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Actor-director Ben Affleck makes a third trip to “The Town” with an Ultimate Collector's Edition, delivering an alternate cut of his compelling cops-and-robbers drama alongside a number of new extras.
The Town: Ultimate Collector’s Edition
Release Date: March 6, 2012
Studio: Warner Home Video
Packaging/Materials: Three-disc Digipack with slipcase
Year: 2010
Rating: R
Running Time: 2:33:26 (extended with alternate ending) / 2:04:44 (theatrical) / 2:30:17 (extended) /
MSRP: $49.99
| THE FEATURE | SPECIAL FEATURES | |
| Video | AVC: 1080p high definition 16x9 2.40:1 | High definition |
| Audio |
Disc One DTS-HD Master Audio: English 5.1 / Dolby Digital: French 5.1, Spanish 5.1, Castellano 5.1 Disc Two DTS-HD Master Audio: English 5.1 / Dolby Digital: French 5.1, Spanish 5.1 |
Various |
| Subtitles |
Disc One English SDH, French, German SDH, Castellano, Chinese, Spanish, Turkish Disc Two English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese |
Various |
Note: The following includes material from my review of the 2010 Blu-ray release of “The Town.”
The Feature
Theatrical Cut: 4/5
Extended Cut: 3.5/5
Extended Cut with Alternate Ending: 3.5/5
The Boston neighborhood of Charlestown bears the dubious honor of producing more bank robbers and armored car thieves than anywhere in the world. When a heist goes down in the Boston area, authorities immediately scour the Charlestown community for suspects.
Their assumptions aren't wrong in the latest headliner - a daytime bank robbery in the Cambridge area, executed by Charlestown natives Doug MacRay (Ben Affleck), Jim McCoughlin (Jeremy Renner), "Gloansy" Magloan (Slaine) and Desmond Elden (Owen Burke). The job is almost problem-free, but Jim's violent, impulsive side leads to a brutal beating of the bank manager (Victor Garber) and taking hostage the assistant manager, Claire Keesey (Rebecca Hall). Used only as a bargaining chip should they face off with police, they let her go as soon as they've escaped, but the traumatic experience doesn't end quite so neatly for Claire.
Learning that she lives in Charlestown and afraid she's working with the FBI - specifically dogged special agent Adam Frawley (Jon Hamm) - Doug begins to follow Claire. But unexpectedly they meet face-to-face, and a moment of vulnerability brought on by her recent experience opens Doug's eyes to not only the effect of his choices but also the possibility of change; the closer he gets to Claire, the less he wants to do with the life he's known. But, leaving it behind amounts to abandoning the only family he’s known, and some of that family won’t be letting go of him so easily.
"The Town" - adapted from Chuck Hogan's novel "Prince of Thieves" and Affleck's second directorial effort - inevitably brings to mind the film "Heat" and, to a lesser extent, Affleck's own "Good Will Hunting." Unlike the former, however, a romantic relationship takes center stage as opposed to a dualistic one between a cop and his robber.
By comparison, "The Town" is more conventional and less thematically complex, though its action sequences give “Heat” a run for its money, both in technical execution and dramatic scope. What "The Town" also does quite well is capture the characteristics of a longstanding community and the deep entrenchment of a generational lifestyle. It's for this reason that "Good Will Hunting" comes to mind, though this time it's Affleck in the lead role as a man gradually realizing his life can be more than what he's made of it. That Affleck has shouldered both responsibilities as lead actor and director - with neither work suffering - is impressive. It certainly whets the appetite for what is yet to come from his surprising - but altogether encouraging - second act.
The Ultimate Collector’s Edition of “The Town” includes the theatrical and extended versions of the film (originally released on Blu-ray in December 2010) along with a third version of the movie that amounts to the extended cut with an alternate ending.
In my review of the first release, I described my preference for the movie’s theatrical cut over the extended version. Watching Affleck’s third run at the film, my opinion stands, especially as the differences are isolated to the last 11 minutes (there is a brief addition at around 1:48:00 that foreshadows the new ending, but I noticed no other changes). The additional character moments in the rest of the film still seem superfluous to me, and in one instance even redundant (Affleck’s character answers a question about his parents twice, in very similar fashion). The new ending, which was shot sort of last minute and then ultimately abandoned, is compelling and perhaps more satisfying for some, but - attached to the extended cut - it too tends to feel a bit unnecessary. Since Affleck seems to like exploring all possible avenues, perhaps attaching the ending to the theatrical version would have led to interesting results as well. At the very least it would have appealed to another contingent of fans.
