DVD Review HTF REVIEW: Sin City - RECOMMENDED (1 Viewer)

[Inspector Hammer!]

Great review, David!

I saw this film twice in the theater and was hypnotized both times, drawn in and convinced that I was in that dank, dirty and violent world being presented to me, and I was very concerned that the eventual dvd would not be able to capture that.

Well, here it is some months later and I picked it up today and my father and I just finished watching it on my 96" screen utilizing the DTS track...the experience survived the transition to the home intact! I was every bit as drawn in and hypnotized tonight as I was in the theater.

As David points out, the transfer is gorgeous, low rez shmo rez, this dvd is an awesome representation of the film and I would urge any fan of the film to pick it up, if not for the meantime until the SE. I don't get hung up on double dipping, when the SE comes out i'll getit and then dump this one on ebay and make almost all of my money back, so I lose nothing, really.

Fantastic film, and i'm relieved that my fears weren't realized, they easily could have gotten this dvd wrong, thankfully they didn't and Sin City rocks as hard and kicks as much ass in my HT as it did at the cinema!

 

[Steve Tannehill]

Thanks for the review, David!

I saw this theatrically in DLP, and I knew immediately that this DVD would be in my collection. The visual style is just brilliant, and I love showing off the home theater with content like this.

The special edition is a bit of a concern, however, as there is no absolute guarantee that it will include the original version of the movie--but surely it will. I mean, they wouldn't want to tempt anyone to own two copies of a movie, would they? Wait, this release has four covers... must... hold... back... credit... card...

But seriously, with the picture quality so good on this release, my real concern would be if we get the same transfer, or one of slightly lower quality due to the additional features. In other words, is this the "Superbit" version of the movie? Is that why this looks so fabulous?

I believe I read an interview with Robert Rodriguez where he said that the SE would be out in 4 months--that would make it just in time for the holidays.

Regardless, I don't think you can go wrong with this disc. And if you get it at Best Buy, you get a reprint of issue 1 of "A Dame to Kill For." Sweet.

- Steve

 

[ClaytonMG]

Why is no one bringing up the staticky dialogue with the high pitched sound in it? Am I the only one noticing this? It was like it in theaters too but I thought it was just the the theater I saw it in. Another thing I noticed, and this was really one of the only flaws with the picture, was when Clive Owen was driving the red car chasing Benicio, you can see the fin from the car behind him and it looks EXTREMELY compressed. Other than that there was no other complaints. But the audio REALLY bothered me.

Clayton

 

[Ernesto.Morin]

Great review! Now I am happy I picked this up today at CC with the lithos!

 

[Rob Tomlin]

A "Stunningly pure" picture works for me!

 

[Max Leung]

Just finished watching this - amazing transfer. Plenty of fog and rain, and yet I could not detect any obvious compression artifacts on my HTPC.

I did see some slight banding on Carla's buttocks (you know the scene! ) and on the woman's face in the opening scene - but I think that's just my projector.

I haven't any issues with the dialog on the DTS track - but I have a Paradigm CC350 center speaker and a Yamaha DSP-A1 integrated amp. Although, in some scenes there is a very slight amount of static - I have to listen close and careful to detect it.

 

[Ray H]

I rented this one and I hope to be picking up the SE.

Video looks good. I rewatched the film and it never really occured to me before, but Bruce Willis doesn't make a very convincing guy that's supposed to be in his mid to late 60s.

 

[ClaytonMG]

I should mention it's not in all the scenes, ussually it's the outdoor ones where you can hear the statick and the highpitched sound. It kinda sounds like when there's a monitor on.

Clayton

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Clayton,

I don't remember the effect you're talking about. I'll have to double check.

John, I'm including your comments into the main review.

