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Miller's Crossing
Stars:
Gabriel Byrne, Marcia Gay Harden, John Turturro, Albert Finney, Jon Polito, J.E.
Freeman, Steve Buscemi, and Sam Raimi
Writers:
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
Director:
Joel Coen
Feature
length: 115 minutes
Extras:
Featurette, Interviews, Trailers, Still Gallery
Languages:
English 4.0 Dolby Surround, French Language Dolby Surround, and Spanish Language
Stereo Sound
Subtitles:
English Captions and Closed Captions and Spanish Language Subtitles
Packaging:
Amaray Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 28
Sound:
Dolby Surround 4.0 and 2.0 and Stereo Sound
Year
of Theatrical Release: 1990/DVD Release: 2003
Theatrical
Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox
Home
Video Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
MPAA
Rating: R
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
“Miller’s
Crossing” was one of several films released in the fall of 1990 that dealt
with the subject or organized crime and opened the 1990 New York Film Festival.
What makes “Miller’s Crossing” standout more than ten years later is the
talent of filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen. “Miller’s Crossing” is a tough
film to describe in three or four sentences because the film is not the average
gangster movie and in fact is rich with such diverse character performances and
beautiful period production design that bring us into another world through the
cinematography of Barry Sonnenfeld.
“You
always take the long way around to get what you want, don’t you, Tom?”
This sentence spoken by Marcia Gay Harden ‘s character
about Gabriel Byrne’s character of “Tom Reagan” is a perfect description
of the actions he takes to bring down a string of conniving characters through
duplicity and still keep his hat on straight so to speak. The language of the
film, whether it is authentic or simply stylized is marvelous and is another
element that makes “Miller’s Crossing” such an enjoyable film.
The
wait for this DVD over the past few years since Fox released “Raising
Arizona” on DVD in 1999 has been worth it though one wishes there would have
been some more extra features like more new interviews, perhaps an onscreen
dictionary of the slang used in the film, the screenplay on DVD-ROM, and a
commentary featuring the Coen Brothers and key cast members, but unfortunately
we do not get any of these wish list items. What we do get is a great looking
anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) transfer with a discrete English Dolby 4.0
Surround Soundtrack that delivers the theatrical experience as close as possible
for home viewers. A French Language Dolby Surround Soundtrack and a Spanish
Stereo Soundtrack is included along with English Captions and Closed Captions
for the hearing impaired and Spanish Language Subtitles encoded as options.
The
film’s presentation and the interview wit Barry Sonnenfeld who goes into some
detail about his background and work on both “Miller’s Crossing” and
“Raising Arizona” complete with storyboard comparisons are the strongest
elements on this DVD. Vintage videotaped interview clips with Gabriel Byrne,
Marcia Gay Harden, and John Turturro and trailers for “Miller’s Crossing,”
“Raising Arizona,” and “Barton Fink” and a short still gallery of
production photos wrap up the extra features on this DVD. The menus are nicely
rendered and easy to navigate.
While
not the special edition I think many fans were hoping for, “Miller’s
Crossing” is still a joy to have on DVD and one worth adding to one’s
library when “Miller’s Crossing” debuts on DVD-Video on Tuesday, May 20,
2003 from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.
©
Copyright 2003 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
Buy This DVD Now By Clicking On The Text Link Below!
Miller's Crossing