Title:
Snatch: Superbit Deluxe
Region: One
Genre: Crime
Caper Film
Stars:
Benicio Del Toro, Dennis Farina, Brad Pitt, Rade Sherbedgia, Jason Statham,
Stephen Graham, and Alan Ford
Writer: Guy
Ritchie
Director:
Guy Ritchie
Feature
length: 103 minutes
Extras:
“Making Of Snatch” Featurette, Storyboard Comparisons, Deleted Scenes With
Optional Commentary, Video Photo Gallery, TV Spots, Theatrical Trailers,
Filmographies, Production Notes
Languages:
English DTS Digital 5.1 Theatrical Surround Sound and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
Sound
Subtitles:
English Captions and French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, Thai, and
Pike Language Subtitles
Packaging:
Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 28
Sound: DTS
Digital 5.1 Theatrical Surround Sound and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Year of
Theatrical Release UK: 2000/ US: 2001/DVD Release: 2002
Theatrical
Distributor: Screen Gems
Home Video
Distributor: Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment
MPAA Rating:
R
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
Writer and
Director Guy Ritchie’s cinematic follow-up to his breakthrough film “Lock,
Stock And Two Smoking Barrels” has now been given the “Superbit Deluxe”
treatment on DVD-Video by Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment. In fact I think
this might be the first title released theatrically under the “Screen Gems”
label to be released as a “Superbit” DVD. With a fast and rhythmic visual
and audio pace, Ritchie revisits the underworld of London in this crime caper
film with a dark sense of humor. Jewel thief Franky Four Fingers (Benicio Del
Toro) robs a large and seemingly perfect diamond in Antwerp and detours to
London where he unwittingly sets off a chain reaction of mayhem when he
purchases a gun from a Russian mobster (Rade Sherbedgia) after consulting
with a London contact who prompts his New York Boss (Dennis Farina) to fly over
and recover the diamond personally. Meanwhile three hired guns on behalf of the
Russian go after Franky while the local English underworld kingpin (Alan Ford)
and a notorious thug (Vinnie Jones) assist Farina’s character with locating
the diamond before anyone else does. All the while, a small time unlicensed
boxing promoter (Jason Statham) and his sidekick (Stephen Graham) have their
lives in the hands of a gypsy boxer bare-knuckle boxer (Brad Pitt) who doesn’t
exactly follow directions very well.
The ensemble
cast is great and the film is truly entertaining with fun twists and surprises
viewers will not see coming. Brad Pitt is hilarious in his role of a Pikey Irish
Gypsy, who no one really understands what he is saying and yet as a viewer of
the film, I am not sure what is scarier, the fact that his character is barely
understandable or the fact that personally, I did not have much of a problem
understanding his character’s dialogue?
Columbia
TriStar Home Entertainment delivers “Snatch: Superbit Deluxe” with two discs
within a standard size keep case. Disc one is dual layered and presents the film
in an anamorphic (1.85:1) widescreen aspect ratio, which has been mastered so
that the maximum space is shared exclusively between the picture and sound for
the best possible quality for each. Now I have not seen “Snatch” in over a
year and I found this new transfer to be great with a nice gray level that is
extremely solid and gives the film a monochromatic look with sudden splashes of
color that jump out at the viewer, which creates a stunning visual effect at
times. Both the English DTS Digital 5.1 Theatrical Surround Soundtrack and
English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack are excellent with an amazing
surround feel that rhythmically uses the sound effects and music tracks to bring
the viewer into the film’s world in perfect unison with the fast paced cutting
style of the motion picture. I prefer the DTS track because it is just so much
more jarring, but in a positive way that makes me feel that if one had a choice
between the “Special Edition” set released last year and the “Superbit
Deluxe,” I would recommend this new version over the previous release. English
Captions for the hearing impaired as well as French, Spanish, Portuguese,
Chinese, Korean, Thai, and Pikey Language Subtitles are encoded onto the first
disc as well. The Pikey Subtitle option only appears in scenes that feature Brad
Pitt’s dialogue.
The second
DVD includes the 24-minute “Making Of Snatch” featurette with (1.85:1) film
clips and behind-the-scenes videotaped interviews and footage from the
production. There are also three storyboarded sequences that give the viewer the
option to view the sequence in storyboards or compare it to the finished shot
for the character introduction scene, a quick transition sequence, and the big
boxing match featured in the film. There is also a videotaped photo
gallery that runs just over 5 minutes and select cast and crew filmographies.
There are three American TV Spots and a United Kingdom Teaser Trailer and
the full (1.85:1) American Theatrical Trailer with Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
Sound. A (1.85:1) trailer for Columbia TriStar’s “Go” and full-framed
trailers for “The Professional,” “The Lady From Shanghai,” and “Dr.
Strangelove” are also included along with the (1.85:1) theatrical trailer for
“John Carpenter’s Ghosts Of Mars” with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. Deleted
Scenes with optional filmmaker commentary and a funny Easter egg that gives the
viewer a choice of either seeing a “bleeped” out montage or uncensored
montage of some of the best scenes in the film, which just happen to feature
more four letter words than one might have noticed upon watching the film the
first time since gets involved with the characters and action.
The menus on
both discs are standard interactive still frames that are easy to navigate. An
insert giving a brief overview of the concept behind the “Superbit Deluxe”
collection of films on DVD, including a list of available titles and another
insert with a listing of the scenes on disc one are included with the DVD keep
case.
“Snatch:
Superbit Deluxe” is available now on DVD-Video from Columbia TriStar Home
Entertainment.
© Copyright
2002 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.