Traffic appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Overall, this seemed to be a faithful rendition of the source material.
As far as sharpness went, the flick offered good definition. While I noticed some edge haloes, I thought those were the result of the original photography; I don’t believe any of these resulted from the transfer process. The movie provided solid detail and clarity. No issues with jagged edges or moiré effects appeared, and the presentation lacked print flaws; grain could be heavy, but that was a photographic choice.
Like I mentioned in the body of my review, Traffic featured heavily stylized colors at times. Within those constraints, I thought the hues looked fine. They displayed good delineation dependent on the situations and were solid. Blacks also looked deep and firm, while shadows were smooth and easily visible. While the visual choices meant the movie could be ugly, the transfer duplicated it well.
Despite a decided lack of ambition, the DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of Traffic was good enough for a “B-”. Audio quality was solid. Speech sounded natural and concise, and the lines suffered from no edginess or other problems. Music was lush and vibrant, as the synthesized score appeared full and warm. Effects came across as clear and accurate. Bass response seemed perfectly adequate for this material.
Only the music ever appeared anywhere other than the front center channel. All effects and dialogue came from that speaker, so when the movie used no score, it remained monaural. At least the music spread nicely to the side and rear channels. The music blended well and created an immersive feel that made it engaging. This wasn’t a stunning soundtrack, but it worked just fine for the material.
How did this Blu-ray compare to the 2006 DVD? Audio was a wash; the quality of the mix was a bit warmer and fuller, but the track remained so low-key that the DTS-HD version didn’t boast a lot of room to top its predecessor.
Visuals were a different subject, though. The Blu-ray provided a cleaner, tighter image with more impressive colors. I wasn’t impressed with the DVD’s picture, so this one offered a noticeable improvement.
The Blu-ray duplicates the extras from the DVD, and we find three separate audio commentaries. The first comes from director Steven Soderbergh and writer Stephen Gaghan, both of whom sit together for this running, screen-specific discussion. They touch on the movie’s visual design, cinematographic issues and Soderbergh’s work as DP, developing the story and characters, various inspirations and influences, adapting the original mini-series, locations and the absence of sets, structure and editing, casting and performances, and many concerns encountered along the way.
I’ve heard a handful of Soderbergh commentaries, and except for his odd self-interview track for Schizopolis, I’ve enjoyed all of them. The Traffic discussion offers another fine piece. Soderbergh and Gaghan can be a little too restrained at times, but they cover the information with candor and self-deprecation, and they also add a modicum of dry wit. They help turn this into an informative and compelling program.
Next we get a track with producers Laura Bickford, Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz and consultants Tim Golden and Craig Chretien. Zwick and Herskovitz chat together, while all the others sit alone for this edited discussion. From the producers, we learn a lot about the cast and their performances as well as budgetary concerns, story changes and adaptation issues reactions to the movie, and various production problems. Golden and Chretien dig into the reality behind the film. They tell us about inspirations for various characters and situations, historical topics, and background for the law enforcement side of things.
While the producers provide nice materials, the consultants are the best part of the commentary. I like the way they flesh out the facts of drug issues and whatnot, and they give us a solid background against which to view Traffic. As for the producers, they’re quite informative as well, but because some of their notes repeat information heard in the first commentary, they don’t prove quite as useful. Nonetheless, all participants present many nice tidbits in this tight commentary.
Finally, we get a piece with composer Cliff Martinez. He offers his running, screen-specific remarks and he also lets us listen to the various cues. Martinez provides some details of the different pieces and also tells us many aspects of composing and recording the score.
He digs into the music with insight and vigor, and I like that the disc also lets us hear the cues on their own. He chats about a mix of connected issues like audience reactions, the integration of source music, his history and influences, and other cool subjects. I especially like his chat about how he left the world of rock ‘n’ roll and entered score composing. This form of commentary/isolated score often ends up flawed in both directions, but this one works quite well.
