Product Details

• Actors: Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams, Emily Mortimer
• Directors: Martin Scorsese
• Format: AC-3, Blu-ray, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese
• Subtitles: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese
• Dubbed: French, Portuguese, Spanish
• Region: Region A/1 (Read more about DVD/Blu-ray formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Paramount
• DVD Release Date: June 8, 2010
• Run Time: 138 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (472 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001GCUO5W
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #18,470 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Martin Scorsese puts Leonardo DiCaprio through the wringer again in Shutter Island, a gothic adaptation of Dennis Lehane's novel. Leo's character, a Federal Marshal named Teddy Daniels, is first seen vomiting and jittery aboard a ferry; he and his new partner (Mark Ruffalo) are being taken across the water to investigate an escape from a prison for the criminally insane, located on a forbidding rock called Shutter Island. From the first, Scorsese treats the place as though it were Skull Island in King Kong, worthy of ominous music cues and portentous camera angles. This might not be an easy assignment for the sweaty, anxious Daniels, who is haunted by his memories of German concentration camps and the loss of his wife (Michelle Williams, appearing in ghostly hallucinations). The audience will likely feel just as unnerved as Daniels, given the destabilizing nature of Robert Richardson's swooping cinematography and Thelma Schoonmaker's crazy-making editing scheme (it feels as though fractions of seconds have been removed from the timing of simple conversations, giving the movie a strung-out edginess--it's like watching Ray Liotta's cocaine meltdown sequence from GoodFellas for 138 minutes). Ben Kingsley and Max von Sydow are staff psychiatrists, suspiciously eager to talk about lobotomies, and Ted Levine and Patricia Clarkson appear for small but potent turns. Scorsese appears to be "doing a genre picture" here, borrowing happily from influences such as Val Lewton and Samuel Fuller, and the film has a resultingly put-on atmosphere: a great deal of old-dark-house Sturm und Drang whipped up in service of a gimmicky little premise. The fade-out achieves some measure of real eeriness, and the whole shebang is certainly a kicky night out at the movies--if you can shake the sense that a talented filmmaker is working a couple of rungs beneath his level. --Robert Horton

Product Description

Academy Award® winning director Martin Scorsese once again teams up with Leonardo DiCaprio in this spine-chilling thriller that critics say “sizzles with so much suspense that it’s hot to the touch.”** When U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels (DiCaprio) arrives at the asylum for the criminally insane on Shutter Island, what starts as a routine investigation quickly takes a sinister turn. As the investigation unfolds and Teddy uncovers more shocking and terrifying truths about the island, he learns there are some places that never let you go. **Peter Travers, Rolling Stone.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

128 of 138 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Enigmatic, Powerful and Disturbing March 15, 2010

By Robin Friedman HALL OF FAMETOP 50 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD

I tend to look for movies that draw me in and that provoke an emotional response. Martin Scorcese's "Shutter Island" did indeed draw me in, even though I found the film disturbing. Scorcese explores difficult questions of guilt, personal identity, and mind control.

The movie takes place in 1954 on a craggy, remote and forbidding island off the coast of Boston. (I have some familiarity with a United States possession called Navassa, an uninhabited, little-known island in the Carribean surrounded by steep, inaccessible cliffs and was reminded of Navassa by the movie.) Shutter Island serves as a hospital and prison for the criminally insane operated by the United States government. A United States Marshall, Teddy Daniels, and his ostensible partner, Chuck Aule, who calls Daniels "boss", are ferried to Shutter Island to investigate the disappearance of a female inmate who has apparently escaped. The inmate is said to have drowned her three children before her incarceration. Daniels himself carries with him many emotional issues. He witnessed the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp and has had problems with alcohol. His wife died in a fire set by an arsonist. Daniels sought an assignment to Shutter Island because the arsonist and another individual from Daniels' past are incarcerated there, and Daniels wanted to see for himself what was going on.

At the hospital, Daniels meets the head psychiatrist, a bearded, crafty and intelligent individual named Cawley, and his sinister German assistant, Nehring. He meets with staff, with prisoners, both male and female, and with inmates of the "C" ward, used to house the most dangerous prisoners.... As the movie progresses, Daniels suffers increasingly from tremors and from hallucinations, most of which are in the form of his dead wife warning him about the island. Daniels also receives warnings and augurs from the patients. He senses that something is not right about the investigation but cannot let it go.

The movie has the makings of a gothic horror film, but it gets beyond that genre by its seriousness and development. The movie builds slowly and inexorably to itconclusion and most parts of the story contribute to the effectiveness of the whole. The feeling of isolation and doom is inescapable, with a mental hospital on a remote island, a hurricane which cuts the Shutter Island off even further from the mainland, and the chilling, hidden natures of staff and inmates on the island.
The movie includes scenes of cliffs and danger on the island, pounding waves, wild rats, a mysterious lighthouse, and lost souls. A difficult and troubled individual, Daniels comes to challenge his understanding of himself in a radical way. I found the confusion in sense of selfhood, in circumstances of isolation and helplessness, chilling.

