Customer Reviews

Sin City (Two-Disc Theatrical & Recut, Extended, and Unrated Versions) [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(467)
4 star:		(170)
3 star:		(67)
2 star:		(49)
1 star:		(95)

 

 

While it's probably a total cliche to say it by now, Sin City really is a wild thrill ride of a movie, and quite possibly the most entertaining thing that will hit theaters all year. Adapted by director Robert Rodriguez from Frank Miller's graphic-novel series, it's an energetic slab of neo-noir, complete with twisted characters, ambiguous morality, and deadly serious dialogue. For those who thought the Kill Bill movies weren't bizarre or violent enough, Sin City ought to seem like a stylish, action-packed gift from guy-movie heaven. It's filled with negativity, outrageously over the-top bloodletting, and some of the blackest humor known to man, but it all works anyway. I even managed to forgive the incessant voice-over narration, normally a rather lazy device, because it's so oddly poignant and poetic. It's not really that big a deal anyway, because this movie is so impressive visually that the characters could speak in gibberish and I'd probably still be moved to give it at least three stars.

It should be noted right off the bat that Sin City is not a movie for everyone, but if you're the type who would like it you presumably know who you are. IF you like crime movies, especially those filled with action and atmosphere, you will almost certainly get a kick out of Sin City. If you prefer lighter, more "socially redeeming" fare, you may still like it, or you may be overcome with bile filling your throat for most of its two-hour running time. It's all a matter of how willing you are to accept what's going on without asking too many nagging questions like "How exactly did Mickey Rourke just take out ten armed riot cops with nothing more than his fists and a hatchet?" or "is it really possible or even necessary to manually tear off a man's scrotum?". Everything about this movie is utterly outsized, from the themes to the characters to the action, but in the end it's a rousing success at what it intends to do, which is entertain. It's precisely because this movie was so utterly entertaining that I found myself unwilling to nitpick; you'll probably be too busy having your senses assaulted to linger on any problems you may have with the movie. Nothing is more key in movies (or TV, or novels for that matter) than getting the viewer to suspend disbelief, to simply let go and enjoy what's transpiring regardless of the plausibility level. Some of my favorite movies are wildly unrealistic, but at some point when watching them I just decided to go with it. Sin City is one such movie: I realized early on that the events unfolding onscreen bore little to no resemblance to reality as presently constituted; I just didn't care. I went to see this movie with my wife (who is, to put it mildly, not a fan of dark or violent movies), and she may have summed up the experience of watching it the best when she said simply "I was never bored." That, ultimately, is the secret to Sin City's success: it's so gripping to watch that it's hard to care about anything else.

As everyone (and probably their brothers) knows by now, Sin City was filmed using real actors against a black-and-white CGI background with some touches of color added for dramatic effect. It may seem like a gimmick at first, but Sin City is all about bringing the viewer into a sort of parallel universe, so this unconventional device works perfectly. Sin City is a movie dealing with lives on the edge, and it conjures up a delightfully dark, grimy, and gritty atmosphere to go match the depravity of its subject matter. Weighty themes and over-the-top violence abound here, and it's only fitting that the movie's look and feel should be so uniformly haunting. Consisting of three tangentially related stories occurring out of sequence, Sin City brings the viewer into an underworld populated by thieves, murderers, hookers, and dirty cops, and the morality is viewed entirely in shades of grey. In the Basin City of the movie, where the good guys are bad and the bad guys are even worse, violence is often a virtue, or at the very least a prerequisite for survival. If there's one redeeming value to Sin City's cartoonish ultraviolence, it's that it's painfully clear that its recipients generally deserve it.

Anyway, if there's one theme running through all of these stories, it's that of redemption. The protagonist in each tale (Bruce Willis's Hartigan, Rourke's Marv, and Clive Owen's Dwight) is a most unlikely hero (although Hartigan is just a regular cop and therefore not exactly bad, whereas it's clear that Marv and Dwight are murderers), but each finds himself driven to acts of extreme courage and sacrifice in order to see justice done. Sin City portrays a kind of heroism not typically seen in movies (especially big-budget, sanitized Hollywood productions), one that comes from doing the right thing even when it's nowhere near being the easiest thing. Rourke's Marv is probably the most memorable character, a hulking thug with a highly overdeveloped sense of vengeance who managed to arouse some of my sympathy even as he cut a swath of unimaginable destruction through his enemies on his way to avenging a murdered prostitute. Out of the legions of other figures in the movie, the great Benicio Del Toro deserves some special mention as a comically malevolent crooked cop who won't shut up even after he meets his unfortunate end.

