One of the most
memorable graphic novels of the 21st century has finally
arrived on Blu-ray with Frank Miller’s Sin City now looking bigger,
bolder and better than before.
Based on the comic,
more specifically “graphic novel” of the same time, Frank Miller, Robert Rodriguez
and Quentin Tarantino have successfully managed to transform the tale of Marv (Mickey
Rourke) and related stories to the big screen. With a gritty and
noir atmosphere, Sin City carefully uses computer graphics to almost
make this graphic novel come to life.
For those who have not watched
this movie or read the graphic novel, I urge you to check out the graphic novel first in order to
appreciate the special effects of this engaging movie.
In the world
of Sin City, people are not what they seem and everyone has a story
or secret to tell and key stories and characters from the comic have
been successfully incorporated into the film.
The movie itself is divided into a
variety of stories or chapters, each with integral ties and expansions. The
first story “The Customer is always Right” stars Josh Hartnett as a
Hitman who has been hired to kill a woman and in true Frank Millar
style, things are never what they seem.
Next up is “The Hard
Goodbye” which stars Mickey Rourke as Marv, the most recognisable
character from the Sin City mythology who wakes up one morning and
discovers that the hooker he slept with has been murdered. Of course
Marv vows revenge and goes on a murderous killing spree. Graphically
violent yet visually impressive.
Clive Owen
stars in the next segment, entitled “The Big Fat Kill” that has him
playing a conman who has been surgically modified and threatens a
truce between the corrupt police of the city and the criminal
underworld. Paying homage to the Golden Age of Hollywood, The Big
Fat kill is a very interesting take on the turncoat.
“Yellow Bastard” is the creepiest story of the bunch
that stars Bruce Willis as a straight cop who as a younger man,
castrated a violent psychopathic and sexual predator. Unfortunately
he was betrayed by his partner and years later, this psychopath has
someone survived and is once again targeting the girl that he vowed
to protect decades ago.
As you can see, Sin City is quite a diverse
movie, thanks to the diverse world that it is located in and of
course Frank Miller. It
carefully uses a concoction of black and white images with computer
special effects and creates an almost surreal experience that makes
the violence look like it has been taken directly from a comic book
which is the idea.
It contains a stellar star studded cast that
includes
Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke,
Josh Hartnett, Elijah Wood, Michael Clarke Duncan, Clive Owen,
Jessica Alba, Brittany Murphy, Rosario Dawson, Rutger Hauer, Devon
Aoki, Michael Madsen, Nick Stahl, Benicio Del Toro, Carla Gugino and
Powers Boothe
who all get into their roles in this unique and
thoroughly entertaining movie.
On
Blu-ray, the video quality, even though it is black and white is
quite impressive due to the touches of colour that have been
incorporated into the movie. It is presented in glorious widescreen
with 1080p for that true Blu-ray experience. Dare I say reference
disc? The images are extremely sharp and the clarity is amazing and
when the colours come onto the screen, it’s almost like an out of
body experience. Audio compliments the video quality and really
needs to be heard on a surround sound system to thoroughly enjoy and
certain parts of the movie just jump to life with the realistic
sound effects and gritty soundtrack.
Apart from the extraordinary story, video and audio, where this
Blu-ray does shine is through the additional supplements that come
with this presentation. Featuring audio commentary by Robert
Rodriguez, Frank Miller and Quentin Tarantino Again, it is not only
entertaining to listen but also quite informative and gives a great
insight into the creation of this movie.
It
features the “Recut Stories” which allows you to watch the stories
in chronological order and there is even an additional 23 minutes of
footage. My favourite special feature is “How it all went down:
Convincing Frank Miller to make the film” which stars Rodriguez who
attempts to convince Miller in making this movie and is quite funny
and almost romantic.
Other featurettes include “Special Guest Director Quentin
Tarantino”, “Hard Top with a Decent Engine: the Cars of Sin City”,
“Booze, Broads and Guns: the Props of Sin City”, “Making the
Monsters: Special Effects Make-up”, “Trench Coats and Fish Nets: The
Costumes of Sin City”, “Teaser and Trailer” and a sub feature for
Rodriguez Special Features that include “15 minute film school”,
“Sin City: The All Green Screen Version”, “The Long take with
Quentin Tarantino”, “Sin City: Live in Concert”, “Kill ‘em Good:
Interactive Comic book” and … phew … “CinExplore Feature” that uses
additional visuals for the commentary by Rodriguez and Miller such
as original artwork. If you loved the movie, than this is the
definitive version of Sin City, especially from the its impressive
list of special features.
At
the end of the day, if you have never seen Sin City, than
this is the version to purchase, provided you like well-made
Hollywood movies based on graphic novels. This is no super hero
movie but rather a gritty experience that showcases how diverse this
medium is and the movie translation is perfect. Story telling at its
best!
Highly Recommended!
Movie Attributes:
Director: Quentin Tarantino Robert Rodriguez Frank Miller
Writer: Frank Miller
Producer: Elizabeth Avellan Bill Scott Bob Weinstein Harvey
Weinstein
Format: 1080p (2 Discs)
Features:
How It Went Down: Convincing Frank Miller To Make The Film
Special Guest Director Quentin Tarantino
A Hard Top With A Decent Engine: The Cars Of Sin City
Booze, Broads And Guns: The Props Of Sin City
Making The Monsters: Special Effects Make-up
Trench Coats And Fishnets: The Costumes Of Sin City
Sin City: Live In Concert
Sin City Trailer & Teaser
Intro -Robert Rodriguez introduces the four stories
Story Features -The Customer Is Always Right -The Hard Goodbye -The
Big Fat Kill -That Yellow Bastard
Rodriguez Bonus Features -15 Minute Flick School -All Green Version
-The Long Take -10 Minute Cooking School
Includes a copy of the complete Sin City graphic novel - The Hard
Goodbye
All-new bonus feature Kill 'Em Good Interactive Comic Book
