DVD Review HTF REVIEW: Mystic River (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED). (1 Viewer)

[Haggai]

I'm not hatin' on Marcia G, she was definitely good. And it wasn't just the last speech that stood out for me with Linney, it was also the earlier part with Bacon and Fishburne interrogating her and Penn. She was kicking ass in that scene.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Just got the 3-disc version.

As I believe Herb mentioned in his review, I don't like that you have to take out disc 2 and hold it/put it down somewhere (where it could be prone to scratches) to fish out disc 3.

Yo WHV! This looks like a great set and I'm very glad to have it, but if you ever do something like this again, just give us a 3-panel digipack please! And I wouldn't mind it if you started replacing currently -purchased copies with proper cases for us either.

As for the set itself, I will check in with my impressions of the DVD discs later. I've got the soundtrack in my CD player now and am finding it suprisingly beautiful on its own. I didn't want it at first, but I'm now glad that I have it. I remember thinking it was very effective in the film, and it seems to be just as beautiful when not paired with images.

Very glad to own this set.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Just finished watching this film for the very
first time this morning.

One of the best films I have seen in a long time --
perhaps ever.

It has been a long time since a film has moved
me so emotionally as this one. I cried many times
throughout.

A positively brilliant film. Had I seen it prior
to this year's Academy Awards I would have joined
the rantings of others who felt that Mystic River
was robbed of a much deserved Best Picture
Oscar. The much deserved "appreciation" award given
to Lord of The Rings was done in the wrong year.

I am so impressed with Eastwood's direction here.
Everything about this film reaks of utter brilliance
including the performances by Penn and Robbins. Thank
God both these individuals won the awards they deserved.

Warner Brothers has done an outstanding job with
a transfer that is warm, yet sharp and clearly defined.

Anyone who has not yet had the opportunity to see
this film should buy it sight unseen.

Bravo!

 

[Lou Sytsma]

I can think of no rationale that could justify such a legacy. The one she gives may let those characters sleep at night but it is based on primitive reasoning. Sorry, I guess I have a better opinion of the human race.

Beyond the speech, the gestures made by Bacon and Penn to one another really trivialized the whole story. Life's a bitch and then you die.

The part of Linney's speech that really grated with me wasn't the Lady McBeth bit - I can see that playing out in real life. It was her remark about Marcia Harden's character - what kind of a wife is that? The only person with any true conscience and she is left an object of scorn.

 

[Doug Schiller]

I watched it last night.
I loved it. Just top notch directing and acting from beginning to end.
Still, it takes 3 to be a best picture and the screenwriting was a little too contrived. Without giving anything away, it was a script where everything had to happen a certain way at an exact time for it to work.
All the police work, relationships of the parties, time of the events were a little too convenient for me.

Without the A++ cast and director it felt like your typical gritty Mirimax straight to video type drama (Like the Yards and Monument Ave).

But, I couldn't stop watching and the long running time flew by.

It also shows us that Laurence Fishburne is being wasted as an actor. He was also amazing.

Doug

P.S. My DVD Political comment: Thumbs down to Warner for continuing this dual inventory practice (Master and Commander, etc.).
Just release the 2 disc set as the standard release.

 

[Michael Reuben]

M&C was released by Fox. I'm not a fan of the dual-inventory approach either, but it's not just a Warner phenomenon.

M.

 

[Stephen_L]

I thought Mystic was a fine film but not the best of the year. The acting was superb, like watching a thespian all-star team show their moves, but the story had a couple jarring flaws for me.

Tim Robbins character was so OBVIOUSLY set up for the viewer to be the 'killer' that I could tell it was a set up. A little more ambiguity in his character and the situation would have made the film more compelling.

Tim Robbins character is an emotional basket case, a damaged man who has something to hide, yet when he is in police interrogation he's suddenly this smooth, slick operator expertly deflecting the detectives questions. Nothing shown before or after that scene suggests he's that cool and clever.

Laura Lindley's speech was a spell binder, but she has little else to do in the film, and nothing to give us context for her cold calculating attitude. When the film ended I was dying to know more about her, but I didn't get it.

 

[Michael Reuben]

It's important to remember that Annabeth (Linney's character) is not the mother of Katie, the daughter who died. Jimmy obviously doted on Katie, but now the way is clear for Annabeth and her children by Jimmy to receive the full benefit of his attention and whatever position and wealth he can attain. I'd say that's a lot of context.

M.

 

[Doug Schiller]

I know M&C is from Fox. I didn't mean to be vague.
I meant the overall practice of needless dual inventory/same date releases like New Line's Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Universal's Red Dragon.

 

[Jeff Gatie]

She was a Savage, a product of her family and her past. That's all we really need to know because destiny vs. the past is one of the most important themes in the film.

 

[Mark Bendiksen]

I'm in agreement with you, Ron. It's also refreshing to see a major Hollywood studio film with an uncompromising ending, in the sense that everything is not wrapped in a bow and handed to you on a plate. Not that Eastwood probably didn't get pressure from some WB executive at some point to take a different approach to film's conclusion. If he did, it's apparent that he stuck to his guns. Good for him (and good for us, too).

 

[Jeannette Walsh]

Although I will probably swing for the 3 disc set eventually, I wanted to ask about the single disc version being in a snapper. I thought WB had given them up on their new releases. The last 2 Matrix movies and Matchstrick Men came in amaray cases. What's the deal?

 

[KyleG]

Does anyone truly care about Academy Awards? Do they somehow give a film more merit once it has been awarded a big, gold, naked dude? The Academy is, put simply, corrupt. ROTK was probably not the best film of last year, and Mystic River was probably not the best film of last year. But both are excellent. Mystic River is a film I've been waiting for for a long time now, and I can't wait to sit down and watch this DVD. Who cares whether the Academy did or did not recognize it. They know nothing about movies, anyway.

EDIT: Oh, and while I respect the fact that Eastwood's talents enable him even to score his films, I can't say Mystic River's score was very impressive. At times, it was jarring and took me out of the moment. So having to shell out the $$$ for it does not make me happy. I will revisit it with an open mind...maybe I will feel differently in the comfort of my own home.

 

[KyleG]

Jeannette,

To the best of my knowledge, Matchstick Men came in a snapper.

 

[Randy B A]

Matchstick men single disc came in a snapper. The 2 disc with the sound track came in a slim double keepcase. I'm guessing that Mystic River would have been the same way if it had only been two discs.

 

[Lew Crippen]

So how much money do you suppose it takes to by the average vote Kyle?

I suppose the New Line and Peter Jackson no doubt used some of their profits from the first two LOTR films to subsidize the bribes to the Academy members this year.

I wonder if it is cheaper to put together a package bribe, where you get BP, director and a slew of the somewhat more minor awards, at a price that is cheaper than paying for each bribe individually?

I too have often been puzzled that some of the awards, but I never thought that the economics of buying votes would be practical.

Plus how do you find an honest voter—that is, one who stays bought?

 

[Shane Martin]

I picked up the 3 disc after reading Ron's review. Plus I was able to find a copy due to a misprint in an ad for $15.95. Not too shabby for the 3 discer.

I figured Eastwood directing = a blind buy for me and I couldn't go wrong.

 

[elMalloc]

Why do you guys pick up the 3discer when the 3rd disc is just the soundtrack?

That is the only difference, correct?

 

[Michael Reuben]

No.

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...13#post2124613

M.

 

[Jeff Gatie]

The 3 disk version (movie, extras and soundtrack) is the only way to get the extras DVD. There is no "2 disk" version, only the bare bones 1 disk and the 3 disk.