Mississippi Burning

There are definitely some ugly moments in America's history, and the racial segregation and riots in the southern US of A showcase some of humanity's worst points.

Three young civil rights workers travelling through Mississippi, setting up voter registration centres, are pulled over and executed by the local Sheriff's office and members of the Ku Klux Klan. When the boys haven't checked in with the headquarters, two FBI agents are sent to investigate a missing persons report.

Their presence, and their allegations that the boys had been murdered by the KKK fans the flames of the already tense situation in the town, resulting in more black deaths and damage to property before the truth is uncovered.

All I can assume is that the film used in the transfer has degraded over time as there were a number of frames at different points in the film where damage was visible. Additionally, although there wasn't a great deal of colour in the movie, it did seem to have a washed-out appearance - again, possibly due to the original used for the transfer. On a positive note, there didn't seem to be any new defects added as a result of the transfer and compression, images were sharp (without being too sharp) and the black of night was very black indeed.

According to the cover, Mississippi Burning is presented in Dolby Surround. The only time I noticed any use of speakers other than the center was when the score kicked in (a very simple, yet powerful piece of music), though this doesn't really detract from the movie in any way. Dialog was clear throughout, although I did find myself reaching for the receiver remote to up the volume, so this disc may be a have its sound level a little lower than the standard.

Not a great deal to speak of here: the US theatrical trailer, and brief bios and filmographies of the principal actors and director.

The sheer vehemence felt by the residents of this Mississippi town is damn scary. This has to be the finest moment of the many acting careers, with great performances across the board. The quality of the video may not be at reference levels, but it's definitely above what I consider acceptable.

This is a gripping drama that should be part of everyone's collection.