinson sustains our measure of disbelief in ways we can all invest in and
sincerely root for; the ghosts, given merit, ballast and credence, not as
ethereal figures, moldering from the past, but present-day flesh-and-blood men
of substance - relevant beings, wholly relatable to us, and, with just as much
promise and human desire as the man who built the field for them to come and
play. It's all just an act, of course – Robinson and Costner anchoring our
suspension of disbelief in a concrete world of their design, tangible too, if
only for this brief wrinkle in time. But the magic lantern illusion is working
overtime, the sincerity and joy mirrored in the character's eyes, exponentially
mounting with our own exhilaration for having been supremely entertained.
Returning to his
farm, Ray and Terence are astounded to learn the 1919 team are making regular
appearances on Ray’s field of dreams. Young Graham joins their roster.
Unfortunately, Mark arrives – having bought Ray’s mortgage from the bank – declaring
either Ray plow under the field or sell the farm outright to him. In an ensuing
struggle between Mark and Ray, Karin is knocked to the ground, choking on the
hot dog she was eating. Recognizing the child in distress without his
intervention, Graham crosses the invisible barrier between the past and the
present. He is instantly aged into old Doc Graham, resuscitating Karin and saving
her life. For the first time, Mark is able to see the players and understands
what the field means, not only to Ray but also these ghosts from the past.
Tragically, the time/space continuum cannot be reversed for Graham. He departs
the field as an old man, unable to rejoin his team and relive these glory days.
Now, the players encourage Terence to join them as Moonlight’s replacement. At
first, Ray is hurt at not being invited. But then, he realizes that to partake
he would have to leave his wife and daughter behind in the present. Instead,
Shoeless Joe approaches Ray, revealing the true identity of the team’s catcher
– none other than Ray’s late father whom Ray introduces to Annie as ‘John’.
Humbled at the sight of his own father as a vibrant young man – something Ray
never considered before – he emotionally addresses John as ‘dad’ – realizing it
was his father’s voice heard in the cornfield all along. The picture concludes with
an intimate tossing of the baseball between father and son.
On every level, Field of Dreams is a crackerjack entertainment, delivering the necessary groundswell of emotion with all the dignity
afforded its bygone sports milieu. The past is permitted its moment of nostalgia
for a time when personal integrity and athletic prowess went hand in mitt. The drama
works, because of the subtly nuanced performances by Costner, Jones and
Lancaster; also, a remarkably intuitive turn from Liotta. Sports movies are usually
not this satisfying. And it is saying much of Robinson’s carefully paced action,
he does not allow the narrative, especially in its last act, to degenerate into
standard cliché for that fuzzy ‘feel good’. Instead, like Ray, the audience are
left with contemplative reflections, brought on by the inevitable passage of
time and the loss of people, traditions and ways of living that seem so much
more vibrant and enriching to us now – infinitely more so than our own, but
especially, once they are gone and never to be replaced. Robinson’s screenplay
breaks the space/time continuum with an effortlessness that may seem flippant
at times, but it really does not matter. Because Field of Dreams excels at achieving a sort of gentle grace for man’s
faith in humanity, faith in himself, and, above all else, faith in the
unearthly bond of reunion to take place once the illusion of this life has given
way to the concrete truths in the everlasting.
Movies this good deserve to be seen, re-seen and re-visited over and
over again. Ageless and emotionally satisfying entertainment. What more is
there to be said?
Well, Universal’s
4K remaster of Field of Dreams is a
revelation. Indeed, when Uni debuted Field
of Dreams on standard Blu-ray for its studio’s 100th Anniversary,
the results left a good deal to be desired. A barrage of edge effects severely
plagued the artificially sharpened image, and color fidelity veered to the
point of over-saturation, with unnaturally pink flesh tones and cartoon-green
corn stalks. But Universal has achieved a minor miracle with this new 30th
Anniversary 4K release. With a bit rate 4-times greater than standard Blu-ray,
frankly, we expected no less. And Field
of Dreams in Ultra-hi-def looks extraordinary. Newly color graded in HDR10,
the natural beauty in John Lindley’s cinematography comes shining through,
subtler hues with a sublime texture, gorgeous grain, superior contrast, and
overall, a very theatrical-like experience when projected on a big screen. Truly,
there is nothing here that will disappoint. The results speak for themselves.
The DTS 5.1 audio is a re-purpose of the Blu-ray’s sound mix and quite adequate.
The only extra on the 4K disc is the joint audio commentary from Robinson and Lindley
– a hold-over from Uni’s DVD release from many years ago. Uni has included
their flubbed standard Blu-ray. This contains all of the remaining extras as
before, including deleted scenes and several featurettes, reflecting on the
movie-making process, and lasting impact Field
of Dreams has had since its release.
The centerpiece of
these extras is ‘From Father to Son:
Passing Along the Pastime’ - a 40-minute making-of that is both
comprehensive and entertaining, with participation from Robinson and
co-producers, Charles and Lawrence Gordon, Amy Madigan, James Earl Jones, Ray
Liotta and Frank Whalley, originally produced for Uni’s ‘Signature Edition’ Laserdisc from 1991. We also get ‘Roundtable’ with Kevin Costner, Bret
Saberhagen, George Brett and Johnny Bench’ - a 30-minute discussion piece with
surprisingly far-ranging reflections on Field
of Dreams’ impact and influence on the sport of baseball. There’s also, ‘Galena, IL Pinch Hits for Chisholm, MN’,
a 6-minute puff piece with historian, Steve Repp, and, ‘The Diamond in the Husks’, 13-minutes on location in Dyersville,
Iowa. Last, but certainly not least is
Bravo’s 46-min. ‘Field of Dreams: From
Page to Screen’; a tightly focused and beautifully woven documentary on
W.P. Kinsella with Robinson affectionately waxing about bringing this indelible
slice of Americana to the screen. Bottom
line: Field of Dreams is a seminal ‘baseball’
movie with plenty of heart. This 4K remaster is the way to go and likely the
definitive version for many good years yet to follow. Uni has given us
absolutely nothing new in the way of extras, but it really doesn’t matter
because the movie has, at long last, been given its due on home video. Very
highly recommended.
FILM RATING (out of 5 - 5 being the best)
5+
VIDEO/AUDIO
5+
EXTRAS
4
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