The special edition dvd of Frank Miller's Sin City finally arrives, and it's worth the wait. The dvd is packed with tons of special features, and is a significant upgrade over the bare bones edition that came out several months ago.
The original theatrical cut is included on the first disc, and features commentaries by Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino and another commentary with Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller.
The real bonus of the dvd though is on the second disc where you get extended versions of each of the stories.
The stories are seperated into 4 different movies, complete with credits. Although there isn't a significant amount of footage added, the scenes are interesting, and do contribute to the overall story. It's also a cool feature to watch each story seperately from the others, almost like reading the graphic novels. There is also a fun feature where you can watch a speeded up green screen version of the entire film, so that one can have a taste of what it's like to work on a tech heavy movie like this.
The transfer of the movie is also impressive......actually it's gorgeous. On my high definition, big screen I found that my jaw had a habit of dropping every five seconds. I can say with certainty it's the best looking dvd available. My only complaint is that in the extended versions of the movie there's no option for DTS sound. DTS sound is, however, available in the theatrical cut.
But that's nit-picking the dvd easily qualifies as a must own, it's a triumph on every account.
As far as the actual movie, my favorite story line is the The Hard Good-Bye featuring Mickey Rourke's character Marv. It's refreshing seeing Mickey Rourke doing inspired work again. I hope it becomes a trend for him and not a fluke. Clive Owen and Rosario Dawson are also solid in the The Big Fat Kill story. The final story That yellow bastard suffers from the mis-casting of Bruce Willis as a 60 year old wronged cop, and Jessica Alba, who never really looks comfortable in her own skin as the stripper Nancy.
The movie is, however, a triumph for Robert Rodriguez. Frank Miller has been reluctant to allow his Graphic novels to be filmed in the past, but he was won over by the enthusiasim of Rodriguez, and his ability to translate the novels to film faithfully. They are planning several sequels to this movie, and frankly I can't wait.
If only more film makers followed the example of Rodriguez, and treated the source material with such reverance, we'd be treated to some good work.
Especially in the comic book world where lousy translations are common.
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