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Messenger: Joan Of Arc, The
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
Director Luc Besson did incredibly well with "The Professional" a stunningly sharp tale about a hitman and a girl who has recently lost her family. Although most seemed to enjoy his next feature, I found the "5th Element" to be an overload of style, with a lack of story and interesting characters. Although "The Messenger" runs too long(this is the international version, which is even 10 minutes longer!), Besson did succeed here in getting me interested in the tale, even if he didn't hold my interest until the very end.
If anything, I think that Besson simply picked the wrong Joan. Milla Jovovich, who's not bad and does fine with the intensity and emotions, but doesn't manage to carry the film. If you're looking for a stronger Joan, look no further than Leelee Sobieski, who was marvelous as Joan in the miniseries that played on TV last year. Anyways, the story revolves around young Joan, who recieves a message from God that she must save France from it's enemies. The film may not always tell the history terribly well, but one can't help but be stunned by the visuals - Besson goes to edge with his hyper-visual style, but thankfully never goes overboard.
Less than thrilling performances combine with less than interesting dialogue. The visual style and stunning photography from cinematographer Thierry Arbogast, who worked with Besson before on "The Professional" and "5th Element". Once the picture gets going with the action, it drops off a little further - it becomes Joan screaming at everyone - and everyone screaming back at her. Besson shot the battle scenes in a way that puts the audience directly in the middle of it all, and while it's an interesting choice, it's a little too much controlled insanity - there's just a lot of blood and yelling everywhere. The violence is over-the-top at times, as well, which ends up hurting the picture and bringing scenes to a halt - if only for a moment until the chaos begins again.
It's watchable stuff, certainly, but there's not much more than that to look. Stunning visuals combined with fair performances and silly dialogue - it's a loud, long picture that had potential to be more than it turned out to be. It's almost exhausting to watch.
The DVD
VIDEO: At this point, I'm convinced that Tristar can make just about anything look great - from the smallest indie film(their beautiful transfer of "Bottle Rocket") to a big budget picture like this one. There is a trace flaw here and there, but the positives are marvelous, with an image that is breathtakingly clear and sharp, with excellent detail. Every set is extremely well-done and the picture brings every detail out to perfection. The movie is visually stunning, and translates extremely well to DVD - in the hands of a studio as skilled with DVD as Columbia, they have produced an extremely good looking disc. Colors are natural and very well-rendered, with no bleeding at all.
There is an instance or two of slight shimmering, but that's about all that I found to complain about with this image. No problems at all with the print used, and the picture, for the great majority, remains perfectly crystal clear. Nothing unusual from Tristar - they do great work 99 times out of 100.
SOUND: As good as the video is, the audio for "The Messenger" nearly equals it - the sound becomes an experience, bringing the viewer deep into every experience, whether it be the open, spacious interior scenes, or the chaos of battle. The action scenes envelop you, and the surrounds are used agressively throughout the movie. There are instances of deep, rich bass throughout that take the intensity further. The score is rich and sweeping, sounding wonderful on this DVD. Dialogue is very natural and effective, sounding clear.
MENUS:: A nicely done animated clip introduces us to a film-themed non-animated menu, although there is a nice little sword animation when the viewer makes a choice.
EXTRAS: This DVD has the "international" version of the film, which extends the picture by 10 minutes. Along with that aspect, there are a small, but enjoyable group of additional features to look through.
First Look: The Making Of "The Messenger": An extremely enjoyable and well-produced 23 minute documentary narrated by star Milla Jovovich, this documentary is a mix of both history behind the story and informative, in-depth looks at the production at work. There are interviews with a few of the cast and crew, but for the most part, the presentation goes back and forth between giving the viewer a look at the history and locations of the tale and a look at the enormous production at work, building a scene.
Trailers: Theatrical and teaser trailers for "The Messenger", and trailers for "Run Lola Run", "Orlando" and "The Professional".
Also: Talent files and an isolated score.
Final Thoughts: The movie has it's share of great moments and flaws, but overall, it's more of a renter than a recommendation. If you're a fan of the film though, I can definitely recommend Tristar's DVD. Although it's not heavy on extra content, the audio and video quality are top-notch.
