Stars: Thomas Jane, Deborah Kara Unger, David Patrick O'Hara, Dexter Fletcher

Director: Bronwen Hughes

Summary: Tells the true story of South African Police Captain Andre Stander. Incensed by the corrupt system, Stander committed a series of crime sprees during his lunch hour, before returning to the scene to investigate them in the afternoon...

Unfolding with the speed and rhythm of an action movie and showcasing stylistic flourishes that hint at Quentin Tarantino, STANDER takes on one of history's most infamous injustices with a surprising amount of humor and vivacity. Set in 1976, the film tells the true story of Andre Stander, a young police captain in Johannesburg, South Africa. His apex of official power coincided with the pinnacle of the devastating policies of apartheid. As the movie illustrates in an evocative and pivotal scene, Stander's view of his society and position within it is profoundly shaken when he kills an unarmed black man during a chaotic anti-apartheid riot. Aware that he lives in a society so devastatingly racist that he is free to murder without consequence, Stander stages an unconventional political protest by robbing banks. As he becomes more and more successful at maintaining a double life as a criminal-cop, his addiction to the thrills and accoutrements of the outlaw lifestyle begin to overshadow any political purpose. Director Bronwen Hughes (best known for helming studio flicks FORCES OF NATURE and HARRIET THE SPY) has skillfully woven together elements of a political tract, character study, and heist movie to a unified and compelling whole. But the movie belongs to its star, Thomas Jane, who seems to dissolve into his complex role, making Stander an irresistibly contradictory antihero.

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Sergio Leone had to be persuaded to return to the Western for Once Upon a Time in the Westafter the success of his "Dollars" trilogy. The result is a masterpiece that expands the vision of the earlier movies in every way. It could as easily have been called The Good, the Bad, the Ugly and the Blondeas Charles Bronson steps into the No-Name role as the harmonica-playing vengeance seeker, Henry Fonda trashes his Wyatt Earp image as a dead-faced, blue-eyed killer who has sold out to the rapacious railroad; Jason Robards provides humanitarian footnotes as a life-loving but doomed bandit and the astonishingly beautiful Claudia Cardinale shows that all these grown-up little boys are less fit to make a country than one determined widow-mother-whore-angel-everywoman. The opening sequence--Woody Strode, Al Mulock and Jack Elam waiting for a train and bothered by a fly and dripping water--is masterful bravura, homing in on tiny details for a fascinating but eventless length of time before Bronson arrives for the lightning-fast shoot-out. With striking widescreen compositions and epic running time, this picture truly wins points for length and width.

On the DVD:Once Upon a Time in the Weston disc is the transfer fans have been waiting for: the longest available version of the film in shimmering widescreen (enhanced for 16:9 TVs) which lends full impact to Leone's long shots of Monument Valley scenery or bustling crowds of activity, but also highlights his ultra-close images as Bronson's beady eyes or Cardinale's luscious pout fill the entire screen. A commentary track is mostly by expert Sir Christopher Frayling, with input from other academics, participants and enthusiasts--it's good on the detail, and Alex Cox winningly points out that one scene bizarrely can't be reconciled with what happens before or after it.

Disc 2 has four featurettes which, taken together, add up to a feature-length documentary on the film, and though overlapping the commentary slightly offer a wealth of further good stuff, plus the elegant Cardinale's undiminished smile. Also included is the trailer, notes on the cast, menu screens with generous selections from Ennio Morricone's score, stills gallery, comparison shots from the film and contemporary snapshots of the locations. --Kim Newman

Aspect Ratio:	1.77 Anamorphic
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Audio Commentary From Bronwen Hughes, Anatomy Of A Scene, Deleted Beach Scene, Theatrical Trailer
Year:	2004
Release Date:	September 5, 2005
Runtime:	107 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	M P 398 D
Keywords:	General, Drama, Stander
Genre:	Drama