As I sat watching Sam Mendes‘ brilliant Road to Perdition last night, I sat in awe, wondering how I could’ve possibly missed out on this film for so many years. It’s a well written adaptation of a not-too-popular comic book by author Max Allan Collins and illustrator Richard Piers Rayner, starring an A-list cast (Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Jude Law) shot by one of the best photographers in the biz (the late, great Conrad Hall) and scored by a very talented composer (Thomas Newman) known for his ability to accentuate the melancholy in just about any scene. One wonders what exactly director Sam Mendes was able to add to such a gifted mix? Well, if there’s any doubt about his contribution to the film or his absolute knowledge of every aspect of its assembly, his wonderful, engaging and comprehensive commentary track will put it to rest. This is Mendes’ film. And it is wonderful in just about every way!
Perdition is a familiar tale of family and bloody vengeance – like The Godfather in theme, echoing Gordon Willis‘ imagery from Coppola‘s film in the dark cut of Hall’s every shadowy composition. Hanks plays Michael Sullivan, betrayed by the jealous, murdering son (Daniel Craig) of his mob-boss employer/surrogate-father (Newman.) Now, after the cold blooded murder of his family, Michael is on the run with his surviving son, fighting to survive and desperate for revenge in prohibition era Chicago. The story doesn’t hit a single sour note, as all characters caught up in a sea of violence and despair are forced into actions they would otherwise have avoided. And their internal struggle, knowing how much happier they would be if they didn’t have to pull the trigger, is captivating from beginning to end. All the way down the Road.
The bleak colour pallet and rigid, emotive shadows of Conrad Hall’s photography are wonderfully rendered on the damn-near perfect transfer of the Road to Perdition Blu-ray. This thing is stunning! It’s a Blu-ray that exemplifies the finest aspects of the medium, providing a very true, film-like experience on the small home theatre screen. This isn’t one of those colour popping, eye gouging, three-dimensional images. Hall’s work here is dark, desaturated and very textured. And the disc delivers on every level – deep, dark, inky blacks, clear yet subtle details and a vivid sheen of film grain. If you want to see how close Blu can come to the cinematic experience, this is the disc to watch.
The DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio mix is, without question, a reference quality track, presenting a seamless soundstage with a sense of fidelity that’s tough to match. I haven’t been as immersed in an audio track for a long time. Newman’s score sounds full and rich, with a dynamic range that’s bound to impress.
Road to Perdition arrives on Blu-ray with an incredible set of special features, highlighted by the afore mentioned director’s commentary track. Mendes also provides a new introduction to the film on Blu-ray, praising the transfer and lamenting that Hall is no longer alive to see how well his photography has been translated onto disc. Speaking of Hall, there is a truly wonderful 30-minute tribute to the man and his work, wherein just about every single surviving master of the art praises his cinematography! “The Library: A Further Exploration of the World of ‘Road to Perdition‘” is an interactive experience that allows users to dig deeper into the film via branching featurettes. This wonderful Blu-ray disc release is rounded out with a run-of-the-mill, half-hour “making-of” featurette and a collection of deleted scenes with optional director’s commentary.
Highly recommended!
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I’m not a disaster movie kind of guy. I’ve been dreading the day that I’d have to sit down with one of these films and look at it with a critical eye. Imagine my surprise when The Towering Inferno kept me interested for it’s entire 2 hour, 45 minute runtime!
I’m going to be honest with you here and tell you that there’s not a whole lot of story in this film. I’m sure this doesn’t come as much of a surprise. This movie is simply a special-effects extravaganza. Cinematic disaster-candy. It’s all about the fire. And the copious amount of FX-based special features on the Blu-ray disc support that. What we get in The Towering Inferno is a collection of people, gathered in a newly completed, bajillion-floor office tower (the world’s biggest, apparently) for it’s opening night party. But Paul Newman, the architect of the thing, having just returned from a couple of years fighting bears in the woods, has discovered that the builders have done their work on the cheap (Contractors taking shortcuts on a big job? I don’t believe it…) And now, as a result of not being built to spec, there’s a danger of disaster. And guess what happens when everyone shows up to party?