Now, although I've gone on too long already, I'd feel remiss if I didn't talk about Sin City's staggering violence quotient. Yes, this an extremely graphic movie, and much of the violence is downright disturbing to watch (Elijah Wood's character being cut up and fed to a wolf is a prominent example, even if much of the violence in that case was implied), but it's just as true that context is an important factor when considering just how offensive such bloodletting is. Now, for one thing, Sin City is meant to be a piece of escapist cinema, so nothing that takes place onscreen should be taken too seriously anyway. After all, no one got offended during the scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail when King Arthur cut off the Black Knight's arms and legs; that scene was meant to be funny and it was. Perhaps more to the point, the violence here is so ludicrously over the top from the opening scene that it's hard to imagine any rational person getting too upset. You have to just go with it; if you're the kind of person who makes it a point to be huffy and offended all the time you shouldn't be seeing this movie anyway. 'Nuff said

The concept for this film started in the Comics revolution of the late 60's with incredible artists like Frank Frazetta, Jim Steranko, Neal Adams, and Barry Smith. They knew anatomy, and they used photographs to compose their backgrounds. Pre-Anime, the characters began to "almost" move off the pages. Frank Miller came along in 1978. He helped to inaugurate the adult graphics novels-larger formats, better paper, brighter inks-coupled to nudity and R-rated dialogue. Some of this has been around since the late 50's, but the new format was gathering speed and Miller was in the vanguard.

Miller's graphic novel's about SIN CITY contained art in panels that broke down like very detailed storyboards. When Robert Rodriguez decided to court Miller and sell him on the idea of converting the graphics to digital video-Miller loved it. Their partnership went so far as to have Rodriguez dropping out of the Director's Guild so that he might be permitted to put Frank Miller in the credits as co-director. Rodriguez created a B&W world where color was used sparingly-and for great effect. Blood was white-or bright red. Some eyes were blue. Some hair was blond. Pale green and pale blue showed up on classic cars.

Rodriguez assembled a powerhouse cast. Bruce Willis was first up, to boost the sales of the production and the star power. He was excellent in the film-beginning to appear very Noir-very Chandler and Hammett-a modern Bogart. Using CGI and live actors, Rodriguez was able to do most of the work in his homegrown studio in Texas. Miller created a world part pulp-novel, classic cars-and part hyper-violent martial arts and splatter film. Everybody smoked, many of them drove a ragtop-they could shoot guns with both hands simultaneously-and women, regardless of how far they had fallen-were still treated with respect. More than an adaptation of Millers comic book art-it is literally his artwork brought starkly to life. The effect is original, violent, sexy, existential-and very effective.

The film worked off three Miller "stories"-and the best of the three-THE BIG FAT KILL-starred Mickey Rourke. He can think of this film as his return to the big time. He is brilliant. His character, Marv, is perfectly fitted for this new genre-and his acting, and the action he precipitates-blows all the others in the film out of the water. This may be Rourke's finest performance. He has been a pro boxer, as well as actor-and he needed that physical prowess for this role.

Everyone in the film was impressive-with the likes of Clive Owen, Powers Boothe, Rutger Hauer, Nick Stahl, Benicio Del Toro, Elijah Wood, Michael Madsen, Josh Harnett, and Michael Clarke Duncan all making love, murdering, or slapping around women like Jessica Albo, Jamie King, Rosario Dawson, Carla Gugino, and Brittany Murphy. One critic wrote," This is a Mickey Spillane fever dream!"

