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In Short: Wild british crime comedy finally comes to DVD.
The Movie:
This British import left theaters fairly quickly in the US after it was stamped with the "Pulp Fiction" knockoff tag, although it certainly has more in common with Danny Boyle's "Trainspotting" than Tarantino's "Fiction". It doesn't have the same narrative structure that "Pulp" did, but it does certainly contain the violence, with the visual style of "Trainspotting" mixed in as well as a good deal of its own original brand of humor. In fact, the camerawork here is really what impressed me most technically, with motion tricks that I found quite impressive for a film of this size.
Eddy, Tom, Soap and Bacon are a group of con men that have scrapped together enough money to get into a card game with a local crime figure, Harry Lonsdale. The game is a trap and soon, Eddy finds himself out quite a ton of money, as well as owing Harry quite a bit of cash. So, Eddy turns to robbing another group of local criminals led by a rather nasty guy named Dog. Dog's group is robbing a group of pot growers that week. So, the criminals are robbing the criminals are robbing the criminals. Or at least I think that's how it goes. The film is really so wonderfully plotted that it takes at least a second viewing to capture all of the story's small details and the exact roles of the numerous characters.
The story remains simply interesting as it lays out the details in the first quarter of the movie, but when it really gets going, the pace of the film never stops throughout. Sometimes it gets a little too dark for comedy, but the way the details come together throughout is never dull. Definitely a cool film and one of 1999's better offerings.
The DVD
VIDEO: Pretty good, but not terribly impressive 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer(there's also a full-screen version included). The film retains a cool washed-out look throughout and the sort of bland color palette looks accurately rendered throughout. Images seem a bit soft on occasion and detail is good, but not great. The exterior scenes generally seem a little sharper and more defined than the interiors. There's nothing in the way of pixelization or shimmering, but there did seem to be a few slight scratches on the print that was used. This certainly isn't a bad transfer at all, but it just isn't as impressive as I'd have liked.
SOUND: Aside from a few cool tunes on the soundtrack and a gun battle or two, this is just a pleasing but not terribly thrilling soundtrack. There's some great tunes here, but most importantly, dialogue is clear and never compressed sounding- especially important when some may have otherwise had a little trouble understanding the accents.
MENUS: Basic non-anamated(but nicely designed) main menu.
EXTRAS: The US and UK trailers are included, as well as a dictionary of the slang used in the film. Also, there is a fairly nice featurette with cast and crew interviews.
Final thoughts: A very cool film and definitely worth at least a rental.
The Film: 85/B = (425/500 possible points)
Video: 86/B+ = (344/400 possible points)
Audio: 88/B = (352/400 possible points)
Extras: 78/C = (234/300 possible points)
Menus: 75/C = (150/200 possible points)
Value: 88/B = (264/300 possible points)
TOTAL POINTS:1769/2100
Average:84.23%/B
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