Traffic (HD DVD)

Traffic is a movie that I would traditionally not like that much. It is a little slow and sort of plods along with a storyline that really offers up no surprises, that is until it ventures into the second half of the film. All my love for this film is based on one character, Helena Ayala played by Catherine Zeta-Jones. Not only does this in-the-dark housewife venture into Mexico for a meeting with the Obregón brothers as she plays sales representative to the cocaine drug trade, she also offers up one of the greatest cinematic quotes of all time as she directs Francisco Flores (Clifton Collins Jr.) to kill the primary witness in the case against her drug lord husband by shouting into her cell phone, "Now get out of the car and shoot him in the head!" This is a scene that really shocked me when I saw it the first time and it still gives me chills when I watch it today.

If you haven't seen Traffic yet you can probably tell by the name and my short rant above that it is about the drug trade between Mexico and the United States and it explores the issue from just about every level of society, from the streets to the government. Michael Douglas plays U.S. drug czar Robert Wakefield, but his daughter (Erika Christensen) is meanwhile doing every drug under the sun with her boyfriend (Topher Grace). In other U.S. news we have Carlos Ayala a drug lord that has just been arrested, leaving his wife (Zeta-Jones) home alone with no money and kids to take care of. Along those same lines we have DEA agents Montel Gordon (Don Cheadle) and Ray Castro (Luis Guzmán) trying to bring in Eduardo Ruiz (Miguel Ferrer) as the key witness to bring down Ayala. Meanwhile, south of the U.S. border, we have two Mexican policemen (Benicio del Toro and Jacob Vargas) doing there best to turn their heads the other way trying to make some money and not buck the system as a drug war between the Obregón brothers and Mexican General Salazar begins to brew for the desire to become the primary source of drugs in Mexico.

Ultimately everything is related, but this isn't like a Crash ensemble piece. While there aren't a ton of surprises the film remains interesting and director Steven Soderbergh does a fantastic job telling the story as this Oscar-winning film is worthy of repeated viewings - as long as they are spaced out over several years.

So, with that out of the way, what about this HD DVD release? Well, there isn't much to talk about. Universal has never really given Traffic all that much love on DVD. In fact, if you are a special feature junkie you may as well skip any of the Universal releases and pick up the Criterion Collection edition, which is LOADED with features. As for this release you get a bunch of trailers and an "Inside Traffic" featurette that really offers nothing worth mentioning.

As for the visuals I also wasn't all that impressed with this release as far as the video is concerned. Of course it is far better than the DVD release, that goes without saying, but as a high-definition option I don't think it is anything to brag about.

Traffic is a fantastic film and if you don't own it on DVD already I would recommend you at least consider purchasing the HD DVD, but it is probably best that you rent it first as it is definitely a matter of opinion as to whether it is for you or not. This isn't a fluff piece that the majority of audiences will enjoy, but I think if you give it a chance you will like it.