There is a rumor that in the director's cut RR will include some deleted scenes that he shot to flush out all three of the Miller stories. It appears that a sequel is imminent-absolutely necessary. Most of us can't wait for the next installment-to cruise Old Town, prowl the Roark farm, beware of the warrior hookers, love the hot babes, dodge the bullets and swords and knives, and stare at those great cars.

With any luck Frank Miller's "Sin City" will inspire a new genre of filmmaking - a literal union between filmmaking and the world of comic books/graphic novels. I know, I know, there have been countless films inspired by the world of comic books which have attempted to recreate the chills and thrills. Not one of them - even the best (e,g,, Spiderman series, Tales from the Crypt, etc.) has been remotely as successful as the creative team that gives us this brilliant, jarring, vision.

Rodriguez, Miller and company obviously put themselves (and the cast) through painstaking paces to assure every frame, every emotion emoted by an astonishing array of live talent is instilled with the gritty, graphic hyperrealism of the world of Frank Miller. It is a breathtaking achievement which, alas, will go unnoticed and be underappreciated by many who don't "get" this world.

The cast is nothing short of remarkable: Mickey Rourke gives his finest performance since Barfly - maybe ever. Bruce Willis has never given a better performance than the retiring cop, Hartigan. Everyone involved is obviously relishing having the time of their lives. Outside of Shakespeare I can't imagine anything currently more theatrically over-the-top and satisfying than being associated with Sin City.

For many the violence will be of too gory and graphic in nature (gorygraphic?). Others will enjoy the rough ride but also be appreciative of the often stunning beauty of so many of this film's images. The final tale in the trilogy of stories that make up the movie is shot with the cool and chill of winter bathed in a snow storm of such exquisite beauty that I don't find it difficult to say it is among the most beautiful images I've seen in any film. Ever.

Sin City has finally come out on PSP, and my god it doesn't get better than this.

A few words about the movie - This is, without a doubt, a MASTERPIECE of film-making, and definately live's up to the hype surrounding it's release.

Now that's said, let's get onto technical side of the UMD disc.

Video:

Sin City looks absolutley JAW DROPPING on PSP. Consistently sharp, contrasty as hell with solid "BLACK" blacks, no evidence of grain or compression artifacts, and no bleeding whatsoever...it's a SOLID performance from Mirimax/Dimension. The OAR is untouched, keeping it's original 1:85 ratio (with tiny little black bars at the top and bottom). Subtitles are large, displayed in yellow, and easily readable against the image. Overall, this is a faultless presentation.

Video: 5/5

Audio:

The sound on this baby packs quite a punch, and right from the word go you'll be pleasantly surprised. Make sure you crank this up to full volume, as it deserves this experience to be fully appreciated. Overall, a nice job boys.

Audio 4.5/5

Extras:

Now, this is the first UMD disc that i own, to spoil you with more than just your usual trailers. Like the DVD release, we get the gorgeous animated menus aswell as the 8 min "Behind-the-scenes" featurette, giving you a teaser of what we'll expect on the future Director's edition coming out.

Extras: 4/5

Overall this is, without question, the disc to own this season. And for under $20, there's no excuse not to buy. Fantastic Visuals, Excellent Audio, and great extras, this is the benchmark for future UMD releases. Get used to this kinda UMD treatment boys and girls.

Overall 5/5

-zallapo

It is now official that Robert Rodriguez will be releasing a full, 2-disc special edition copy of Sin City in early December. It will feature the film (theatrical version and a version in which the three tales can be viewed separately)and a disc of bonus features (ten minute cooking school, ten minute film school, a few commentaries, trailers, poster gallery, and a load of featurettes).
So if your just looking for the theatrical version and nothing more, buy the featured DVD now. If your a fan, and want all of the nooks and crannies, I think you can hold out until late November or early December, trust me, it should be worth it.

I wish the rating scale went up to 10 stars because I'd enthusiastically give them all to Sin City. I've watched it a dozen times and am still blown away by the dialog and gritty throwback feeling it evokes of the old 30's and 40's hard-drinking, hard-fighting tough guys. It actually inspired me to sit down the night I saw it, and jot down the outline for a Film Noir type novel that's now moved to my front burner after completion of my third novel in my McCarthy Mystery series. I just hope I can write something half as compelling as Sin City.
The film makes no apology for the raw lust and violence and yet never falls into campy self-parody.
But it's the film-work, the use of light and shadow and especially color that really blows you away. Yellow for the corrupt, cowardly blood of the pederast villain. Masterful!
If you haven't seen Sin City, give your senses a treat and buy the DVD.
You won't be disappointed!

