|
The Departed (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen Director: Martin Scorsese, Richard Schickel Average Rating: 
|
|
If you like "The Departed (Two-Disc Special Edition)", you might also like ...
| Customer Reviews 1-5 of 305 | NEXT >> |
2008-10-08...for Martin Scorcese that I feel very sorry for his precocious senility. I can't think of any other explanation (there is no excuse) for mistaking di Caprio for an actor (which is about as ludicrous as mistaking McDos for Resturants). And, since he's persisting in poluting the screens with something whose only merit is he never will be a "Has Been" (since he never was anything in the first place), from now on I will keep clear from Scorcese's movies.
2008-08-04How my ratings work:
5 - I really liked/loved it
4 - I liked it
3 - Could've been better/worth a look
2 - Just didnt live up to the potential
1 - simpley aweful
Was this the movie that Scorsese desearved the best director Oscar for? Some say yes, others say no. personelly I think Raging Bull and Goodfellas are the movies he should've won for. But I'm not gonna complain because the acadamy finaly recogized Scorsese. After 27 years of being nominated, he finaly got the award he desearved. Not that he needed an oscar to prove his worth in the movie world. Scorsese is by far the one of the best directors of any generation. But this movie is still worth a watch. It's a rivetting tale of murder, deceit, and betrayel. Everyone gives it their all. Leonardo Di Caprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, and Mark Whalberg are all at the top of their game here. I don't really need to go into the plot details, there are plenty of other reviews on here that will do that for you.
2008-07-09If not the best motion picture of all time. This has to be in the top 3!!!
When I first saw the trailers for this film on TV I was split down the middle. Being a massive fan of Martin Scorsese I was hooked. Yet never quite being a fan of Leonardo DiCaprio made me a bit indiffrent. Then seeing the icon Jack Nicholson tagged to the picture gave my flesh goosebumps. The names Scorsese/Nicholson meant "Great Movie" to me. So because of that I avoided any remaing information about the picture so I could walk in opening weekend and be suprised.
Right from the outset with Jack's monologue of his harsh outlook on existance I was lost in the world of the sourth Boston underworld. Through police corruption via Matt Damon's character & vigilence through sacrafice from DiCaprio.
The movie futher cemented itself in greatness with the amazing supporting cast. Martin Sheen brought in his 'A' game. Excitement and laughter came accross me when I saw one of my favorites Alec Baldwin take the screen in a perfect role for him. Marc Walburg stepped up his dramtic chops even though his character most likely came natural for him. Matt Damon played the bit of hidden scumbag quite well. Then the biggest magic of all to me was that Scorsese was finaly able to make a DiCaprio fan out of me with a very powerfull performence.
The story was so intense & alive you are along for the journey the entire time. It's almost as living it through eyes of someone else. The brutal realism of the violence where none of it is played for shock value or over the top theatrics is the final peice of truth that Scorsese uses to bring this all to vibrant yet rough polish.
Yet to share one more thing with you all as to how great this film is. durring the entire showing the first time I saw it on the big screen. My friend Dougie who tends to talk, talk talk & ramble on & on & on actualy shut his mouth through the whole thing. SCORSESE IS GOD !
Now to this DVD version. The two-disc special edition is the ultimate. Not only because you have a copy of the widescreen version of 'the DEPARTED' you also have a disc of amazing special features. It's not cluttered yet they give you a deeper appreciation of the film.
*an incredable doccumentary about Whitey Bulger & the Irish mob of sourth Boston who the writer based the persona of Jack Nicholson's character on.
* Feature length doccumentary of the entire carreer of Martin Scorsese
*Featurette of Little Italy's crime & violence and how that and the crime drama genre influented the mob films of Scorsese
*9 additional scenes with intros by Martin himself
Pick up this version if you are hunting for the perfect DVD of 'the Departed'!
Unless you have Blu-Ray this is the one.
2008-06-23If you've gotten to the point where you're reading movie reviews, you probably don't need a plot synopsis, so let's skip it. So how good is this movie...? I would say that this movie is to cinema what "An American Tragedy" is to literture - the most poorly made great peice of work of its time.
It's a great movie in the following ways: 1) The script is tightly plotted. Nothing is superfluous, nothing is overdone or overlooked, and the REAL RARITY? YOU actualy HAVE TO PAY ATTENTION. If you miss a second of this movie, you won't understand how the rest of it unfolds. 2) It's nice to watch some of the best living American actors all do their thing in a single film. Mark Wahlberg and Leonardo DiCaprio turn in parituclarily fine performences, and Matt Damon seemed to be extending his range (happily), playing a character for whom one cannot feel sorry, nor want to take home to meet Mom. 3) Depending on how you feel about one liners generaly, the one liners are good, and very apt. I could go on about the familial and racial subtexts here as well, but suffice it to say that there is more than one character trying to please Daddy, and if you're black, Italian, Arab or Cathlic, the first twenty minutes won't give you the warm fuzzies.
