The Green Mile is miraculous in 4K

Warner Bros. Pictures

Nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, The Green Mile is an emotional film about miracles and the power of redemption stars Tom Hanks as prison guard Paul Edgecomb. When John Coffey (Michael Clarke Duncan), a giant of a man, is brought to death row, Edgecomb and his fellow guards discover something very unusual about him. Convicted for the sadistic murder of two young girls, but behaving almost like a child himself, Coffey seems to have a supernatural gift of healing living things. Expectations are turned upside down and the guards’ sense of humanity is awakened in this adaptation of Stephen Kings compelling novel.

REVIEW

For some reason, The Green Mile has never been a film I was particularly interested in seeing because I really didn’t know anything about it. From what I gathered, it was a movie about death row prisoners, and it was based on a Stephen King novel. I didn’t think it would have any monsters or the like and the prison subject matter was just a turn off (don’t get me wrong about only wanting to see monsters in a King film — Dolores Claiborne is one of my top King adaptations and the only monster in that one is human). The movie poster didn’t help either with an image of a stoic Tom Hanks in his uniform. It was just a hard sell, especially as it was coming from the director of another King prison story, The Shawshank Redemption (which, full disclosure, I also have never seen). So when the opportunity arose to see the film in 4K, I decided there was no better time than now to give it a spin.

Set during The Depression, the story takes place mainly at the Cold Mountain Penitentiary but it kicks off with a bit of a prologue in the film’s present (1999) set in a retirement home where a resident becomes upset while watching the movie Top hat (which is an important piece of the story). It turns out the man is the older Paul Edgecomb and he explains his past to his friend Elaine. The rest of the film, then, is actually a flashback showing us what Paul is relating to Elaine. At the prison, Paul and his men prepare for a new arrival who is a giant of a man, at first striking fear into some of their hearts but under Paul’s gentle questioning, the man tells him his name is John Coffey (like the drink but not spelled the same) and that he won’t give them any trouble. The real trouble in the cellblock is Deputy Percy Wetmore, only there because of his family’s political connections and, as everyone realizes, only there to watch someone fry up close in ‘Old Sparky’, the prison’s electric chair. Paul is also suffering from a bad urinary tract infection, and one day Coffey grabs Paul and pulls him close to the bars of his cell, placing his hand on Paul’s crotch, miraculously curing the infection. The cellblock is also visited by a small mouse which prisoner Eduard Delacroix names Mr. Jingles and trains to do tricks. Percy, though, is intent on killing the mouse and when he finally succeeds, Coffey performs another miracle which leads Paul to believe he’s not actually guilty of the heinous crime is was accused and convicted of. A new arrival on the block, ‘Wild Bill’ Wharton, shakes things up further and Paul learns more disturbing facts about Coffey’s alleged crimes that completely upends everything he stands for as a police officer and reaffirms his beliefs in John. But now he has to decide if he’s going to put his own morality ahead of his duty at the prison.

For a movie that runs just over three hours, I was totally enthralled with the story, the production, and the amazing cast of familiar faces I didn’t even know were in it, like Sam Rockwell (who had been around since 1988 — after a single acting job in 1979 — but it could be argued that this was his first big film), David Morse (from St. Elsewhere), Bonnie Hunt, James Cromwell, Harry Dean Stanton, Dabbs Greer, Doug Hutchinson (six years after his memorable appearances on The X-Files as Eugene Tooms), Jeffrey DeMunn (who would go on to play Dale on the first two seasons of The Walking Dead, James Cromwell, Patricia Clarkson, Graham Greene, William Sadler, Barry Pepper (a year before the terrible career decision known as Battlefield Earth) and Gary Sinise! I was just stunned by the pedigree of this cast, and that all had moments to shine. Aside from Hanks and Duncan, one of the biggest supporting roles was that of Michael Jeter as Delacroix. We never really know what Delacroix’s crime is but he is on Death Row so it must have been bad. But Jeter gives this man the gentlest soul, and it’s a joy to watch him interact with the mouse, seeing such joy on his face when Mr. Jingles performs a trick of rolling an old thread spool across the floor. His execution is heartbreaking and horrific thanks to the sadistic actions of Percy (and Doug Hutchinson makes Percy so loathesome you actually root for very bad things to happen to him). I’ve always been a fan of Jeter and it was just wonderful to see him in the film. Hanks does here what Hanks does best, portraying the everyman with his naturalistic style who this time happens to be caught up in a very strange situation. He grounds the story in reality and everyone’s performances benefited from the tone he set. And we can’t overlook the performance of Michael Clarke Duncan, in just his second major role in a studio film after Armageddon (he’d had minor roles in film and TV prior). His John Coffey is the proverbial gentle giant and his soulful performance never makes you believe he’s anything but an innocent, charged with a crime because of the color of his skin. Duncan also has to work hard to make John Coffey believable because he really has no backstory for a main character. No one knows where he came from, and even he doesn’t seem to know. All he knows is that he’s led a solitary life and he’s tired and ready for it to end. But he really connects with the viewer and tugs on your heartstrings, and he was rightfully given an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor (the film was also nominated for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Sound, all very justified … but ignoring the production design is a real crime).