Director Luc Besson did incredibly well with "The Professional" a stunningly sharp tale about a hitman and a girl who has recently lost her family. Although most seemed to enjoy his next feature, I found the "5th Element" to be an overload of style, with a lack of story and interesting characters. Although "The Messenger" runs too long(this is the international version, which is even 10 minutes longer!), Besson did succeed here in getting me interested in the tale, even if he didn't hold my interest until the very end.
If anything, I think that Besson simply picked the wrong Joan. Milla Jovovich, who's not bad and does fine with the intensity and emotions, but doesn't manage to carry the film. If you're looking for a stronger Joan, look no further than Leelee Sobieski, who was marvelous as Joan in the miniseries that played on TV last year. Anyways, the story revolves around young Joan, who recieves a message from God that she must save France from it's enemies. The film may not always tell the history terribly well, but one can't help but be stunned by the visuals - Besson goes to edge with his hyper-visual style, but thankfully never goes overboard.
Less than thrilling performances combine with less than interesting dialogue. The visual style and stunning photography from cinematographer Thierry Arbogast, who worked with Besson before on "The Professional" and "5th Element". Once the picture gets going with the action, it drops off a little further - it becomes Joan screaming at everyone - and everyone screaming back at her. Besson shot the battle scenes in a way that puts the audience directly in the middle of it all, and while it's an interesting choice, it's a little too much controlled insanity - there's just a lot of blood and yelling everywhere. The violence is over-the-top at times, as well, which ends up hurting the picture and bringing scenes to a halt - if only for a moment until the chaos begins again.
It's watchable stuff, certainly, but there's not much more than that to look. Stunning visuals combined with fair performances and silly dialogue - it's a loud, long picture that had potential to be more than it turned out to be. It's almost exhausting to watch.
The DVD
VIDEO: At this point, I'm convinced that Tristar can make just about anything look great - from the smallest indie film(their beautiful transfer of "Bottle Rocket") to a big budget picture like this one. There is a trace flaw here and there, but the positives are marvelous, with an image that is breathtakingly clear and sharp, with excellent detail. Every set is extremely well-done and the picture brings every detail out to perfection. The movie is visually stunning, and translates extremely well to DVD - in the hands of a studio as skilled with DVD as Columbia, they have produced an extremely good looking disc. Colors are natural and very well-rendered, with no bleeding at all.
There is an instance or two of slight shimmering, but that's about all that I found to complain about with this image. No problems at all with the print used, and the picture, for the great majority, remains perfectly crystal clear. Nothing unusual from Tristar - they do great work 99 times out of 100.
SOUND: As good as the video is, the audio for "The Messenger" nearly equals it - the sound becomes an experience, bringing the viewer deep into every experience, whether it be the open, spacious interior scenes, or the chaos of battle. The action scenes envelop you, and the surrounds are used agressively throughout the movie. There are instances of deep, rich bass throughout that take the intensity further. The score is rich and sweeping, sounding wonderful on this DVD. Dialogue is very natural and effective, sounding clear.
MENUS:: A nicely done animated clip introduces us to a film-themed non-animated menu, although there is a nice little sword animation when the viewer makes a choice.
EXTRAS: This DVD has the "international" version of the film, which extends the picture by 10 minutes. Along with that aspect, there are a small, but enjoyable group of additional features to look through.
First Look: The Making Of "The Messenger": An extremely enjoyable and well-produced 23 minute documentary narrated by star Milla Jovovich, this documentary is a mix of both history behind the story and informative, in-depth looks at the production at work. There are interviews with a few of the cast and crew, but for the most part, the presentation goes back and forth between giving the viewer a look at the history and locations of the tale and a look at the enormous production at work, building a scene.
Trailers: Theatrical and teaser trailers for "The Messenger", and trailers for "Run Lola Run", "Orlando" and "The Professional".
Also: Talent files and an isolated score.
Final Thoughts: The movie has it's share of great moments and flaws, but overall, it's more of a renter than a recommendation. If you're a fan of the film though, I can definitely recommend Tristar's DVD. Although it's not heavy on extra content, the audio and video quality are top-notch.
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