The Ultimate "Non-Chick Flick"

Whether you like it or whether you don't, if you like movies, you "must see" this film. Whether you like Roberto Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino or whether you don't, this film raises the bar for comic book and comic book concept movies for the future. From this movie on, there are only two credible, if widely divergent, paths to take in bringing a comic book concept to the screen: "Spiderman 2", or "Sin City". One can make a movie as earnestly, beautifully real, full of genuine human feeling, and as lovingly put on screen as "literal truth" as "Spiderman 2", or one can make a movie as stunningly surreal and hyperbolically drawn as "Sin City", but most other attempts will seem poor pretenders. Not to belittle the critic's darling "American Splendor", but that small comic gem, quirky and unique, will truly seem like a quaint anachronism after "Frank Miller's Sin City". This movie will be as influential on future movie-making as the original "Star Wars" was in its day.

Visually, cinematographically, the movie is genius. If you've seen the trailers, you knew that something new and excitingly "awe-ful" (no, I don't mean "awesome") was coming. And once you've seen the movie, it is amazingly hard to get the film noir images out of your head.

The cast list is incredible: from Josh Hartnett in the opening sequence to Bruce Willis's exposition of the back story, to Mickey Rourke as "Marv", then to the smoking hot Clive Owen as "Dwight", this is a man's movie. I haven't even mentioned Elijah Wood in a role that will forever keep him from being typecast as a lovable hobbit, Benecio Del Toro, who quite literaly metamorphoses into a "dirty cop" on screen, Michael Madsen and Nick Stahl. Testosterone and adolescent male fantasies drive this convoluted tale of urban corruption. In fact, experiencing this movie is a bit like being inside the adolescent male mind in a dream-like state.

It does bother me that we haven't yet grown out of this teenaged vision of violence, but nowhere else is it so satirically, so poetically translated onto screen. As virtually "bloody" as this movie is, and as much as I say I abhor violence, I was laughing with the young male audience at the violent hyperbole which permeates the story. I am also bothered by the obvious male fantasy that all women (in the movie, of course) are hookers or strippers, all at least half-naked or wearing thongs and fishnet stockings. "All women", except for an eleven-year old girl-- almost a rape victim--, who grows up to be Jessica Alba the stripper. Most are victims, and even Rosario Dawson, playing strong-- even dominatrix, has to wait for Clive Owen to show up to rescue her. This is one movie that makes me almost thankful for "political correctness" outside the theater.

But if you have a mind to suspend disbelief, and live for 126 minutes in Frank Miller's graphic world, choose Mickey Rourke for the ride. His features are modified to look even more "comic book" than the more recognizable Willis or Owen, but he is so completely Marv that he blows us away when he's blowing away the bad guys (OK, the worse guys). Mickey Rourke is the hard act to follow in this film. He is too much. He is over the top. But he carries us over the top with him, like King Kong with Faye Wray.

"Hardboiled" is a wishy-washy, weak-kneed way to describe the spectacularly and terrifyingly gender-driven bloodlust that fuels the film. All of the "heroes" are more than flawed, but they are all violent, and both welcome and expect it toward themselves in the same way they dish it out.

Someday, I dream, Tarantino and Rodriguez will put their genius at film as medium in the service of a philosophical idea that they recognize as bigger than themselves. They have perfected stylistized violence; they have sniggered and winked and done the secret handshake about guns, and knives, and beating each other to a pulp, and rape, and how all of this adds up to some masculine heroic ideal. I cannot even imagine how wonderful, how superb, how phenomenal that film might be, if they were to grow up, explore the universe a little bit more, and take us with them. A-