The movie is based upon a 2003 novel by Dennis Lahane called "Shutter Island" which I have not read. The acting is convincing throughout and the musical background is erie. The movie has received mixed reviews. Scorsese's movies such as "Taxi Driver", "Raging Bull" and "Gangs of New York" with their portrayal of violence, illusion, and rawness have always fascinated me. "Shutter Island" did so as well. The movie has attained a large success at the box office, and perhaps can be viewed and responded to on many levels. I don't think it is for the faint at heart.

Robin Friedman Read more ›

71 of 76 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars "Better to live as a monster or die as a good man?" June 12, 2010

By Lostgirl

Format:DVD

I think that some of the mixed things I'd heard about it come from the fact that some audiences were a) expecting something different and b) don't like to think. To be fair the studio mislead them by selling Shutter Island as a fun, edge of your seat, thrill ride. It's really a psychological drama disguised as a B grade horror movie. It indulges in all the gothic tropes: the isolated mental hospital, the hurricane that cuts everything off from civilization, hints of Nazi experiments, even the music plays into it. But really that's just the setting. If you take it as the whole thing, that's where you'll run into disappointment. It's more about what's happening in the mind of the main character- which is a puzzle in itself- than the big twist ending. I think that The Sixth Sense and others of it's ilk did a disservice to audiences in a sense. People look for the "trick" in movies, studios advertise the "big twist ending". But this isn't a movie about a twist. Yes, there's a big reveal in the end, and the "what" of the reveal is fairly obvious. It's the "how" and the "why" that we should be thinking about. These are the answers to the psychological puzzle of the film. People get so into the "what" after being groomed on twist endings that they forget there is a "how" and a "why". When the big reveal comes it's more about the catharsis, the coming full circle, the emotional confrontation, than the twist itself.

Yes, it can be confusing not to know whether the main character is dreaming or hallucinating, or really seeing what is. But with patience that becomes clear and the beautifully photographed, eerily haunting dream sequences are worth watching without trying to "figure them out".... Just enjoy the performances (impressive across the board), the score, the cinematography, and go where the film takes you. Some might call the ending a cop out. But really it leaves audiences with even more questions: are there some things that are so painful that we're better off (literally) cutting them out of our brains? Is a delusional mind a prison or an escape? Who is sane? Is sanity a choice? In my opinion answering these questions would be the cop out! Read more ›

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A mind-bender from Martin Scorsese... Rewards multiple viewings! June 11, 2010

By Hudson

Format:DVD

It goes without saying that Martin Scorsese is an incredible filmmaker. He has added another classic to his resume with the mind-bending thriller, "Shutter Island". The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a federal marshal who is investigating the disappearance of a patient / prisoner from a mental institution for the criminally insane. DiCaprio shines in his part, perhaps brighter than he has in any other Scorsese film. He is accompanied by Ben Kingsley, Mark Ruffalo, Max von Sydow, Ted Levine and Jackie Earle Haley, amongst others. "Shutter Island" does a great job of playing mind games with the viewer. This film makes for a great DVD to own, because you can watch it as many times as you would like and you can discover new clues in the plot over and over again. Also, after viewing the film the first time, once you know the outcome of the plot, subsequent viewings are really terrifying if you put yourself in the main character's shoes, knowing the ending. That's what I do when I watch the film now, and I think it's genuinely scary because it is so competently written. Scorsese's direction is excellent, as are all the actors' performances in the film. The film is a dark noir styled trip down the rabbit hole that is frightful and tense throughout. Definitely a modern Scorsese classic here, folks. Well worth checking out, multiple times. Highly recommended! 4.5 stars.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars OK but flawed film July 28, 2011

By Brian A. Schar VINE™ VOICE

Format:Blu-ray

"Shutter Island" is a mystery with a twist, and I don't want to give it away. So, I won't go into a lot of detail about the plot. Leonardo DiCaprio and his partner travel to an institution for the criminally insane on an island, and nothing is as it seems.

As my wife put it, about 60 minutes in, you know it's going down one of a few paths, all of which are cliches. Sure enough, an hour and 15 minutes later, she was proved right. The problem with the twist ending in the 21st century is that we've all seen a ton of movies with twist endings, and it has become harder and harder to actually surprise the audience. Also as my wife put it, there's a good movie buried in here somewhere. The characters are interesting; the idea of a mental hospital at the dawn of modern psychiatry is interesting; and the location is fantastic. Strip away about 30 minutes from this languidly-paced film, do a few more drafts of the script, and this could be a winner. The way Hollywood works, the remake/reimagining in 2030 will win an Oscar.

On the plus side, DiCaprio turns in a tour de force performance, as usual. The guy is a fantastic actor, and this is an actor's film. If you like watching a great actor do amazing things with a character, you will enjoy this movie.

At best, "Shutter Island" is worth a rent.