| Product: |
L.A. Confidential (DVD) |
| Date: |
01/09/00 (156 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: This disc has everything.
Disadvantages: The cardboard case, but that's it.
L.A. Confidential (1997)
Format: DVD
Type: DVD 9 - Dual Layer, Single Sided.
Region: 2 (UK and Europe)
Case: Cardboard Snapper
Country: USA
Studio: Warner Brothers
Genre: Crime
Running Time: 132 minutes
Rating: 18 (no cuts made by BBFC)
Picture Format: Widescreen, 2.31:1
Anamorphic: Yes
Colour: Technicolor
Audio: English, French, Italian (all Dolby Digital 5.1)
Subtitles: English, French, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, English (HI), Italian (HI).
Menus: English
Extras: Roll Call, Production Notes, L.A. of L.A. Confidential Interactive map, Trailers, ‘Off the Record’ – Behind the Scenes Featurette, Curtis Hanson’s Photo Pitch, Soundtrack Promo, Isolated Music Score.
The FILM
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At the Night Owl restaurant a massacre takes place. What on the surface seems like just a bungled robbery, soon begins to reveal darker secrets, which some people will stop at nothing to keep hidden.
Without a doubt, L.A. Confidential was one of the highlights of American cinema from the past decade, successfully managing to combine the financial clout of Hollywood (necessary to accurately recreate the fifties setting) with a tougher edge more commonly found in independent features. At its centre are three great performances by Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce, as three very different cops, but the acting is excellent all round.
The DVD
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*MENUS:
The menus for this disc don’t appear automatically – if you just leave it, the film begins to play. Personally I prefer the main menu to appear first, but this is clearly only a minor niggle. The menus themselves take the form of a magazine like the one featured in the film from which you select headlines to get to various sections.
*VIDEO:
The age of the film means that you wouldn’t really expect anything less, b
ut the quality of the widescreen transfer I’m sure won’t disappoint anybody - it’s beautifully clear, sharp and free from artefacts. Those people with widescreen televisions will also be pleased to note that it is anamorphic, which will improve the picture further. Basically being a film noir, it is notable that the film has a much higher key image than is typically the case (these sort of films normally being full of dark shadows) and the naturalistic look which results is a nice change.
*AUDIO:
The audio is presented in Dolby 5.1 in either English, French or Italian. The definite standout is the standoff towards the end of the film – gunfights normally work well in this format, but this is probably the most dynamic scene from this point of view I have ever heard. The musical soundtrack is also excellently presented throughout the film. Nothing to complain about here then.
*EXTRAS:
For such a great film, it is nice to see that a lot of thought has gone into the extras provided on this disc. First up are the actor and crew biographies which cover all the main contributors to the movie, and are all interesting to read (for example, how many people know Danny DeVito started his career as an apprentice hairdresser!)
Next up are a series of sections on various things relating to the movie, such as the ‘L.A. Mob Scene’ and ‘Bloody Christmas’. Again these are very interesting to read, as well as being backed by stills from the period, and they give you a good insight into how bits of real life have been transformed into this film.
Two further small extras are a section on 1953 prices (sadly they’re only in dollars which don’t mean much to me) and a comprehensive list of awards and nominations.
The extras continue with an interactive map of Los Angeles, which features all the locations from the movie. Clicking on any of these plays back an appropriate clip from
the movie along with a voice over detailing various facts about the chosen location. These clips are very short, and perhaps ideally could be extended slightly to provide more information, but this is an original feature, quite well executed.
The trailers on the disc include the theatrical one, and three TV spots, each of which highlights a different aspect of the plot. Fairly standard, but worth watching all the same.
The behind the scenes featurette lasts around about twenty minutes, and in that time it does manage to pack in quite a lot of information about how the film was made including the process of adapting James Elroy’s book and how the soundtrack was put together. Very good.
The photo pitch is another original extra, and basically describes how the director Curtis Hanson didn’t use a script to sell the film, but instead used a series of photographs which evoked the atmosphere of the period. The only thing that’s really missing from this is a gallery, allowing you to look through these pictures yourself as most of them are only glimpsed briefly (although I guess you could always use the pause button).
The soundtrack promo, is a brief section with Curtis Hanson telling you why he chose various bits of music for the film, and finally we have the isolated score of Jerry Goldsmith. As is often the case, there are large periods of dead air with this option, particularly because the soundtrack is mainly based around old songs. Perhaps a better option would have been to provide a list of all the songs used in the movie, and allow you to listen to any of these backed by some details and photos of the artists involved and then cut together various clips to show how Goldsmith’s score is used elsewhere. Despite the problems with this extra though, the isolated score does have some highlights where you realise how little you notice music when watching the film normally, one example being the music which backs
the Bloody Christmas riot.
*PACKAGING:
The disc is the standard Warner Brothers cardboard case. I am not a fan of these, but it’s obviously not enough to stop you buying this great film. The only other thing to point out is that the special features listed on the case have quite a few omissions, and while this may not be a problem as such, it does seem to be slightly underselling a disc which is one of the best I have seen in this respect
*OVERALL:
A classic film which fully deserves all the critical attention which has been lavished on it. The film is also backed by (numerous) extras which have been well thought out, and really do add to your enjoyment of the film. On top of this, with an original RRP of £15.99 (though look around and you’ll easily pick it up for closer to £10) it also incredible value for money.
Summary:
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Last comment:
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push1postcard - 13/09/05 Excellent very concise review right down to the case |
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