The Departed is less than stellar in the following ways: 1) As mentioned in severeal other reviews, the ending is a bit ludicrous. It felt like plot twists were being made for their own sake, rather than for the good of the film or the story. Without being a spoiler, let me just say here that I DID respect the choice NOT to pander to the mass audience's sensibilities in terms of what happens to the "good" and "bad" guys, or to reveal too much information in the end. 2) A few of these (albiet briliant) actors are cast as themselves. Jack Nicholson brought out Jack the bad guy/madman for us, and Alec Baldwin was as smarmy on screen as we filthy little pigs are acustomed to seeing him offscreen. Most of these actors really brought their A-games though. And really, are Jack and Alec playing themselves the worst thing you could watch? Methinks not! 3) Aside from the ending, my one complaint with the script is that it was over-plotted and under-charaterized. There were so many plot lines (two A lines, as well as B and C lines) that there just wasnt time for the main charachters to have much of an arc. From beggining to end, Costello is Costello, Sullivan is Sullivan and Costigan is Costigan. The only two charachters who seem to take themselves off the path they intially set out on were Mark Wahlberg and Vera Farmiga's charachters.
Departures in The Departed: Although the charachters in this film are beleiveable and very well acted, make no mistake: this is a plot driven movie. This seems contrary to the recent films of most of the lead actors, as well as for director Martin Scorcese. Also, this is a film that was truely made in the editing room. Although DiCaprio and Damon have the two A plot lines, they're in only 2 or 3 scenes together. There's a lot of editorial juxtapositon, cutting back and forth, and it can get a bit obvious - and overbearing. Another departure from Scorcese's style can be found in the cinematography, which is tighter and less panaromic than he seems to prefer. However, once you've seen a shot of Jack Nicholson lit in redlight showering two half naked women in coke, you'll remember whose movie you're watching.
All in all, I would say buy the movie. But don't turn away - you'll miss something important.
2008-06-08Film noir crime thriller set in Boston, Massachussets which follows the efforts of the Massachussets State Police as they try to apprehend a notorious gangster and mass murderer played by Jack Nicholson by placing an undercover cop played by Leonardo DiCaprio in his crew to get close to him and gain intel and valueable evidence that will put Nicholson away. But unbeknownst to the Massachussets State Police, Jack Nicholson has a mole of his own inside their very Department. A good crime thriller directed by Martin Scorsese that flows quickly through its two plus hours with a sharp plot, intresting charachters and a compelling vision that is not undone by a lot of machismo on the part of the mainly male charachters and a high body count. Matt Damon is excelllent as the phoney cop in the pay of Jack Nicholson's gangster and Leonardo DiCaprio is also on form as the undercover cop playing a game of cat and mouse with Matt Damon as the two try to uncover each other's identity. However I felt that the ending to this film was fairly botched, such that what should have been a 5 star film was only a 4 star film, which is a shame because the film was excelllent up untill this point. Good but not perfect.
1-5 of 305 | NEXT PAGE OF REVIEWS >>
| Editorial Review |
Such convenient coincidences might sink a lesser film, but The Departed is so electrifying that you barely notice the plot-holes. And while Nicholson's profane swagger is too much "Jack" and not enough "Costello," he's still a joy to watch, especially in a film that's additionally energized by memorable (and frequently hilarious) supporting roles for Alec Baldwin, Mark Wahlberg, and a host of other big-name performers. The Departed also makes clever and plot-dependent use of cell-phones, to the extent that it couldn't exist without them. Powered by Scorsese's trademark use of well-chosen soundtrack songs (from vintage rock to Puccini's operas), The Departed may not be perfect, but it's one helluva ride for moviegoers, proving popular enough to become the biggest box-office hit of Scorsese's commercially rocky career. --Jeff Shannon
On the DVD
Introduced by director Martin Scorsese, the nine deleted scenes from The Departed are all interesting to watch, though not a significant loss from the picture. The other bonus features are very good as well. "Stranger Than Fiction: The True Story of Whitey Bulger, Southie, and The Departed" is a 21-minute history of the real-life Boston gangster Jack Nicholson's character was based on. Scorsese, screenwriter William Monahan, and a number of journalists are among those interviewed. In "Crossing Criminal Cultures" (24 minutes), Scorsese and the cast discuss gangster pictures and specifically Scorsese's. Consider that a warm-up for Scorsese on Scorsese, an 86-minute documentary from 2004. (It's the only bonus feature not available on the HD DVD or Blu-ray versions.) There's no narrator or interviewer: it's just Scorsese talking about his upbringing and influences. There's a generous use of clips through The Aviator and even his American Express commercial. --David Horiuchi
Beyond The Departed
 More gangster movies |  Amazon.com's Martin Scorsese Essentials |  The original inspiration: Infernal Affairs |
Two men from opposite sides of the law are undercover within the massachusetts state police & the irish mafia but violence & bloodshed boil when discoveries are made & the moles are dispatched to find out their enemys identities. Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 11/11/2008 Starring: Leonardo Dicaprio Jack Nicholson Run time: 151 minutes Rating: R
If you like "The Departed (Two-Disc Special Edition)", you might also like ...
