I’m not one for apologies by the filmmakers, but I have a little more understanding of how “Tristan+Isolde” turned out after listening to the special features of the DVD. First, this film had a low budget – much lower than comparable films of the day. Sure, one can always point to “Gladiator” as the template for the historical epic. However, there were plenty of box office flops like “King Arthur,” “Kingdom of Heaven” and “Alexander” that preceded this movie.

With this in mind, “Tristan+Isolde” was actually better than many of its contemporaries. After the string of historical flops, this film was relegated to a January release with relatively little fanfare, which didn’t help its success.

I also now know this film was a labor of love, not just for producer Ridley Scott, but also for writer Dean Georgaris who penned the screenplay out of passion for the story. He never thought it would get made. There were other historical challenges they faced in adapting the legend, and Georgaris covers many of those in his commentary of the film.

That still doesn’t make “Tristan+Isolde” a great film. It was remarkably mediocre, desperately trying to be both an epic adventure film and a touching romance. However, by delving into each side of the story, it kept stepping on its toes. “Braveheart” is a great example of this concept done well, but it was structured differently. The beginning was about love, and the last half was about revenge. It really didn’t mix them.

“Tristan+Isolde” goes back and forth from brutal historical atrocities to unrelenting love among the characters. Plus, the real weak link in "Tristan+Isolde" is James Franco as the romantic lead. This is ironic because according to director Kevin Reynolds in the making-of featurette, Franco was one of the studio's picks for a draw to the film. Personally, I’ve never bought James Franco outside of the “Spider-Man” movies. He just seems to be a poor man’s Josh Hartnett – and I don’t even like Josh Hartnett.

Another thing working against the film is that it is considered a well known story, but really isn’t. It may be well known for fans of Wagner, but for your typical American audience (whom the film was trying to woo), it was a new one. Few people are familiar with the story of Tristan and Isolde, so there’s no existing pretext to prepare them for the film.

For those who don’t know the story, “Tristan+Isolde” is about a British knight who falls in love with an Irish princess. It takes place during the Dark Ages, when Britain and Ireland were at war, which leads to an impossible romance. When the Irish agree to wed Isolde to the British king Marke (Rufus Sewell), Tristan must choose between his loyalty to the crown and his loyalty to his lover.

There are some great things in this movie, including a great performance by Rufus Sewell. Sophia Myles is pretty enough as Isolde, but she’s not really a break-out star. Sadly, in the world of major motion pictures, it takes more than just a pretty face to lead a movie.

The redeeming features of this movie really come on the DVD, which makes it worth the information if not the entertainment. This happens to be the trend of many historical films that get a nice treatment on DVD. Films like “King Arthur,” “Kingdom of Heaven” and “The Alamo” all are dull, plodding movies, but they have a wealth of features on the DVDs making them worth a look.

The “Tristan+Isolde” DVD comes with two commentary tracks – one from writer Dan Georgaris, and the other with producers Jim Lemley and Anne Lai. There’s also a pretty comprehensive making-of featurette that isn’t too full of itself. Rounding out the special features are multiple trailers and TV spots, image galleries and a music video of “We Belong Together” by Gavin DeGraw.



Specifications: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. Widescreen (1.85:1). French and Spanish language tracks. Spanish subtitles. English language subtitles for the hearing impaired.