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Order this DVD from Amazon.com
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Dark
Blue
(MGM Home Entertainment)
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| DVD
Release Date:
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June
24, 2003
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Length:
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118 mins.
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| Rated:
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R
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| Format:
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Widescreen (2.35:1), Full Screen (1.33:1)
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Audio:
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English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 2.0
Surround), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
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| Subtitles:
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English, Spanish, French
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| Extras:
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Audio
Commentary with Ron Shelton, "Internal Affairs" - 3
Featurettes, Photo Gallery, Original Theatrical Trailer
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There are those movies that you see on
the rental shelf and you think to yourself, "Should I rent it? I
heard it was good…" but failing to trust that thought you move
on to the next title. Well "Dark Blue", starring perennial
B-Movie star Kurt Russell, is one of those movies. It didn't do all
that well in it's theatrical release, but word of mouth on it isn't
all that bad.
The movie focuses on Russell as a rogue cop, doing good but also doing
bad. We sympathize with him, but we know he is a bad guy. Much like
the TV show "The Shield" the anti-hero is someone that we
can't fully connect with. Russell gives an interesting performance as
a bad cop, so trapped in his own web of lies that when he actually
tries to do something good, his superior (Brendan Gleeson - who is the
epitome of corruption in the police force) forces Russell into doing
the not so right thing.
Police corruption is nothing new to author James Ellroy author of many
crime stories including the excellent movie "LA
Confidential". While "Dark Blue" isn't as strong as
"LA Confidential", it does provide an interesting glimpse
into the LAPD. From Ellroy's novel, the screenplay was written by
"Training Day" writer David Ayer. No stranger to rogue cops
who write their own rules and laws, Ayer and director Ron Shelton show
how strong the "Old-Boys" network is in the LAPD and how it is used
for those on top to get their way. They also effectively fused the
Rodney King incident as a backdrop to the story - chaos ensuing as the
verdict was read.
While the ending was a little weak and the Ving Rhames character was
underutilized, I would still recommend this movie to those wandering
aimlessly through the video store looking for something decent that
they haven't seen.
The Special Features
One word to describe the DVD - weak.
I got a little tired of director Ron Shelton telling us that they had
no money for this and no money for that, so obviously they had no
money for the DVD. Not too surprising since the movie didn't make that
much money either.
Off the bat, a double-sided dual layered disc means one of those
confusing DVD's where you can never remember if you put the DVD in the
right way to get the widescreen version. (Yes, I got it wrong the
first time.) I know you can read the tiny little print on the clear
ring to find out which side is which, but since I have only one other
DVD like this, I can never remember if it means that side up or down.
Anyways, the disc features Ron Shelton giving us a commentary track.
Almost like any other commentary track - why things were shot, what I
was showing here, what I meant there. I just wish he would stop
talking about the sports movies he prefers to make and what they had
to do with so little money.
The three featurettes in the Internal Affairs section were also a
little week. The first one, titled "Code Blue", was Shelton again
talking about their meager budget and the realism they strived for by
shooting in seedy parts of LA. The second, titled "By the Book", was
about how to portray actors as cops by a former cop who was the
technical supervisor on the movie. The third, titled "Necessary Force",
was about the costumes for actors and other boring stuff. I really
would have liked to have heard more about what this move was trying to
say about the police force, the LAPD and the Rodney King ties. That
addition would have made for a stronger featurette.
Finally, a photo gallery and trailer... yawn...
In the final analysis, I would have to say that honestly... take a
chance on it. The movie itself is above average and well worth the
cost of a rental.
| The
Movie: |
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7/10 |
| The
Extras: |
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4/10 |
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| Recommendation: |
Rent
This One |
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did you think?
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Click
here for more information on Dark Blue
Blair Barbesin - Contributor
More Reviews - Click Here
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