Product Details

• Actors: Michael Madsen, Chris Bauer, Kristin Lehman, Todd Williams, Don McManus
• Directors: Brian Koppelman, David Levien, Jeremiah S. Chechik, John Dahl, Michael DeCarlo
• Writers: Brian Koppelman, David Levien
• Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 3
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: ESPN Video
• DVD Release Date: June 14, 2005
• Run Time: 419 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0007US7BW
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #47,209 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Tilt - Season One" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The flashing lights and dark rooms of Las Vegas provide the backdrop for Tilt, a nine-episode ESPN series. A Mod Squad-esque trio of gamblers--Eddie (Eddie Cibrian, Baywatch Nights), Miami (Kristin Lehman, Dog Park), and Clark (Todd Williams, Lift)--maneuver through the world of high-stakes poker seeking to ruin a crooked champion player, Don "The Matador" Everest (Michael Madsen, Kill Bill, Vol. 2). The series teases out each player's backstory as they bet and bluff, trying to get enough leverage to hurt the Matador. Meanwhile, a revenge-driven Iowa sheriff (Chris Bauer, Broken Flowers) wants to put the Matador behind bars and he's not above getting dirty to do it. Strippers and brutal behind-the-scenes beatings give Tilt a good dose of sex and violence to accompany the wily machinations and philosophical musings about the game.

Tilt works hard to be tough and cool--maybe a little too hard; sometimes the swirling camera moves, slow motion shots, and swaggering dialogue struggle to disguise weak plotting and thin characters. Nonetheless, Madsen's squinty charisma, distinctive rasp, and lazy style fit the setting perfectly and supporting appearances by Michael Murphy (Tanner on Tanner) and Robert Forster (Jackie Brown) give the show a boost. Poker fans will enjoy cameos by real poker champs and some of the extras, including an excerpt from the 1998 World Series of Poker. --Bret Fetzer

Product Description

ESPN Original Entertainment and the creators of "Rounders" have made "Tilt" one of the most talked about shows on TV. Featuring a superb cast and sizzling storylines, "Tilt" is an inside look at professional poker and the seedy Las Vegas backrooms known only to the most dedicated gamblers. Now, for the first time, TILT will be available on a three-disc DVD, loaded with bonus materials. For the show's fans, poker aficionados and those who love great entertainment, TILT is a must-have DVD. Bonus materials for TILT include an alternate ending for the first season, behind the scenes footage, outtakes, deleted scenes, actor auditions, and much more. There are more than three hours of bonus materials. TILT comes from executive producer Orly Adelson, who served in the same capacity on ESPN Original Entertainment's popular "Playmakers" series. Writers and Executive Producers Brian Koppelman and David Levien also wrote the poker-themed hit film "Rounders." TILT stars Michael Madsen ("Kill Bill" series; "Reservoir Dogs") as Don "The Matador" Everest, the champion poker-playing "king of the table." Facing off against the Matador is Eddie Towne (Eddie Cibrian, "Third Watch"), a hot-shot player driven by revenge, and Clark Marcellin (Todd Williams, "Lift") a young player out to de-throne the champ. Chris Bauer ("The Wire") plays Lee Nickel, a Midwestern sheriff looking for his brother's killer. Michael Murphy ("Tanner '88") appears as Molloy, head of a casino-owning family. Kristin Lehman ("Judging Amy," "Felicity") plays Miami, who has her eyes on the Matador.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Masterpiece, May 30, 2005

By	Lorenzo Daley "Film Critic" (Greenwich, CT) - See all my reviews

Simply put, one of television's crowning achievements of this or any era. Madsen's acting is remnant of Marlon Brando in The Godfather. The character of Nickel is indisputably one of the most multileveled and perplexing in the history of drama, displaying Chris Bauer's massive and unfaltering acting prowess.
Tilt's dialogue is so natural that one often forgets that he is watching a piece of dramatic fiction, and not a documentary. The writing is top notch. Such a blend of drama, action, comedy, and nickel has never before been seen on the screen, and it brought a tear to the collective eye of millions of viewers every week.

My only regret is that Tilt was released as a weekly series, instead of as an epic film trilogy as originally intended. If not for the hollywood fatcats' politcal agendas, Tilt could have swept the Academy Awards like an unforgiving flood, and been seen as the greatest film trilogy of all time.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars When you lose...you win, June 8, 2005

By	K. P. Werner "Scott Jergensen" (Zannzibar) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Unlike the world of tilt, you can lose...BY NOT BUYING TILT ASAP. Argueably the finest show of our generation, the first season of tilt features groundbreaking performances from Michael Madsen and Chris Bauer. Bauer's performance as Lee Nickel is especially powerful as he brings Nickel not only to life, but after watching the show you will feel his presence as a wraith haunting your dreams...Its that powerful. Madsen continues his domination of American film by starring in this epic series, as the Don Corleone of the Tilt world to Bauer's Michael Corleone.

With that flood of hyperbole aside, there may be no finer way to celebrate this fathers day, and any other day for that matter by watching, nay, experiencing, tilt in its deterreform glory.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Guilty Pleasure!, July 31, 2005

By	K. J. Blake "Super Reader" (Phoenix,AZ United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

So I picked up this DVD set at Walmart because I love Eddie Cibrian, enjoy solid drama and thought series looked interesting from the packaging. Not having seen Rounders- the constant referral to it by the producers in the behind the scenes shots meant little. I watched this through in 3 sittings and was thoroughly entertained. Madsen as The Matador is chilling- his gravelly voice is full of such menace you wonder why everyone around him isn't in constant fear.....the three young poker players do an admirable job of pulling themselves together and through difficulties to bring down their nemesis. Lots of subplots all culminate in some tricky crime drama worthy of Tony Soprano.
Series is written by veteran mystery/crime writer Lawrence Block. His direct verbal style translates well to the Vegas poker scene. What I really liked here was the showing of the gambling world as a not too pretty place- lots of glitz on the surface but murky depths that few care to dwell in. Don McManus as Lowball is such slime- a bottom dweller unable to give up power and the game as head of the Colorado casino where the action in Tilt takes place.

Stylish, fun- full of pretty boys and girls but not too much t&a- this is a guilty pleasure I look forward to seeing more of!