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Road to Perdition (Widescreen Edition)
Stars:
Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Jude Law, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Stanley Tucci, and
Daniel Craig
Writer:
David Self
Director:
Sam Mendez
Feature
length: 1 hour and 57 minutes
Extras:
Director’s Commentary, Deleted Scenes With Optional Commentary, HBO’s
“Making Of” Documentary, Production Notes, Photo Gallery
Languages:
English and French Language Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and English Dolby
Surround Sound
Subtitles:
English Captions and French and Spanish Language Subtitles
Packaging:
Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 24
Sound:
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and Dolby Surround Sound
Year
of Theatrical Release: 2002/DVD Release: 2003
Theatrical
Distributor: DreamWorks Pictures and Twentieth Century Fox
Home
Video Distributor: DreamWorks Home Entertainment
MPAA
Rating: R
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
“Road
To Perdition” is a cut above the average organized crime drama because it is
more about human relationships and the nature of culpability when it comes to
the corruption of the soul with Tom Hanks and Paul Newman playing two father
figures for Hanks’ characters eldest son. In fact Newman could be seen as
Hanks’ father on one level too. Fathers trying to protect their sons from the
evil men do is the underlying theme of the film. Newman tells Hanks in the
latter half of the film “This is the life we chose. The only certainty is none
of us are going to heaven.” Newman’s character’s own son has already
fallen to the dark side a long time ago and wiped Hank’s character’s wife
and younger son out after his older son witnesses Hanks and company at work so
to speak. So basically we are left with a story of how a father tries to save
his son both physically and metaphysically by steering him away from his life
and avenging his wife’s and younger son’s death.
The performances are solid throughout though the real memorable character in the film is Jude Law’s assassin who also takes photos of his kills he makes like a crime scene journalist. The film has a monotone color scheme to it with a somewhat reflective and somber score. The visual compositions and screen direction is top notch. Some of the scenes look like old paintings and photographs come to life. DreamWorks DVD edition features a good anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) aspect ratio, which is the ONLY way one should view this film at home because beyond the obvious opportunity to see the film as it was intended to be seen theatrically as close as possible on a TV or monitor, the strong visual compositions would be lost in a butchered pan and scan version and this film looks like it was truly framed for the big screen like films used to be instead of framing with home video in mind. The DVD features a very aggressive Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack that truly delivers a powerful and discrete home theater listening experience. A French Language Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack is also provided along with an English Dolby Surround Sound listening option. A DTS version is available in stores too sold separately and judging by the quality of the Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack, I bet the DTS Soundtrack track is excellent.
English
Captions for the hearing impaired and French and Spanish Language Subtitles are
encoded as options for the film’s soundtrack and even the feature length
screen specific audio commentary track with Director Sam Mendez. There is also a
Descriptive Audio Option for the visually impaired, which is a nice touch.
Director Sam Mendez also provides optional commentary for 11 deleted scenes
presented in an equal to the feature presentation quality widescreen (2.35:1)
aspect ratio with English Dolby Pro Logic Surround Sound and English Captions
and French and Spanish Language Subtitles for the optional commentary as well.
These deleted scenes are made up of “Supper Time” (2:08), “Condolences”
(2:45), “Words From The Heart” (: 56), “Maternal Love” (1:43), “The
Night Club” (2:30), Confession” (1:32), “The Motel” (2:07), “Gathering
Information” (2:24), “A Dance” (3:02), “Mr. Capone” (1:32), and “The
Image Of His Father” (1:29).
The
HBO “Making Of Documentary” (25:01), a soundtrack CD spot (: 33), cast and
filmmaker bios, onscreen production notes, which are also provided within the
insert inside the DVD keep case, and a photo gallery wrap up the extra features
on this DVD.
The
menus feature full motion scene selections and are well rounded and easy to
navigate. “Road To Perdition: Widescreen” is available on DVD-Video now from
DreamWorks Home Entertainment.
©
Copyright 2003 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
Buy This DVD Now By Clicking On The Text Link Below!
Road to Perdition (Widescreen Edition)