The quality movies keep coming in February with the Fox Home Entertainment release The Last King of Scotland which hit shelves on Blu-ray Disc February 2nd, 2010.
The movie is an interesting approach to a biographical movie, which covers the presidency of Idi Amin in Uganda through the eyes of a fictional character who is hired on as Amin’s personal physician.
The movie is largely fictional, though it also includes some historical events.
While the murder of Amin’s second wife and the plane hijacking near the end of the story actually happened, the involvement of Dr Garrigan in these events was fictionalized.
That said the movie does a great job of showing the nature of Idi Amin, an African dictator who was equally charming and brutal.
The film does a great job of presenting the complexity of the leader, as well as his paranoia and fear for hi
fef
s life.
Forest Whitaker’s performance in the role of the dictator was astounding, and apparently the academy agreed since he won the Oscar for Best Actor in 2007.
The cast includes James McAvoy as the doctor, as well as appearances by Gillian Anderson, David Oyelowo, Kerry Washington and Simon McBurney.
Director Kevin Macdonald cut his teeth on documentary film making with movies like Into the Void, and was a great choice to helm The Last King of Scotland.
The movie has a strong critical reception with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 87% and an IMDb score of 7.8/10.
The Last King of Scotland was also earned $17.6M at the US box office.
The video on the disc is an AVC 1080p encode at 30 Mbps, and is presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1.
Expect a film-like presentation here with noticeable film grain in the transfer.
Check out the details page for The Last King of Scotland to see full resolution PNG screen captures taken directly from the disc.
The main audio is lossless DTS-HD Master Audio with 5.1 channels – 24 bits resolution at 48 kHz.
The disc is a dual layer BD50, with 42.2 GB used and is coded for All Regions.
The title comes with a number of extras including a director commentary and a selection of deleted scenes, also with optional commentary by Kevin MacDonald.
The documentary Capturing Idi Amin is a fascinating watch, with a lot of archival footage of the real Idi Amin and it is clear from interviews that while some considered him the devil for his brutal actions, others still admire him for his strength and ability to stand up to foreign powers – an uncommon practice for African leaders at the time.
Forest Whitaker discusses the challenges in portraying Idi Amin in a second featurette, and the Fox Movie Channel Presents segment covers the casting for The Last King Of Scotland.
A theatrical trailer rounds out the supplements.
I found The Last King of Scotland to be an excellent movie and the Blu-ray is another great release from Fox Home Entertainment.
I can thoroughly recommend this to anyone who likes a good drama or has an interest in the history of the region.
While the film is not intended to be true to all of the events, care has been taken to present the man as he really was back in the 1970s.
The retail price is $29.99, though it is available at Amazon for $20.99, saving 30%!
Extras:
Director Commentary
7 Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary by Kevin MacDonald
Exclusive Documentary: Capturing Idi Amin
Forest Whitaker Idi Amin Featurette
Fox Movie Channel Presents Casting Session – The Last King Of Scotland
Trailer
Synopsis:
Forest Whitaker won the 2006 Oscar for his riveting portrayal of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in this powerful drama inspired by real people and events. This is Amin’s incredible story as seen through the eyes of Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy), a young Scotsman who becomes the volatile leader’s personal physician and trusted confidant.
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