-dave

 

[Daryl L]

Dang!!! I loved every single minute of the movie! The plot/story, the cinematography, the acting, the CGI were all very well done. I felt adrenalin pumped/excited from beginning to end. It was dark, moody, gritty, gutsy, tantilizing, thrilling, hipnotic. Just a few small words to describe how this movie looked and felt to me. Now that was a kewl movie! I haven't been a comic book reader since I was a kid (many years ago) and although I've watched many early cinema film noirs I don't consider my self an die hard fan (I'm more a horror genre fan) so was only a tiny bit scheptical of this blind purchase but I was drawn in and completely hook by the time the opening credits showed.

I also loved how the audio mas mixed (I used the DTS track). I get so sick and tired of movies were I have to turn the voume up too load for sound effects just to make out a lot of the dialog then turn it back down before blowing my eardrums or speakers. Sin City was not like that at all. I was able to set the volume to one level for the entire movie and I had no problem hearing every syllable of dialog. I did not hear any static or high pitched sound that ClaytonMG notice but I was using the DTS track though.

 

[Ron-P]

I watched this last night, an amazing work of art no doubt, I love the way this was done, it looks like your flipping the pages of a comic book.

The audio was outstanding. The video, while also near perfect suffers from that dreaded Edge Enhancement. Not noticeable 100% of the time but it is there. Blacks are solid with great detail. The imagery at times is almost 3D'ish in nature and seems to just jumps off the screen.

Over all, a 9 / 10 from me. A very cool film.

 

[Jon Martin]

Amazon has it for $15.98.

 

[Damin J Toell]

$15.88 with free shipping at DeepDiscountDVD.com.

DJ

 

[Ron-P]

Circuit City is $14.99 and Best Buy will price match.

 

[KevinHunt]

Watched it last night. Great flick. Didn't notice any dialogue problems at all concerning static or high pitched sounds. I listened to the DTS track through M&K S150s, EAD 8800 pre/pro, Arcam DV27A DVD player and had it at a fairly high volume. Doubt it's a hardware problem but thought I would list anyway.

 

[Lyle_JP]

It doesn't always work that way. I love both Pulp Fiction and both Kill Bills. I didn't like Sin City, and will likely never watch it again.

While both Rodriguez and Tarantino are good at making films which are violent for violence's sake, the difference here is compelling characters. Tarantino's films have them. Whether you like the characters in his films or not, you still want to know what will happen to them.

The characters in Sin City exist only to be the givers or receivers of over-the-top brutallity. And it's really hard to give a f*** about which side of the brutality any of them will end up on. Sorry, but that's just the feeling Sin City gave me. YMMV.

-Lyle J.P.

 

[Grant H]

I SOOO want to pick this up, but am also SOOO broke.

Maybe I'll add it to my Netflix queu and watch it a few times to tide me over for the SE.

I'll be pissed if I have to pick this version up eventually for the theatrical cut though.

Of course, the SE will probably cost a lot more $$. Gotta say I miss the days when you could pick up a 2 disc SE on release day for $14.98 if you shopped around. Fox started going barebones with later SE releases, and damn WB for going to simultaneous 1-disc and 2-disc editions. Now I have to pay 5 bucks more if I want the extras, and chances are I'll only watch them once. I was so pumped for Batman Begins, but much of my excitement was sucked away when I saw they were doing the 1-disc and 2-disc edition. I paid $20 for Constantine and wasn't looking forward to paying that much again.:frowning: The fact that the old Batman films 2-discers will likely be more tricked out and cost less rubs it in.

 

[Dome Vongvises]

Same story here, but thanks for the review. Might give in to tempation as I loved this in theaters.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Wow, thanks, David, for including my modest little review with yours! :b

 

[Michael Ballack]

Watched this last night. Finally a comic movie for adults! At first I was a little worried about the look of the movie(thought it was going to be sort of like Dogville), but quickly understood what they were trying to acheive. I have to watch this again, I can't decide which story is my favorite. So any word on a sequel? I thought I heard somewhere that it would depend on how well the dvd sells. I hope it does well then.