Just in time to coincide with the DVD release of 2007’s Charlie Wilson’s War, we get a History Channel documentary called The True Story of Charlie Wilson. As you can infer from the title, this program purports to tell us the reality behind the flick’s take on Wilson and his exploits.

If you saw the movie, you’ll know that back in the 1980s, Texas Congressman Wilson worked behind the scenes to support the Afghan Mujahideen in their battle against the Soviets. Story examines these activities via the usual mix of archival materials and interviews. We hear from Wilson, War screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, former Soviet Commander General Valentin Varennikov, former Soviet Lt. Colonel Alexander Pikunov, CIA agents Frank Anderson, Jack Devine and “Bulldog”, CIA Pakistan Station Chief Milt Bearden, Pakistani diplomat Dr. Humayun Khan, anti-Communist activist Joanne Herring, Courage Is Our Weapon producer Robin King, Wilson’s friend Carol Shannon, Pakistani Brigadier Mohammed Yusuf, Pakistani General Hamid Gul, Pakistani Colonel Sultan Amir Imam, and Afghan rebels Sayed Ishaq Gailani, Azizullah Din Muhammad, Ahmad Shah Ahmadzai, and Ahmad Wali Massoud.

“True” looks at the 1979 Soviet assault on Afghanistan and covert US involvement there. We also learn about Wilson’s life and career and what prompted his support for the Afghan cause. From there it digs into how he took charge of the US’s assistance to the Afghans as well as related personal and professional topics.

Usually when I watch a documentary that tells the true story behind a feature film, I expect to take note of all the ways the fictionalized tale changes the facts. In this case, I leave with a pretty positive impression of how much Charlie Wilson’s War does right. As you watch Story, you’ll see a lot of material covered in the flick, and it comes as a bit of a surprise to see how few liberties that effort took.

Not that this means War was completely accurate – or that Story won’t provide lots of details new to those who solely saw the film. While War probably works better as entertainment, Story unquestionably provides a fuller examination of the various subjects related to Wilson’s efforts. It gives us a decent glimpse of background issues largely ignored in the movie and digs into other topics with greater depth.

Wilson’s personal life and non-Afghan-related career get the most expansion here. For example, in War, a sexy belly dancer appears as a footnote during a diplomatic mission. As indicated here, that belly dancer was Wilson’s girlfriend Carol Shannon, and she accompanied Wilson during a lot of his treks. This doesn’t mean that War dropped the ball; Shannon’s involvement had little to do with Wilson’s work, as far as I can tell, so there was no reason for the flick to spend time on that topic. Nonetheless, it’s interesting to learn more about a character who doesn’t even merit a name in the feature film and find out that there was a lot more to her presence than the movie indicates.

I also like the documentary’s info about Wilson’s political ups and downs. In War, we hear virtually nothing about his re-election campaigns, but here we find out how close he came to defeat at one critical juncture in the Afghan war. The movie leaves the impression that Wilson coasted through each election every two years, but the documentary lets us see that the reality became more complicated.

Another fascinating tale relates to Wilson’s alcohol problems. The evening before a vital trip to Europe and Afghanistan to earn the backing of leading Congressman “Doc” Long, an inebriated Wilson rear-ended a car and fled the scene. This nearly scotched his departure the next morning, but he managed to skate. I expect War avoided this event because it doesn’t cast Wilson in a positive light. The film likes to portray him as a lovable rascal, but a drunk-driving/hit and run scenario may give the viewer a more negative view of the Congressman. I don’t really fault the filmmakers for its omission, but it would’ve made for a dramatic sequence, and it’s very interesting to find here.

Most folks who come into Story after a viewing of War won’t find lots of revelatory information. However, the documentary acts as a good expansion on the facts presented in the flick. We get a more accurate depiction of history and learn quite a lot along the way.

The True Story of Charlie Wilson appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.78:1 on this single-sided, single-layered DVD; the image has NOT been enhanced for 16X9 televisions. 2008 seems awfully late in the game for a non-anamorphic transfer, and that factor made Story a messy presentation.

Jagged edges became a massive problem. Many shots suffered from a blocky, ropy look during which jaggies dominated. Staid interview images didn’t seem too bad, but anything with even a little movement presented very rough edges.

Otherwise sharpness was perfectly adequate. Again, the interview shots worked the best, as those showed pretty good definition. No source flaws popped up during new clips. Archival elements had the expected defects, but I didn’t hold those against the transfer.

For the new shots, colors actually looked pretty good. They demonstrated natural, concise tones much of the time. Blacks were also dark and deep while shadows seemed acceptable. If True had received an anamorphic transfer, I think the image would’ve been very satisfying. Unfortunately, the tremendous prevalence of rough edges negated all of the presentation’s positives and leaves it with a “D”.

Don’t expect much from the Dolby Stereo 2.0 soundtrack of Story, though it seemed perfectly satisfactory for this kind of project. Actually, the soundfield opened up a bit more than I expected. The shots of war allowed the mix to present more action than usual for a documentary. None of this demonstrated very good localization, but at least the track showed some life. Music offered decent stereo imaging, and the surrounds bolstered the battle sequences.

Audio quality was decent. Speech sounded natural and concise, without edginess or other issues. Music and effects appeared acceptable, though not particularly dynamic. They showed a bass-heavy tendency without much real range. I thought the track worked well enough for a “C+”.

No extras accompany the DVD. No added scenes, no commentary – nuttin’!

Plenty of folks who saw Charlie Wilson’s War will be interested to learn more about the man and his work. The True Story of Charlie Wilson serves as a good close-up on subjects discussed in the movie. While the documentary shows that the feature film actually did a better than average job with accuracy, it nonetheless fleshes out matters in a nice way and acts as a good complement to the flick.

This isn’t much of a DVD, though. Picture quality often stinks, audio is average, and it includes no extras. I like the program enough to recommend a rental, but I don’t think the disc merits a purchase.