THE
ITALIAN JOB ($30) is a highly entertaining and slick caper movie. This
reworking of the 1969 film of the same name succeeds enormously thanks to
a strong ensemble cast, cool cars, gadgetry, terrific stunts, a bit of humor,
plus the effective way the elements of double cross and
revenge are worked into the plot. Staring out with a beautifully shot and
executed sequence in Venice, Italy, THE ITALIAN JOB tells of heist
in which a group of thieves make off thirty five million dollars worth of
gold bars. Unfortunately, we quickly learn there is no honor among
thieves, with one member of the group getting greedy- thus taking the gold
and leaving his companions for dead. A year later, the surviving thieves
locate the gold, in addition to the team member that betrayed them.
Knowing where the gold is gives our intrepid band of thieves the
opportunity to retrieve their "stolen" booty and take a bit of
sweet revenge. The fine cast of THE ITALIAN JOB features Mark
Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, Donald Sutherland, Jason Statham, Seth Green,
Mos Def and Edward Norton.
Paramount
Home Entertainment has made THE ITALIAN JOB available on DVD in a
beautiful looking 2.35:1 wide screen presentation that has been enhanced
for playback on 16:9 displays. The image is very crisp and sports
excellent definition throughout. Colors are strongly saturated and the
flesh tones are always totally appealing. No matter the intensity of the
hues, the DVD never demonstrates any signs of chroma noise or bleeding.
Blacks are pure, whites are completely stable and contrast is excellent.
Additionally, the picture produces excellent shadow detail and a really
nice sense of dimensionality. The film element used for the transfer is
nearly pristine, and occasionally displays a bit of a grain structure.
Digital compression artifacts are usually very well concealed.
THE
ITALIAN JOB comes with a truly fine Dolby Digital 5.1 channel
soundtrack. The sound design takes full advantage of the discrete nature
of the format to create a fun and engaging mix. Sound effects effortlessly
bounce around the soundstage, invigorating the film’s terrific chase
sequences. The forward soundstage creates a sense of spaciousness that
effectively wraps around into the rear channels, which add ambient
support, as well as active sounds. The bass channel is very solid and adds
a real punch whenever required. Dialogue is clean, fully intelligible and
very natural sounding. Fidelity is also very good, with the film’s score
and incidental songs coming across with a good sense of musicality.
English surround and French 5.1 channel tracks are also encoded onto the
DVD, as are English subtitles.
Full
motion video, animation and sound serve to enhance the DVD's interactive
menus. Through the menus, one has access to standard scene selection and
set up features, as well as some nice supplements. Pedal to the
Metal: The Making Of The Italian Job runs eighteen minutes;
featuring interviews with the cast and crew, as well as a glimpse
behind-the-scenes. Putting The Words On The Page For The Italian Job
is a five-minute program with the screenwriters, who discuss the
development of the screen story. The Italian JobDriving
School is another five-minute program that looks at the training
the actors underwent to do a bit of stunt driving in the film. The
Mighty Minis Of The Italian Job is a five-minute profile of the
film’s car of choice. High Octane: Stunts From The Italian Job
clocks in at eight minutes and looks at the film impressive stunts and the
desire to do things practically, instead of relying on CGI. Six deleted
scenes and the film’s theatrical trailer close out the supplements.
THE
ITALIAN JOB is a totally enjoyable caper flick, in addition to being a
terrific looking and sounding DVD. If you enjoy caper movies, you really
can’t go wrong with the 2003 version of THE ITALIAN JOB, nor can
you go wrong Paramount’s fine wide screen DVD. Highly recommended.
THE
ITALIAN JOB ($30) is a highly entertaining and slick caper movie. This
reworking of the 1969 film of the same name succeeds enormously thanks to
a strong ensemble cast, cool cars, gadgetry, terrific stunts, a bit of humor,
plus the effective way the elements of double cross and
revenge are worked into the plot. Staring out with a beautifully shot and
executed sequence in Venice, Italy, THE ITALIAN JOB tells of heist
in which a group of thieves make off thirty five million dollars worth of
gold bars. Unfortunately, we quickly learn there is no honor among
thieves, with one member of the group getting greedy- thus taking the gold
and leaving his companions for dead. A year later, the surviving thieves
locate the gold, in addition to the team member that betrayed them.
Knowing where the gold is gives our intrepid band of thieves the
opportunity to retrieve their "stolen" booty and take a bit of
sweet revenge. The fine cast of THE ITALIAN JOB features Mark
Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, Donald Sutherland, Jason Statham, Seth Green,
Mos Def and Edward Norton.
Paramount
Home Entertainment has made THE ITALIAN JOB available on DVD in a
beautiful looking 2.35:1 wide screen presentation that has been enhanced
for playback on 16:9 displays. The image is very crisp and sports
excellent definition throughout. Colors are strongly saturated and the
flesh tones are always totally appealing. No matter the intensity of the
hues, the DVD never demonstrates any signs of chroma noise or bleeding.
Blacks are pure, whites are completely stable and contrast is excellent.
Additionally, the picture produces excellent shadow detail and a really
nice sense of dimensionality. The film element used for the transfer is
nearly pristine, and occasionally displays a bit of a grain structure.
Digital compression artifacts are usually very well concealed.
THE
ITALIAN JOB comes with a truly fine Dolby Digital 5.1 channel
soundtrack. The sound design takes full advantage of the discrete nature
of the format to create a fun and engaging mix. Sound effects effortlessly
bounce around the soundstage, invigorating the film’s terrific chase
sequences. The forward soundstage creates a sense of spaciousness that
effectively wraps around into the rear channels, which add ambient
support, as well as active sounds. The bass channel is very solid and adds
a real punch whenever required. Dialogue is clean, fully intelligible and
very natural sounding. Fidelity is also very good, with the film’s score
and incidental songs coming across with a good sense of musicality.
English surround and French 5.1 channel tracks are also encoded onto the
DVD, as are English subtitles.
Full
motion video, animation and sound serve to enhance the DVD's interactive
menus. Through the menus, one has access to standard scene selection and
set up features, as well as some nice supplements. Pedal to the
Metal: The Making Of The Italian Job runs eighteen minutes;
featuring interviews with the cast and crew, as well as a glimpse
behind-the-scenes. Putting The Words On The Page For The Italian Job
is a five-minute program with the screenwriters, who discuss the
development of the screen story. The Italian Job Driving
School is another five-minute program that looks at the training
the actors underwent to do a bit of stunt driving in the film. The
Mighty Minis Of The Italian Job is a five-minute profile of the
film’s car of choice. High Octane: Stunts From The Italian Job
clocks in at eight minutes and looks at the film impressive stunts and the
desire to do things practically, instead of relying on CGI. Six deleted
scenes and the film’s theatrical trailer close out the supplements.
THE
ITALIAN JOB is a totally enjoyable caper flick, in addition to being a
terrific looking and sounding DVD. If you enjoy caper movies, you really
can’t go wrong with the 2003 version of THE ITALIAN JOB, nor can
you go wrong Paramount’s fine wide screen DVD. Highly recommended.
