The Departed: Two-Disc Special Edition DVD Set Review

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Title: The Departed: Two-Disc Special Edition

Region: One

Genre: Crime Drama

Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Ray Winstone, Vera Farmiga, and Alec Baldwin

Writer: William Monahan

Inspired By The Film: Infernal Affairs Written By: Siu Fai Mak and Felix Chong

Director: Martin Scorsese

Feature length: 151 minutes

Extras: Additional Scenes With Introduction By Director Martin Scorsese, Feature Length TCM Career Profile Scorsese On Scorsese, The Story Of The Boston Mob: The Real-Life Gangster Behind Jack Nicholson’s Character, Crossing Criminal Cultures: How Little Italy’s Crime And Violence Influence Scorsese’s Work, Theatrical Trailer

Languages: English, French (Dubbed In Quebec), and Spanish Language Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound

Subtitles: English Closed Captions and English, French and Spanish Language Subtitles

Packaging: Single Disc Size Two-Disc Amaray Keep Case Within A Cardboard Slip

Chapter Stops: 37

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound

Year of Theatrical Release: 2006/DVD Release: 2007

Theatrical Distributor: Warner Brothers Pictures

Home Video Distributor: Warner Home Video

MPAA Rating: R

Reviewer: Mark A. Rivera

There’s line early on in The Departed where Jack Nicholson’s Irish crime boss character Frank Costello tells an impressionable, but smart young Irish boy that he grooms to be one of his moles within the Massachusetts State Police Department “When I was your age they used to say you could become cops or criminals. What I'm saying to you is this... When you're facing a loaded gun, what's the difference?” that carries a haunting ring of truth to it in the sense that whether they are criminals or cops, a bullet is indiscriminate on who it enters once the gun is pointed and fired. If I were to state the most obvious element that The Departed thematically pointed out to me is that essentially the films is about rats as is the term used to describe when someone betrays an oath that compromises an organization regardless if it is law enforcement or organized crime. A rat will do anything to survive and there is no mistake in Scorsese’s final shot of a luxury terrace with a view of the Massachusetts State Building and there’s a rat slowly moving across the top rail of the terrace. This film has so many characters with conflicting allegiances on both sides of the spectrum whether it is inferred or not that it is amazing that the film is so easy to follow and ultimately shocking and poetic too. The Departed therefore echoes Nicholson’s above quoted line in that there are honorable cops and loyal crime figures as much as there are dishonest cops and turncoat criminals. By the end of the movie one is forced to ask his or herself, do the means justify the end and does it really matter?

I have been a bit down on a lot of American actors because regardless of their talent, they tend to become typecast while British actors like those of the Royal Shakespeare Company and their alumni effortlessly move from one genre to the next on both the big and small screen and seem more talented as a result because of the variety of roles they take on. Well, after watching The Departed I am convinced now that the right filmmaker can get the best out of any actor regardless if they are Hollywood stars or not. Jack Nicholson seems to have been in a wide range of dramedies since his third Oscar® win for As Good As It Gets and I honestly had written off as being more of a typecast Hollywood star than an actor, but Nicholson is perfect as Frank Costello, who is distinctly different from other organized crime figures portrayed in Scorsese’s films. There are a few moments when I think Nicholson was improvising, but overall he shows a lot more restraint here than he has in other films where he plays the perceived villain. I use the word perceived because I think Nicholson brings a lot of complexity to his character’s performance. Sometimes I find the character strangely engaging and seductive and other times I pity Costello since it is very clear as the film progresses that the character is starting to buckle under the pressure and yet the way it is demonstrated is more subtle than one might expect. Ultimately Costello is not a nice guy, but neither are any of the characters. They simply are human. Leonardo DiCaprio gives a great manic performance that contrasts well with Matt Damon’s cool and collective persona in the film. Mark Wahlberg is a standout in the film, which I think features his best character role and onscreen acting since his star-making role in Boogie Nights. Ray Winstone also stands out in the film as Costello’s second in command type of fellow. One wonders if Costello ever appreciates that Winstone’s character is probably the most loyal member of his organization in the entire film. Martin Sheen and Alec Baldwin both give good supporting performances. Watching the characters actions as they contrast between the members of Costello’s crime organization and the State Police investigators is one of the reasons I suggest this film is worthy of multiple viewings because Scorsese along with screenwriter William Monahan add a lot of subtle layers to the story that gives the actors plenty to work with and develop on screen. The Departed was produced by Brad Pitt’s production company and was inspired by the Japanese film Infernal Affairs though the action has obviously transplanted to Boston with some real life inspiration added to give the film texture.

