In one sequence--one sequence--Carl learns that his father is dead, defies the race restrictions of a watering hole by accompanying Sunday's flirtatious wife (Charlize Theron) inside, challenges Sunday to a breath-holding contest, wins, breaks up with his girlfriend, and then gets engaged to her! There's never a dull moment in Men of Honor, but by the same token, there's never a spectacular one, either. The film fails to transcend checklist tribute, and there are especially wooden passages in which we expect to see the subtitle "re-enactment," a mainstay of infomercials. But the perseverant Brashear deserves Rosa Parks' reputation, and if this Hollywooded-to-the-max biopic, complete with cliché slow-motion shots of bystanders shouting "Noooooo!" when Carl's accident occurs, is a means to that end, so be it I guess.

Director George Tillman Jr., who's black, expresses shock on the Men of Honor DVD that some reviewers found the mild displays of intolerance from Carl's teachers and bunkmates implausible, since the real Brashear endured far worse than is portrayed on screen. I agree with Tillman, and wish the film hadn't soft-pedaled its way out of a disturbing moment spot-lighted in the DVD's outtakes section which sees petty officers ordered to rinse a dog in lye because Carl touched it. Ten other deleted scenes are revealing for how broad they play (a teacher tells Carl, "You'll never amount to nuthin'. Hear me? Nuthin'!"), while the twelfth and final omission is a triste alternative ending that works in spite of itself. (The filmmakers scrapped it because it favours Sunday, to which I ask: isn't the title Men of Honor?)

Tillman comments alone over these trims as well as select "animatics" (animated storyboards); he's joined for the film proper by Gooding, screenwriter Scott Marshall Smith (unlisted on both the menu and jacket art), and producer Robert Teitel, and the four of them have a laugh riot that still manages to be elucidating. Elsewhere on the disc, the real Carl Brashear contributes an enthralling interview (really, skip Men of Honor and go straight to this featurette), Brian McKnight performs the saccharine "Win," and the cast participates in a puff-piece making-of. (Each lacks time-code--exact lengths unknown.)

The 2.35:1, anamorphic video transfer for Men of Honor itself could scarcely look more detailed, including the gloomy ocean interiors, while the Dolby Digital 5.1 audio takes full advantage of the discrete environment. Thanks to the growling bass and implacable helicopters of chapter 13's salvage operation, in particular, this mix has already become the stuff of demonstration in my home. Thus far unsaid extras: a soundtrack promo, two trailers, and two TV spots for the regaling yet bathetic Men of Honor.-Bill Chambers