Famed producer/director Irwin Allen, fresh off the success of his film The Poseidon Adventure and director John Guillerman don’t waste any time fanning the flames and putting the party-goers in peril. It’s at this point that Steve McQueen, the heroic fire chief arrives to save the day. And this is why this movie succeeds for me. I can’t get enough of McQueen. This film may be star-studded but goddamn, the combination of Newman and McQueen just makes it electric. Anytime the camera moves away from them to focus on smarmy Richard Chamberlain, big-boss William Holden or con-man, Fred Astaire I find myself dreaming of Bullit or Butch and Sundance or wondering if I’ve got any new email messages or just nodding off to sleep. But McQueen and Newman make this film come alive. I also found Faye Dunaway in her low, low, low cut, revealing dress quite…attention grabbing. Seriously though, she’s always great. She plays Newman’s girlfriend and does her best to bring the emotional resonance. Like that really matters here. Did I mention Steve McQueen fights fires in this movie? McQueen. Yeah…That’s right…
The Towering Inferno comes to Blu-ray disc in a transfer that looks to my eyes like a spruced up version of the 2006 Special Edition DVD. My guess? The film was transfered in HD with an eye towards creating the finest DVD presentation possible at the time and the potential of having a master to use for later mediums. As we’ve seen time and again on a lot of these discs, those older transfers just aren’t quite good enough for Blu-ray. And that’s what The Towering Inferno looks like to me: a soft, over-processed transfer of a 1974 film.
The good news is that the Blu-ray is packed with extra features, really giving you your monies worth out of your purchase. Everything you’ll find here is a direct port from the DVD and presented in standard def, so don’t expect any dazzling visuals on your big screen. But there is a ton of information to take in. The commentary by film historian F.X. Feeney (yeah, that’s really his name), while a bit dry, is particularly informative. This guys knows his stuff! My only wish is that Fox would have offered a “Play All” option for the featurettes. I always find it a pain in the ass to play one after the other, especially when some of them only clock in at around 5 minutes.
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]]>That being said, it’s going to be like pulling teeth to get me to calmly sit down with the new Blu-ray version of The Towering Inferno, despite the fact that it stars Paul Newman and Steve McQueen and despite the fact that Fox appears to have gone all out putting it together. Seriously, check out this freakishly long list of extras:
THE TOWERING INFERNO
(July 14, MSRP $34.98)
BD-50 Dual Layer Disc
Video: 2.40:1 1080p AVC
Audio: 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
Special Features Include:
• Commentary by F.X. Feeney, film historian
• Scene-specific commentary by Mike Vezina, special effects director on ‘X3′
• Scene-specific commentary by Branko Racki, stunt coordinator on ‘The Day After Tomorrow’
• 32 extended and deleted scenes
• Alternate opening sequence
• Irwin Allen 1977 interview
• Six storyboard comparisons
• 10 featurettes:
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◦ Inside the Tower: We Remember
◦ Innovating Tower: The SPFX of an Inferno
◦ The Art of Towering
◦ Irwin Allen: The Great Producer
◦ Directing the Inferno
◦ Putting out Fire
◦ Running on Fire
◦ Still the World’s Tallest Building
◦ The Write Stirling Silliphant
◦ AMC Backstory: The Towering Inferno
• Vintage promotional materials:
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◦ NATO presentation reel
◦ Two original 1974 featurettes
• Trailer farm:
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◦ ‘The Towering Inferno’ teaser
◦ ‘The Towering Inferno’ trailer
◦ ‘The Poseidon Adventure’ trailer
• Interactive galleries:
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◦ American Cinematographer article
◦ ‘The Towering Inferno’ and how it was filmed
◦ Photographing the dramatic sequences for ‘The Towering Inferno’
◦ “Action Unit” lives up to its name while shooting ‘The Towering Inferno’
• Stills galleries:
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◦ Shot compositions
◦ Publicity
◦ Behind the scenes
◦ Conceptual sketches
◦ Costumes
Amazon.com Link: THE TOWERING INFERNO – $22.99