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Usual Suspects, The
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Linksynergy]
The Movie:
"Who is Keyser Soze?" It was the question that rung out through the moviegoing masses during the last days of Summer in 1995. Bryan Singer had directed a phenomenally twisty noir thriller with sharp, smart dialogue and a cold, simple style.
Singer's film starts off with an event that we're convinced is real. A man lays dying on the deck of a ship. We later learn this is Dean Keaton(Gabriel Byrne) , a one time corrupt cop who's turned to small time robbery. A masked figure walks up to him and casually kills him. We only learn this masked character's first name: Keyser. Flash backward to the narrative; we're meeting the small time band of crooks one by one: Keaton, Fenster, McManus, Hockney and finally, one Verbal Kint. Kint, a crippled small time crook, is the narrator.
The film focuses on the dialogue between Kint and Dave Kujan, a customs agent with the FBI. The film bounces back and forth between the flashback and the aftermath of the death of Keaton. The tale unfolds in two sets; in the past, we see the criminals plotting an emerald heist and in the other set, it's all over and the only one left is Verbal Kint, a man seemingly protected by "up on high by the prince of darkness" as forces are seemingly at work as he sits in the police station trying to set him free. It's the talents of Kevin Spacey as Kint and Chazz Palmentari as Kujan that makes the cat and mouse game they play as the dialogue unfolds completely fascinating.
But it's not just Singer's film. It's just as much one Christopher McQuarrie's. McQuarrie, the screenwriter, has been friends with Singer since the two attended high school together. It's McQuarrie's labrynth screenplay, full of twists and turns, that is the backbone of the film. It's fascinating that the first scene can give you a sense of what happened during the final robbery,then spend the entire film convincing you otherwise, leaving you unsure of just who to believe. Some people accuse the film of "toying" with the audience(I've heard similar accusations towards the similar crime thriller "Bound"), but it knows what pace to let out information so we don't feel "teased.There are moments that hint at the final resolution, taking a risk and throwing ideas of who is "Keyser Soze" at us; but we can't be sure if the film is just playing with us or not, while it constantly adds layer upon layer of urgency and tension to the story.
"The Usual Suspects" is the kind of film that challenges and rewards us for following along, playing with our expectations of cast, conventions and concepts right up until the big payoff ending where we find out who really is "Keyser Soze". McQaurrie's dialogue deserved an Oscar and recieved it; it's one of the most wonderfully complex and rewarding thrillers in ages, and one of my very favorite movies.
The DVD
VIDEO: For a non-anamorphic transfer, "The Usual Suspects" looks very good, but it's not as good as this film deserves to look. Newton Thomas Siegel("Three Kings")'s cinematography is bold and frequently gorgeous, and images look pretty sharp, even in some of the film's darker scenes. Detail is consistently very good as well. Colors are rich and very nicely saturated. Flesh tones are very nice and natural, and black level is strong as well.
There are a few slight artifacts, but they don't distract. The print used is clear and clean, with the exception of a couple of slight marks. It's of good quality, and certainly one of the better non-anamorphic transfers I've seen, but it could stand to look a little stronger overall. There's also a pan/scan version included.
SOUND: It's very dissapointing that "The Usual Suspects" is not in 5.1. The audio is adequate, presenting the few moments of action as well as John Ottman's phenomenal score nicely, but not impressively. Dialogue is fine, coming through clearly.
MENUS:: Nicely done main menu, with clips from the movie playing as well as John Ottman's score in the background. Sub-menus are basic.
EXTRAS:
Commentary: It's great to listen to this commentary again, with director Bryan Singer and writer Christopher McQuarrie - I definitely have to place it among the very best commentaries I've ever had the pleasure of listening to. Not only are both very honest about their feelings towards what they think goes right and wrong during the movie (even pointing out an error or two), but their friendship(they've been friends since high school) makes for a very funny and very entertaining listen.
It's one of the few commentaries that's mainly story-driven and the stories that the two have to offer about various incidents that happened on set, or how the film was changed around, is really fascinating to listen to. Not only that, but they manage to be incredibly funny at times, with McQuarrie doing a perfect imitation of Chazz Palmentari, as well as chatting about an audience member who didn't care for the film at a screening.
It's an excellent commentary that's wonderfully entertaining, and still manages to provide plenty of details about the making of the movie. As a note, the clips of commentary mixed together over the end credits are intentionally like that.