The composer commentary domain also includes an Alternate End Cue. Martinez introduces this three-minute snippet and we listen as the audio plays over the movie’s finale. I’m sure score fans will like this addition.
25 Deleted Scenes run a total of 26 minutes and 33 seconds. Helena’s character benefits most from the additional material, as we see much more about her woes. I understand why this footage was cut; it’s not essential and it would make an already long movie even lengthier. That said, it helps flesh out the character and shows her journey from high-society trophy wife to drug smuggler in better detail.
As for the other scenes, we find a little more with Manolo and Javier, a snippet in which Frankie Flowers buys surveillance equipment, and extra footage of Robert. There’s also a gag in which an extra breaks character with Catherine Zeta-Jones. None of this stuff is nearly as valuable as the Helena bits, though I do like the Wakefield family discussion of the ramifications of drug legalization.
We can watch the clips with or without commentary from Soderbergh and Gaghan. They offer the standard sorts of remarks about the scenes, their shooting, and why they were dropped. We get a nice overview of the footage and learn a reasonable amount here.
Under the category of Demonstrations, we get three areas. We look at “Film Processing” (one segment, five minutes, 51 seconds), “Editing” (four segments, 16:43), and “Dialogue Editing” (four segments, 13:16). “Processing” takes us through the five steps utilized to create the movie’s unusual presentation of color and other visual elements. We watch the Mexican footage go through the five steps and we hear narration about the processes used.
“Editing” takes us through the choices made for four separate scenes. We also get commentary from editor Stephen Mirrione as he discusses the choices he made and how he worked. Finally, “Dialogue Editing” includes remarks from supervising sound editor/re-recording mixer Larry Blake as he tells us about his work and lets us examine some specifics of what he did for Traffic. Blake also provides basic text noes about his job. Though these elements tend to be somewhat dry and technical, that’s expected, and they give us a detailed, rich view of these domains.
Under the banner of Additional Footage we find four segments. Instead of actual deleted scenes, these are raw shots, unedited shots. This area includes “Epic”, (3:03), “Drug Warehouse” (7:08), “Cocktail Party” (24:38), and “Kids on Street” (three takes, 2:37).
Each offers different viewing options. “Epic” comes with three angles, while “Drug Warehouse” includes commentary from Craig Chretien. He gives us information about the warehouse location and issues connected to the storage and disposal of massive amounts of drugs. “Party” presents three angles, while takes one and two of “Kids” feature two angles but take three only has one. All of the pieces also come with text that tells us “About the Scene”.
The quality of the footage varies. “Epic” is really fairly dull, as it shows a by the numbers briefing. The shots in “Warehouse” are plain, but Chretien’s details make the segments interesting. “Party” and “Kids” are both fun since we see elements that don’t show up in the final cut. “Party” gets a little stale since we find so much footage, but I still like these segments and think they’re quite worthwhile.
Many ads appear in the Trailers domain. We find the US teaser and full trailers along with five TV spots. An unusual feature called Trading Cards finishes the disc. This includes a note “About the Canine Enforcement Program” along with 100 “K-9 Cards”. These show drug enforcement pooches and include photos and vital stats like breed, age and largest/most notable seizure. The program doesn’t make it clear why the feds created these cards, but they’re fun to see.
Like all Criterion releases, this one comes with a booklet. Shorter than many, it’s an eight-page affair with a brief essay from critic Manohla Dargis. While not one of the studio’s best booklets, it’s still useful.
Though it do much for me 11 years ago, an additional screening of Traffic more fully revealed its charms. A deftly assembled and compelling examination of the drug trade and its effects, the movie forms a rich narrative that flows well and never lets go of us. The Blu-ray presents intentionally restricted audio along with very good picture and supplements; the three commentaries prove especially valuable. This easily becomes the movie’s best home video presentation.
To rate this film visit the original Criterion Collection review of TRAFFIC