Video Quality: 4/5
The film is accurately framed at 2.40:1 and presented in 1080p with the AVC codec. Black levels are consistently stable and inky and contrast generally shows the full range of values with no signs of compression (though the image can a look a little too opened up in some darker scenes). Colors are nicely saturated with consistently warm and accurate flesh tones. Fine object detail is also quite good, holding up in both close ups and wide shots, with no signs of excessive digital noise reduction measures. Some scenes appear to have some digital sharpening applied, however, giving them an "edgy" quality with some noticeable haloing.
Audio Quality: 4/5
I felt I underrated the audio quality in my original review and have increased the score by half a point on this second viewing. While I noticed the same bothersome “thickness” to the bass and mid-range frequencies, I was more impressed this time around with the balance and breadth of the surround effects. A couple of instances of wall-shaking LFE also stood out. Dialogue in the the 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio mix remain consistently crisp and well-balanced (though some of the accents in play continue to be a challenge).
Special Features: 4/5
In addition to the previously available special features, the package includes a new 30-minute interview with Affleck describing his experience making the film, an addendum to his audio commentary relative to the new footage, several prop reprints, a 48-page photo book, a poster-size map of the movie’s major locations, and the third cut of the film on DVD. The three discs and printed materials are all housed in a sturdy cardboard slipcase.
Director’s Letter: A signed note from Affleck describing his motivation for providing a third version of the film.
Poster-Size Map of Charlestown with Locations of Major Scenes
Prop Reprints
- Fifteen-page FBI report on the Cambridge bank robbery
- Mug shot cards of the four members of Doug’s crew
- Vericom employee file on Desmond Elden
Rub-On Tattoos: Reproductions of Jim’s “Fighting Irish” tattoo, ready for application to anyone's neck.
Photo Book: The forty-eight page, nicely printed book includes numerous photos, cast biographies and background information about the production.
Ultraviolet Digital Copy: Expires March 6, 2014.
DVD: The extended version with alternate ending is presented in 2.40:1 anamorphic standard definition video and 384 kbps Dolby Digital 5.1 audio in English and Spanish. Subtitles are in English SDH, French and Spanish.
[Disc One - Extended Version with Alternate Ending]
Audio Commentary with Director Ben Affleck: Combining the 2010 commentary for the extended version and new commentary about the alternate ending, Affleck is sometimes quite candid about where he thinks he fell short in the storytelling or directing. Less time is spent on his acting work by comparison, as he focuses instead on technical details or his experiences at the helm of the production.
The Town: A Director’s Journey (30:00, HD): Affleck talks at length about his second outing as a director - the challenges and rewards of taking on a film significantly broader in scope than “Gone Baby Gone.” As with the commentary tracks, Affleck's candid and sometimes brutally honest evaluation of his own work makes for an interesting and refreshing interview.
Theatrical Trailer (2:32, HD)
[Disc Two - Theatrical Version and Extended Version]
Audio Commentary with Director Ben Affleck: Covers both the theatrical and extended versions.
"Ben's Boston" Focus Points (30:25, HD): Viewed with the theatrical version through branching or together as a group, the featurettes include:
- Pulling Off the Heist (2:51): Inspiration for how the bank robbing scene was put together.
- The Town (4:57): Background on Charlestown and its community.
- Nuns with Guns: Filming in the North End (4:52): Behind the scenes of the armored car robbery shoot.
- The Real People of the Town (3:06): A look at some of the Charlestown citizens who were cast as extras and supporting players.
- Ben Affleck: Director and Actor (7:34): Cast and crew talk about their experiences working with Affleck.
- The Cathedral of Boston (7:03): A look at what it took to shoot in Fenway Park.
BD-Live
Recap
The Feature: 4/5 (theatrical); 3.5/5 (extended version and extended version with alternate ending)
Video Quality: 4/5
Audio Quality: 4/5
Special Features: 4/5
Overall Score (not an average): 4/5
Warner Home Video delivers a great presentation for all three versions of Ben Affleck’s cops and robbers film, “The Town.” As to whom this Ultimate Collector’s Edition will most appeal, it will undoubtedly be the “ultimate” fan. The new cut, the new special features, and the inclusion of the previous versions and their respective extras all amount to an impressive package, but for those with only a casual interest in the movie, the additional items will prove less interesting and the $49.99 list price ultimately prohibitive.