Warner Home Video is releasing The Departed on DVD in both a single disc and a two-disc special edition and The Departed is also being released day and date on HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc too. The two-disc special edition DVD set presents The Departed in a fine anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) aspect ratio that preserves that manner in which the film was exhibited theatrically as close as possible for home video viewers. A striking English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack is also encoded along with French (dubbed in Quebec) and Spanish Language Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtracks as well as English Closed Captions for the Hearing Impaired and English, French, and Spanish Language Subtitles encoded as options on the first disc. The second disc features optional French Language Subtitles too. As great as the film looks and sounds on DVD, I can’t help but imagine it must look and sound a whole lot better on HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc. The Blu-ray Disc will include Warner Home Video’s first uncompressed PCM 5.1 Surround Soundtrack too. Previously the only other Warner Home Video related Blu-ray Disc titles to feature uncompressed surround Sound is HBO Video’s The Sopranos: Season 6, Part 1 and I can imagine the film being referenced by David Chase for one of the characters to mention or be watching from that hit series, which will conclude on HBO with the final episodes premiering beginning in April of 2007.

The theatrical trailer is presented in 16 by 9 enhanced widescreen (2:26) and there is a teaser trailer for 300 that is also 16 by 9 enhanced among the other previews that appear on the first disc before the opening main menu. The menus on both discs are standard interactive still frames that are easy to navigate. The extra value features on disc two are all presented in a (1.33:1) aspect ratio and these include 9 letterboxed deleted scenes with interesting video introductions in between by Martin Scorsese (19:23) and then there are two featurettes that support the film too. One focuses on Scorsese’s influences based on his formative years growing up in Little Italy (24:62) and the other featurette focuses the real life inspiration for Nicholson’s character with interviews with various individuals in law enforcement about the sociology of the place (21:06). It is interesting to note that for the more than twenty feature films Martin Scorsese has directed over the last three or more decades, only five were actually crime dramas.

The 2004 Turner Classic Movies documentary Scorsese On Scorsese (one hour and 26 minutes) based on an in-depth, five-hour interview conducted by Producer and Director Richard Schickel, gives the acclaimed auteur the center stage as he discusses his passion for movies and touches upon several of his key films. Like any documentary, there is a brief part where Scorsese discusses how he developed his love for filmmaking and his influences that include not only his voracious appetite for films, but his growing up in Little Italy, New York as well as how religion has effected his work. Where the documentary becomes extremely interesting is when Scorsese discusses some of his key films with great insight that only age and experience can deliver. They key films discussed include Who’s That Knocking At My Door? as well as Mean Streets, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, The King Of Comedy, The Last Temptation Of Christ, Goodfellas, Cape Fear, The Age Of Innocence, Kundun, Gangs Of New York, and, The Aviator.

The documentary offers lots of interesting anecdotes regarding the origin of such key scenes like the famous “You looking at me?” speech from Taxi Driver, the then controversial kiss between a young Juliet Lewis and Robert DeNiro in Cape Fear, as well as an early concept for a biblical film about Christ set in modern New York that was to be shot in black and white with cops standing in for the Romans and so on. There’s even an anecdote regarding the humorous Kodak film commercial he appeared in.

Personally, even if The Departed does not garner any Oscars® I can’t help but imagine a more deluxe DVD release somewhere down the road though nothing has been formally announced or even hinted at that I am aware of at the time of this writing. The Departed is a great film and while I wish there could have been an audio commentary or something, perhaps multiple commentaries for the film, as is, this is a solid DVD release. The Departed: Two-Disc Special Edition is available on DVD-Video now at retailers on and offline courtesy of Warner Home Video.

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