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An Israeli anti-war feature that is as gravely concerned with the way battle is experienced in the head, as via guns and carnage, Waltz With Bashir simultaneously blasts its way onto DVD and through the minds of viewers - in animation. An Israeli Apocalpyse Now, Waltz With Bashir is, much like Oliver Stone's Platoon, a profoundly subjective and visceral account of war trauma, similarly through the eyes and damaged psyche of another combat vet turned filmmaker, Ari Folman.***

The Israeli director is less focused on introducing his story, than unleashing it, intent on thrusting that war experience on viewers just as he encountered it as a teen soldier inducted into the 1982 Lebanon invasion, who had barely begun to shave. And more in the tradition of horror than docudrama, the film opens with a pack of wild snarling attack dogs tearing through the city streets, hungry for human flesh. We learn that these terrifying images are the first of a series of post-traumatic anguished nightmares experienced by Ari's mentally damaged comrade vets.***

Playing his both younger and present self in animation, Ari struggles with a very different kind of psychological war wound - a complete failure of memory. Yet Ari knows that he was present during the horrifi c mass slaughter of Palestinian civilians at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Lebanon back then, so who is the memory thief, and why can he not achieve any peace of mind unless he wrestles triumphantly with his war demons. These troubling questions take viewers along on a breathlessly surreal journey through fictionalized recurrent personal nightmares and agonizing flashback collective memory, both real and imagined, that is shared with fellow Israeli vets. Including that Beirut urban warfare waltz, a dance of death with machine gun blazing, of one soldier on the brink of insanity.***

The film does leave unanswered the many questions about the actual complicit role of Israel in the Palestinian civilian massacre by the right wing Lebanese Christian Phalangists after the assassination of their idolized leader Bashir Gemayel (carried out by one of their own). And the uninvestigated suspicions of a related Israeli secret stadium slaughter and mass burial of many of these refugees.***

But Folman, a child of Auschwitz Holocaust survivors, doesn't flinch from the images of the young detained men with crucifixes carved into their chests by the Phalangists, or the terrified children, women and elderly remaining survivors with their hands in the air. And the gnawing self-accusation - am I now the Nazi? An unspeakable genocide of his own generation put into further deplorable perspective, as then Israeli leader Ariel Sharon receives an emergency telephone call to halt the carnage and simply replies before g oing back to sleep, 'Thank you, and Happy New Year.'***

(Blu-ray}-Video/Audio- (Taylor Carlson)

Ultimately, Waltz with Bashir looks and sounds pretty good in 1080p. Detail is strong throughout, and there are almost no negative anomalies in the image. My only complaint is that there are a few scenes in which grain tends to spike, mostly darker scenes. Apart from these scenes, there is little not to like about the transfer visually. As far as audio goes, the TrueHD track gets the job done. Dialogue sounds great and is easily heard, and like the video, there are no major negatives about this track. Bashir looks and sounds excellent on Blu-Ray.

English language version of the film; Making-of Featurette; Animatics – Building the Scenes; Q & A with Director Ari Folman; Director’s Commentary.***

Blu-ray Extra's (Taylor)- BD-Live™ enabled, allowing users to get connected and go beyond the disc via an Internet-connected Blu-ray player. Download exclusive content.

There are quite a few features on this Blu-Ray disc, making it all the more appealing. The writer/director offers an enlightening commentary track, which will be a worthwhile listen for any fan. A question and answer session with the writer/director is included here, as well. Rounding out the package are two behind-the-scenes documentaries, which while brief, will be worth checking out for anyone who enjoyed the movie.

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