[Blu-Ray Review] THE DA VINCI CODE: EXTENDED CUT
The Da Vinci Code, while a wildly successful book (it had over 60 million copies in print by the time the movie was released in 2006), didn’t come out to a very good critical reception when it was released as a movie. Which is really odd, when you think about it, as it has a very good pedigree. The director was none other than Ron Howard, and it starred the usually reliable Tom Hanks with a script adapted from the Dan Brown book by Akiva Goldsmith. But that didn’t stop it from getting a serious backlash from movie critics and religious groups alike.
But I’ll let you into a secret before we continue with this review, which is of the extended edition of the movie.
I quite liked it. There, I’ve said it. I quite liked The Da Vinci Code. I’d read the book. Hell, I’d read the book that had influenced a lot of the story in The Da Vinci Code, The Holy Blood & The Holy Grail, and I have a very big interest in religion (without being religious), conspiracies, and a lot of the other issues in the book. So I awaited the movie’s release with interest.
And I liked it. It wasn’t perfect, but then not very many movies are, but it was entertaining, and although it felt a little off the pace of the book, I thought it was a pretty decent adaption. So when I was sent the Extended Edition on Blu Ray to review, I was pretty happy. After all, the extended version of the movie, which had never been released in the UK or USA before, added over 20 minutes extra into the movie. But is that a good thing?
OK, before we get any further, let’s do a really quick recap of the plot, just in case you have never seen The Da Vinci Code. Robert Langdon, played by Tom Hanks, is a professor of religious iconology and symbology and while in Paris to give a lecture on his work is brought to the Louvre in the dead of night by the police. Once there, Langdon is accused of the murder of Jacques Saunière, the curator of the Louvre, who Langdon was sheduled to have a meeting with. Helped to escape the police by Sophie Neveu, a young police Cryptologist and the granddaughter of Saunière, Langdon soon finds himself on a Grail quest and pursued by unknown enemies from the Catholic Church as he begins to unravel a mystery that has existed since the time of Christ.
Kind of easy to see why the movie met with criticism from religious quarters, eh?
Anyway, what did I think of the extended version? Well, it might not come as a surprise when I say I liked it! It felt like a more well rounded movie and, even though the running time is pushed up to just under 3 hours, it seemed to be much better paced than before. It also felt like a more accurate adaption of the book, which considering the book was so popular can only be a good thing!
There is no doubting the skill of Ron Howard as a film maker. The locations used in the movie look superb and the pace as the characters are spun from one clue to another never really lets up. But he also manages to make all the characters seem “real”, a task which is helped by the casting.
Tom Hanks, as I have already said, is a bankable star and watchable in anything. And yes, that does include this. He doesn’t make an obvious action hero but he does fit the character of an academic who is capable of tremendous acts of deduction but isn’t comfortable fighting. Think Indiana Jones without the bullwhip and punching.
He is ably supported by Audrey Tautou as Sophie, Ian McKellan, Jean Reno, Paul Bettany and Alfred Molina. All of whom feel right at home in the characters that they are playing and totally believable, even if the situations they sometimes find themselves in aren’t.
The video transfer on the Blu Ray is a note worthy one, with the colours all appearing crisp, and even sumptuous at times. The blacks are solid throughout, and there is a surprising amount of detail, even in the murkier scenes and as you would expect from a fairly recent release there are no artifacts or noticable problems in the transfer.
Likewise, the audio is presented in a wonderful English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Surround track, with all of the speakers in your surround sound setup getting a workout. But luckily the dialogue, of which there is quite a lot, never gets drowned out by the other noises on the soundtrack, and it sounds as good as the picture looks.
There are holes you can pick in the plot but overall this is a good thriller, by a very good director with a fabulous cast and it has never looked or sounded better.
The Extras
Audio Commentary by Ron Howard: Slightly oddly, Ron Howard talks us through “select scenes” of the movie, covering 28 scenes, where he concentrates on certain aspects of the story, from the actors (both Hanks and Bettany get their own chapters), areas of the shoot and even some of the controversy around Dan Browns book. He also covers some of the new scenes inserted into the extended edition. Why didn’t they do a full commentary? I don’t know, and it’s a shame as Ron Howard is very good here, as what he does give us is very informative and interesting.
Picture-in-Picture: “Unlocking the Code”: This interactive PiP track is pretty interesting, and full of information from interviews with cast and crew, to storyboards, talks about the props, the symbols and codes and even location trivia. It also has it’s own demo as during the movie icons signifying each type of information are highlighted on screen and it’s up to you to decide which you want to see. I’m still not totally sold on the idea of an “interactive” PiP track, but it is very nice to see Sony trying something new.
7 Minute Preview of Angels & Demons: A brief intro by Ron Howard prefaces a five minute scene from the new movie (which looks absolutely fantastic in HD!) before we get to see the trailer. It’s not really a surprise this is included, and it certainly does look like an interesting movie judging by this scene.
CineChat BD Live Feature: This BD Live feature enables you to watch the movie and have a live chat with other BD Live users who are also watching the movie. Um, it might appeal to some people but not to me, but I suppose in the day of Facebook and Twitter there are going to be more and more people taking part in this type of thing.
BD Live Portal: At time of writing there is an featurette on the Illuminati (the bad guys in Angels & Demons and exclusive video from the red carpet premier of Angels & Demons in Rome available on the Da Vinci Code portal.
The second disc of the two disc release contains the 90 odd minute documentary from the DVD release, which covers the development of the movie from the initial stages through to the final release, as well as some of the more usual “talking heads” style interviews that we have all become accustomed to, broken down into 12 different segments, “First Day on the Set with Ron Howard,” “Discussion with Dan Brown,” “Portrait of Robert Langdon,” “Who is Sophie Neveu?“, “Unusual Suspects,” “Magical Places,” “Close Up of Mona Lisa,” “Filmmaker’s Journey Parts I and II,” “Codes of The Da Vinci Code” and “Music of The Da Vinci Code”, all of which are informative and very interesting. The video has all been remastered in HD, and looks fantastic.
But Sony have also added six all new features, “Book to Screen,” “Re-Creating Works of Art,” “The Da Vinci Props,” The Da Vinci Sets” and “The Visual Effects World of the Da Vinci Code“, to give an extra incentive to upgrade from the DVD version.
The whole thing adds up to a sumptuous Blu Ray release that is packed to the brim with as many features and as much information as you could hope for.
So what went wrong? Why, when it was released, did it get such a critical drubbing? I mean, if you look at the facts then it would be hard to call it a flop, especially as Box Office Mojo has it listed as taking $217,536,138 in box office in the USA alone. Which, if you think about it, really means that nothing went wrong!
Realistically, I think it was just a natural backlash against the adaption of a book that had been such a runaway success. Maybe people’s expectations were too high. Maybe it was just the fact that people knew all of the beats of the story already and there was nothing here that could surprise or thrill them as they all already knew the outcome.
Regardless, this is a decent thriller that, while it might play a little fast and loose with the facts, is an enjoyable ride and it might just be that you should take this oppertunity to check it out in it’s extended form as, if you were entertained by the book, you should enjoy this.
Oh, and if your only complaint about the movie is going to be Tom Hanks’ hair cut, then please, don’t bother. 
One Response to “[Blu-Ray Review] THE DA VINCI CODE: EXTENDED CUT”
Entertaining book, boring-ass movie. I almost fell asleep twice until Sir Ian showed up.
Trackbacks
What's Your Opinion?