Product Details

• Actors: Jean Reno, Vincent Cassel, Nadia Farès, Dominique Sanda, Karim Belkhadra
• Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
• Subtitles: English, French
• Region: Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
  PLEASE NOTE: Some Region 1 DVDs may contain Regional Coding Enhancement (RCE). Some, but not all, of our international customers have had problems playing these enhanced discs on what are called "region-free" DVD players. For more information on RCE, click here.
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: October 16, 2001
• Run Time: 106 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (60 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00000F527
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #27,915 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Crimson Rivers" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Legendary police commissioner Niémans (Jean Reno) travels to a remote university village in the Alps to solve a grisly murder while hotheaded Lieutenant Kerkerian (Hate's Vincent Cassel) is investigating the desecration of the tomb of a young girl killed in an auto accident 20 years ago. When the detectives discover that the incidents are related, they reluctantly join forces. The Crimson Rivers looks French but feels American. If it doesn't hit the heights of The Silence of the Lambs or Seven, it bests many of the thrillers that have followed in their wake. Mathieu Kassovitz directs as if this were high art, which is actually to the film's benefit: the cast is terrific (including Jean-Pierre Cassel, Vincent's father), the cinematography is stunning, and the classy score evokes The Exorcist. Although the mountaintop showdown at the end doesn't quite work, The Crimson Rivers is still a superior entrant into an increasingly overcrowded genre. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Product Description

Two detectives investigate a serial murderer.
Genre: Foreign Film - French
Rating: R
Release Date: 7-JUN-2005
Media Type: DVD

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Just like your favorite horror/thriller book on a TV screen, June 9, 2006

By 

- Kasia S. (New York City) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Crimson Rivers (DVD)

Watching this movie made me think of what a wonderful book it would make! It had mystery, gruesome murders, great humor, action, fantastic landscape of the Alps and it was twists and turns of intrigue and a guessing game of "who did it?" But don't get me wrong, I loved it as a movie, just that it reminds me of the type of horror books I always read.

Jean Reno has always been one of my favorite actors, his cold stare, that pointy nose, the sarcasm and that ticking brain are always a great pairing when he plays a cop on a trail of hot murders. He is joined in this movie by Vincent Cassel who was brilliant in Brotherhood of The Wolf but he was insanely witty and funny while kicking some criminal booty in this one. As the viewer we get to see these two cops who start of working on two separate cases come together smack center in a middle of a mystery. Reno follows a slew of mutilated corpses with no eyes and their hand cut off while Cassel investigates a tomb disgraced by spray painted swastikas. It seems that the girl who was dead is walking among the living but that is not entirely the case. And when Reno runs into someone who looks just like the dead girl things get even trickier. The person who they search for is both a target and a suspect.

The concept of "Crimson Rivers" and it's sequel ; "Crimson Rivers, Angels of Apocalypse" is very interesting. It has to do with purification of the blood, and of breeding "perfect" human species. How that is tied to this story is not something I can tell, for spoiling a movie or a book is a huge crime!

All I can say is that the views of the Alps are breathtaking, the action is tight, there's fighting and chases, and so many twists and turns in the mystery that the end is a sweet reward. Fun movie if you want to spend a nice afternoon in from of the TV, wrapped in a warm blanket watching the snowy scenery and solving the puzzle along with our heroes.
I would also recommend the sequel which I watched twice all ready which was even better but very different in comparison to they way this was done.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning and atmospheric gothic French "policier", August 24, 2001

By 

Richard Lewis "reeshar" (London, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Crimson Rivers (DVD)

(This review relates to the French special edition release in THX. French title: Les Rivieres Pourpres) From the second the film starts, it is evident that France's Matthieu Kassovitz is more than capable of taking-on Hollywood in directing a stunning gothic chiller complete with a first class THX sound track. A badly mutilated body is found high in the Alps. The local police acquire the help of "special" police investigator, Pierre Niemans (Jean Reno), whose intent becomes not just to discover *who* committed the murder but also *why* it was committed. Simultaneously, a young Arab policeman, Karim Abdouf (played by Vincent Cassel of "La Haine"), living some 200km away is called in to investigate the desecration of a little girl's grave and a local school break-in. Both policeman are drawn slowly to the same potential perpetrator, discover two further murders and uncover a terrifying secret behind the murders. I bought the film yesterday in a French supermarket and I've already watched it three times. The style of the film, the photography and camera-work, the music, the twists and turns of the plot all make this a brilliant film. The actors are perfectly cast, with Jean Reno presenting a softer more thoughtful character than in the book of the same name whilst Vincent Cassel displays the edge of racial anger that was so visible in La Haine. The ending will probably generate a lot of discussion as to what exactly it means but, if the film is released in the same special edition form as in France, the additions on the second disc provide a level of insight rarely seen in other special edition DVDs - and supply that elusive answer! Buy it as soon as it is released!

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Probably the best thriller of the year, July 18, 2001

By 

"stevengough" - See all my reviews

This classy cop buddy movie is a rare treat, something we don't see often enough in the all-stodge-patty age of the MacGibson franchise. It's been a long time since I enjoyed a film this much. One word of warning, though, it's a French language film released in the UK with subtitles so if you don't speak French or read faster than people talk you're wasting your time.

The plot has a veneer of intelligence, boosted by the quality of the direction and photography, and seductive use of the fabulous, "wish you were here" French mountain scenery. Two cops follow separate paths to the same murder victim's front door. One trail follows the film's signature grotesque serial killings and the other a seemingly random series of minor real-world crimes. Tension builds in the increasingly Gothic atmosphere of the isolated mountain town, relieved neatly with each switch to the younger cop's urban investigation. The story weaves each cop's story up to their inevitable meeting, clash of wills, and a partnership based on grudging respect. The worst you can say is there's a slightly Scooby Doo ending as the sinister forces at work are exposed.

Jean Reno rumbles through the part of Neimans, the cerebral legend-in-his-own-time with a handy line in kicking down doors, like an on-form Nick Nolte with all the screen presence Sean Connery has forgotten. Vincent Kassel is great value as action-man Max, the reluctant partner, a young urban maverick cop driven by unexpected Catholic guilt. Reno gets the best deal, ambling from one no-holds-barred grotesque corpse to the next, but Kassel isn't short-changed in his edgy quest to solve a 20-year-old child killing. Kassel's stand-out scene is a kick-ass martial arts duel with a skinhead gang, mirroring the game-console beat-em-up tournament he interrupts. Reno's stand-out scene is .... well, any of them.

Things get a bit Holloywood at the end, and the conclusion is all very unlikely, but the journey is so good you can forgive the deja-vu when you arrive. I wish I had time to see it again!