Bruce Willis and Billy Bob Thornton team up for Barry Levinson's crime caper, "Bandits", a film he initially turned down, as you'll find out on the new DVD release.
TECHNICAL FEATURES
Picture Levinson makes use of various colour effects throughout the movie, which transfer to DVD with clarity.
Sound The 5.1 sound mix reflects the mood of the film very well, using the speakers to enhance moments of levity through the music score, and pumping-up the action scenes with bass muscle.
SPECIAL FEATURES
Audio Commentary MGM has gone to the trouble of producing a tight and interesting commentary that mixes comments from Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, Cate Blanchett, Troy Garity, producer Paula Weinstein, and writer Harley Peyton. Willis and Thornton tend to crop up most and they should have done a commentary track together. Both enjoyed working with each other on "Armageddon", and were looking for another joint project that would reflect their similar sense of humour. Writer Harley Peyton also makes himself useful by detailing what elements of the true story it was based on appear in the final film.
Inside Bandits In this 20-minute DVD feature we find out just who the real bank robbers were, their methods, and how the film could build humour into some dark and tense situations. As the original script sat, Barry Levinson was not attracted to the project, but after being asked to read it again, he started to see how he could introduce his spin on the story.
Script to Screen Workshop: Creating Scene 71 This is a rather grandiose title for what is really a selection of interview clips and alternate takes on a scene that developed through improvisation into an improved take on the original plan.
Additional Extra Features Also on the disc are four deleted scenes, a very short alternate ending with a commentary by Cate Blanchett (who had suggested the ending), a trailer, and a soundtrack advert.
Region: 2
Chapters: 16
Ratio: 2.35:1 (anamorphic)
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
Technical Features: Scene selection, and English captions for the hearing impaired.
This DVD was reviewed on a JVC XV-S57 DVD player.