Also: The film's trailer, booklet with notes.
"Who is Keyser Soze?" It was the question that rung out through the moviegoing masses during the last days of Summer in 1995. Bryan Singer had directed a phenomenally twisty noir thriller with sharp, smart dialogue and a cold, simple style.
Singer's film starts off with an event that we're convinced is real. A man lays dying on the deck of a ship. We later learn this is Dean Keaton(Gabriel Byrne) , a one time corrupt cop who's turned to small time robbery. A masked figure walks up to him and casually kills him. We only learn this masked character's first name: Keyser. Flash backward to the narrative; we're meeting the small time band of crooks one by one: Keaton, Fenster, McManus, Hockney and finally, one Verbal Kint. Kint, a crippled small time crook, is the narrator.
The film focuses on the dialogue between Kint and Dave Kujan, a customs agent with the FBI. The film bounces back and forth between the flashback and the aftermath of the death of Keaton. The tale unfolds in two sets; in the past, we see the criminals plotting an emerald heist and in the other set, it's all over and the only one left is Verbal Kint, a man seemingly protected by "up on high by the prince of darkness" as forces are seemingly at work as he sits in the police station trying to set him free. It's the talents of Kevin Spacey as Kint and Chazz Palmentari as Kujan that makes the cat and mouse game they play as the dialogue unfolds completely fascinating.
But it's not just Singer's film. It's just as much one Christopher McQuarrie's. McQuarrie, the screenwriter, has been friends with Singer since the two attended high school together. It's McQuarrie's labrynth screenplay, full of twists and turns, that is the backbone of the film. It's fascinating that the first scene can give you a sense of what happened during the final robbery,then spend the entire film convincing you otherwise, leaving you unsure of just who to believe. Some people accuse the film of "toying" with the audience(I've heard similar accusations towards the similar crime thriller "Bound"), but it knows what pace to let out information so we don't feel "teased.There are moments that hint at the final resolution, taking a risk and throwing ideas of who is "Keyser Soze" at us; but we can't be sure if the film is just playing with us or not, while it constantly adds layer upon layer of urgency and tension to the story.
"The Usual Suspects" is the kind of film that challenges and rewards us for following along, playing with our expectations of cast, conventions and concepts right up until the big payoff ending where we find out who really is "Keyser Soze". McQaurrie's dialogue deserved an Oscar and recieved it; it's one of the most wonderfully complex and rewarding thrillers in ages, and one of my very favorite movies.
The DVD
VIDEO: For a non-anamorphic transfer, "The Usual Suspects" looks very good, but it's not as good as this film deserves to look. Newton Thomas Siegel("Three Kings")'s cinematography is bold and frequently gorgeous, and images look pretty sharp, even in some of the film's darker scenes. Detail is consistently very good as well. Colors are rich and very nicely saturated. Flesh tones are very nice and natural, and black level is strong as well.
There are a few slight artifacts, but they don't distract. The print used is clear and clean, with the exception of a couple of slight marks. It's of good quality, and certainly one of the better non-anamorphic transfers I've seen, but it could stand to look a little stronger overall. There's also a pan/scan version included.
SOUND: It's very dissapointing that "The Usual Suspects" is not in 5.1. The audio is adequate, presenting the few moments of action as well as John Ottman's phenomenal score nicely, but not impressively. Dialogue is fine, coming through clearly.
MENUS:: Nicely done main menu, with clips from the movie playing as well as John Ottman's score in the background. Sub-menus are basic.
EXTRAS:
Commentary: It's great to listen to this commentary again, with director Bryan Singer and writer Christopher McQuarrie - I definitely have to place it among the very best commentaries I've ever had the pleasure of listening to. Not only are both very honest about their feelings towards what they think goes right and wrong during the movie (even pointing out an error or two), but their friendship(they've been friends since high school) makes for a very funny and very entertaining listen.
It's one of the few commentaries that's mainly story-driven and the stories that the two have to offer about various incidents that happened on set, or how the film was changed around, is really fascinating to listen to. Not only that, but they manage to be incredibly funny at times, with McQuarrie doing a perfect imitation of Chazz Palmentari, as well as chatting about an audience member who didn't care for the film at a screening.
It's an excellent commentary that's wonderfully entertaining, and still manages to provide plenty of details about the making of the movie. As a note, the clips of commentary mixed together over the end credits are intentionally like that.
Also: The film's trailer, booklet with notes.
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