The first thing to be said for `Sin City' is that it is unique and fresh. After sitting through a half hour of trailers for upcoming flicks that were mostly rehashed remakes of old movies without an ounce of originality or risk taking in them, this was immediately obvious. Though it makes use of conventions from the film noir tradition, they are all given new life and a fresh look in this stylized, highly original live action graphic novel of a movie.
Sin City is a place where the cops are so crooked, the politicians so evil, the tough guys and the prostitutes so hard boiled that Philip Marlow's Los Angeles looks like Mayberry in comparison. Its violence is so far over the top and sadistic as to make Pulp Fiction look like Saturday morning kiddy fare. The only significant difference between Sin City's heroes and villains seems to be a sense of honor that the heroes feel toward women - otherwise it is often hard to tell them apart.
Three overlapping and loosely interrelated stories are presented, and Quentin Tarantino fans will recognize his style in the non sequential way in which they are told. Bruce Willis makes a strong showing playing the archetypical "last honest cop" whose sense of honor leads him into a world of hell on his last day on the job. But it is Mickey Rourke who steals the show as Marv; a Charles Bukowski meets the Terminator kind of guy who is the avenging angel of a murdered prostitute who showed him kindness.
Sin City may look film noir in its style, but its universe is pure super hero comic book. Characters routinely take punishment that no human could survive. Rourke's character is twice hit by a speeding car and just shakes it off, and is struck full force on the head with a sledge hammer which only momentarily knocks him out. This comic book resilience together with an intentional corniness in the dialogue makes for a strange, disconcerting juxtaposition with the sadistic ultra violence of the film.
Without a doubt, Sin City is pushing the cultural envelop further yet in testing just how much evil and violence we will tolerate in our entertainment. I must confess to feeling uneasy while watching it - it felt like the moral equivalent of watching a bull fight, or even a gladiatorial death match. I give it five stars for its style and creativity, but subtract one for the ethical ambiguity that I feel toward it. I would strongly caution that you should take your own ethics about violence as entertainment into consideration when choosing whether or not to view this disturbingly entertaining movie.

Theo Logos

All you sin city fans out there, if you dont own the barebone dvd of the film, just hold on for a while. All new 2 disc set of the film sin city will be released on 13th december. Maybe, one of the worst cash in attempts by any publishing house where two editions of the same film were released within less than four months.

Nevertheless, this edition will include the never seen before uncut version of the film alongwith the expanded theatrical version. It will also include 3 commentaries from Robert Rodriguez, Frank Miller and Quentin Tarantino and
also a feature commentary on the austin premiere audience reaction alongwith dts 5.1 and dolby digital 5.1 tracks.

According to ultimatedisney, this dvd set is said to have all these great extras too:

1. 15-Minute Film School with Robert Rodriguez
2. The Movie In High-Speed Green Screen
3. The Long Take: 17 Uninterrupted Minutes of Tarantino's
Segment
4. Sin City Night at Antones - Filmmakers, Cast and Crew
Party
5. 10-Minute Cooking School with Robert Rodriguez
6. Bloopers
7. Teaser & Theatrical Trailers
8. A Hard Top with a Decent Engine: The Cars of Sin City
9. Making the Monsters: Special Effects Make-Up
10. Trench Coats & Fishnets: The Costumes of Sin City
11. Booze, Broads & Guns: The Props of Sin City
12. How It Went Down: Convincing Frank Miller to Make the
Film
13. Giving The Characters Life: Casting the Film
14. Special Guest Director: Quentin Tarantino
15. Sin-Chroni-City Interactive Game

The dvd set will include complete SIN CITY GRAPHIC NOVEL too!!!

GREAT STUFF OK...BUT THEN HOW MANY TIMES ARE WE SUPPOSED TO BUY THE SAME FILM ON DVD?