Director and writer Frank Darabont has crafted a lovely film from King’s material (and I haven’t read the book so I can’t say how faithful it is), infusing it with so much heart but never hitting us over the head with the religious undertones, leaving the audience to decide just who John Coffey is (and it’s no accident that his initials are J.C. is it?). It shows us that there is both good and evil in the world, and it also shows us how justice isn’t always served in the way it should be. It really is a deep story touching on the issue of capital punishment, but it’s never preachy. Darabont’s crew of artisans who crafted the ‘Green Mile’ and all of the other period set-pieces were at the top of their game, giving the prison and Edgecomb’s home the feeling of being lived in. It really is a remarkable production and even at more than three hours I was never bored or distracted, thanks to the writing, direction and performances.

Warner Bros. Pictures

VIDEO

The Green Mile has had several home video releases, the most recent being a 2014 Blu-ray which was repurposed from a new 2009 master. That home video release won rave reviews for its presentation of the film’s color palette and detail, but this new 4K edition blows that one away in every area (and that Blu-ray is included in the 4K package instead of a newly remastered version). This new disk gives us a stunning reproduction of the film’s color palette, nicely reproducing the golden glow of the ‘flashback’ portion of the film, making it almost magical. The details are astonishing down to the patterns in the fabric of the police uniforms and the pores on Tom Hanks’ face. Even though the majority of the film takes place in the dimly lit prison, it’s never too dark, you never lose any of the minute details, and when there are areas of blackness it is black but never crushed (and it is especially impressive on an OLED TV). I’m very happy I chose this moment to watch The Green Mile because it’s probably the closest the film has looked to its theatrical release.

AUDIO

The new Dolby Atmos soundtrack is also breathtaking when it needs to be. The film isn’t heavily invested in using the surrounds aside from the wonderful score and some ambient sounds, but it really kicks in, adding to the horror of the executions. While it may not be relentless in how it uses the surrounding audio landscape, it keeps the dialogue clearly front and center and pulls out the big guns when it needs to. If you want to show off your sound system this would be a great disk to demonstrate the subtly of Atmos and the power. If you don’t have Atmos at home, the audio will revert to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, and there is a 5.1 option as well.

SPECIAL FEATURES

As per usual with 4K releases, the bonus material is all included on the Blu-ray with only the vintage Director’s Commentary included on the 4K. This, of course, gives the film room to spread out on the disk for the best possible presentation. Unfortunately, if you do own the previous Blu-ray release, all of the extras are also ported over along with the aging film transfer. What’s not included from the 2014 release, though, is a bit troubling to a point. The bonus material on the included 2009 Blu-ray includes:

Commentary by Director Frank Darbont in which he gives a very in depth discussion of te film’s production, and even comments on his commentary. Well worth the listen even if it means putting aside another three hours.
Walking the Mile: The Making of The Green Mile (25:30) – A short version of hand-picked filmmaker Constantine Nasr’s feature-length documentary detailing the production of the film from start to finish.
Miracles and Mystery: Creating The Green Mile (1:42:54) – A six-part, even more in-depth look at the film’s trajectory from the page to the screen.
Deleted Scenes (3:38) – Two scenes with optional director’s commentary.
Michael Clarke Duncan’s Screen Test (8:26) – which prove why Duncan got the part.
Tom Hanks’ Makeup Tests (5:30) – Before the decision was made to cast the older Paul with Dabbs Greer, Darabont had two different old age make-up tests done with Hanks, the first created by the legendary Rick Baker and the second by Greg Nicotero. I think the second was the more successful but it was still unsettling.
The ‘Lost’ Teaser Trailer (7:00) – A behind-the-scenes look at the production of a teaser trailer featuring Mr. Jingles that was eventually scuttled when Darabont and others felt the mouse looked like a giant rat. The full teaser is also included.

What’s not included from the 2014 release is the full director’s cut of Walking the Mile: The Making of The Green Mile (1:36:26). However if you redeem the digital code that comes with the package in Movies Anywhere, you will have access to that documentary which is very informative, showing the trials, tribulations and fun everyone had making the film (footage of Hanks and Bonnie Hunt cracking up during their scenes together are a hoot). It’s also very touching during the Michael Jeter interview as he speaks of his last day of filming, which came about midway through production as it was filmed mostly in order. He woefully ponders about how, since his character is dead and he’s no longer on set, he’ll probably be forgotten after he’s gone, just as in life after a real death. Life goes on after you die, but as Jeter was not actually dead, he had more time to think about the experience and fixate on the fact that the production is moving forward without him. It takes on a real tone of sadness now as Jeter did pass away just four years later. The documentary also ends with an In Memoriam to Jeter, Duncan and other cast members who had passed away by the time the film was fully assembled and included on the disk. Overall, it’s definitely worth redeeming that digital code for.

OVERVIEW

Perhaps I should have seen The Green Mile when it was released in 1999, but getting the chance to see it now on this new 4K release may have ultimately been a better experience. I can’t recommend the film enough if you haven’t seen it, and this 4K release from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment is the absolute best way to see it today.

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment generously provided Hotchka with the 4K for reviewing purposes.

The Green Mile has a running time of 3 hours 9 minutes and is rated R for violence, language and some sex-related material.