I had been waiting to see this movie for months now, and I was afraid that it would disappoint me like some other movies that I have really looked forward to lately (namely The Phantom Menace and Matrix: Reloaded). So myself and three friends went to see it earlier, and when it ended, I thought one thing: WOW! This was such an amazing movie, with amazing visual effects, a perfect cast, and tons and tons of testosterone-induced action.
WARNING: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS!
Robert Rodriguez co-directs (along with Sin City creator Frank Miller, and with Quentin Tarantino as a "Special Guest Director") what is, without a doubt, the most faithful comic book adaptation ever. In fact, Rodriguez sees this film as a translation rather than an adaptation.
There really isn't a central plot; rather, the movie is about 3 seperate stories that share certain characters and all take place in Basin City, the most morally bankrupt town ever, which rightfully earns the nickname Sin City. To call this an all-star cast would be an understatement. Some of the many actors included in this film are: Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke, Clive Owen, Benecio del Toro, Jessica Alba, Alexis Bledel, Devon Aoki, Josh Hartnett, Elijah Wood, Britanny Murphy, Rutger Hauer, Powers Boothe, Michael Madsen, Nick Stahl, Carla Gugino, Jamie King, Marley Shelton, and Rosario Dawson (yeah, I know that's a lot), and while some of them have very small roles (Wood and Aoki have no dialogue, although neither of them have a small part), all of them are pitch-perfect in their roles.
The movie begins with a short segment entitled "The Customer is Always Right", with Harnett as The Salesman and Shelton as The Customer. Up next, is the set-up for "That Yellow Bastard", a story about Jim Hartigan (Willis), a cop with a bad heart who is trying to bust the son (Stahl) of a powerful Senator (Boothe) who likes to rape little girls. Next is "A Hard Goodbye", a tale about a huge brute named Marv (Rourke) who falls hard for a beauty named Goldie (King). They share a passionate night together, but Marv awakes to find Goldie dead in their bed. A search for "justice" ensues, with Marv beating the life out of anyone who has information on the hit. The story also has Gugino as Lucille, Marv's parole officer, Wood as Kevin, an amazingly gifted killer, Hauer as Cardinal Roarke (the brother of the Senator from "Yellow Bastard"), and Sin City creator Frank Miller as a priest. The second story is called "The Big Fat Kill". It deals with Dwight (Owen), an ex-photographer (this isn't explained in the film, but there is a graphic novel that sets up the Dwight character prior to the events of this story) and now a sort of mercenary who goes to Olde Towne to help defend Gail (Dawson) and her fellow prostitutes from Jackie Boy (del Toro), a deranged maniac with a penchant for violence against women. This segment also has Murphy as Dwight's girlfriend Shellie, Bledel and Aoki as fellow hookers Becky and Miho (deadly little Miho), and Michael Clarke Duncan as Manute, a hired goon for an unnamed mobster. Finally, "That Yellow Bastard" is the last major story. It picks up after the events of the previous part of the segment. Hartigan has been sent to prison, because Senator Roarke spun things to make it appear as if he raped little Nancy (played by Alba in her adult incarnation). Believing Nancy to be caught by Roarke's men, Hartigan gets out and seeks her out to protect her again from people who want revenge upon him for killing (?) Roarke's son.
These stories are extremely gritty, violent, and even a little depressing. (SPOILER)The only one with an ending that could be considered happy is "The Big Fat Kill". There are scenes involving shootings, stabbings, decapitation (or almost so), even cannibalism. One guy even gets his genitals ripped off. Also, there is a lot of full frontal nudity (although, from what I understand, nowhere near as much as there was in the books). So if you feel in any way uncomfortable with any of the above-mentioned things, avoid this movie. If not, then I highly suggest seeing this film.
As I said, the choice of actors for this film was perfect. I can hardly think of anyone else who could fill the roles of any characters in this movie. Although, I must say that Willis, Wood, Aoki, Dawson, and Rourke were the big standouts in my mind (even though, as I stated earlier, Wood and Aoki have no dialogue). Speaking of dialogue, under any other circumstances, the dialogue in this film would be terrible. However, the actors and situations make it awesome. Even though many lines are extremely cliched, and I hate cliches, the delivery is amazing.
The visuals are stunning. The film is shot almost completely in black and white. Although, every now and then, there are splashes of color (certain cars, Dwight's shoes, women's eyes and hair, one of the villains). Also, many of the shots mirror the panels from the comics.
With all that going for this movie, it all adds up to a great 2-hour thrill ride. Once again, if you don't mind excessive violence, I would highly suggest seeing this movie.