Super nice guy Denzel Washington gets tough and nasty and wins an Academy Award for his troubles in this tense drama that punches out onto DVD.

TECHNICAL FEATURES

Picture The gritty urban LA setting transfers impeccably to disc, as you'd expect for such a high-profile release, and it doesn't appear to have even the tiniest technical glitch.

Sound Mean people demand mean music and every beat of the score pounds through the subwoofer with authority. Shoot-outs and action scenes turn your living room into a bullet-sprayed ghetto, with the surround speakers absorbing plenty of precision audio hits.

SPECIAL FEATURES

Audio Commentary Director Antoine Fuqua was not only able to use personal experience from "the streets", but also did a lot of research into gang culture and cop attitudes, which he details in a fascinating commentary track. He relates conversations he had with the real people who live their lives in the more dangerous parts of LA. While he managed to gain their co-operation to film in these trouble spots, he and the crew were never far from danger, and they had to tread very carefully for fear of offending the wrong people. Fuqua also takes time to discuss the characters, adding an extra dimension to them, which makes this a track well worth listening to.

Crossing the Line Featurette With a title like Crossing the Line, you'd expect this 15-minute 'making of' featurette to be a gritty look at shooting in dangerous locations. Sadly it's the usual promotional video that offers clips and snappy cast and crew interviews on characters and plotlines. At least it's not horribly cheesy, but you won't learn much from this extra.

Additional Extra Features Also on the DVD are 12 minutes of deleted scenes and an alternate ending, which is only subtly different to the one used. Plus you get two music videos and the obligatory trailer. The RRP of £12.99 is low and the disc is well worth the money, but this is a movie that will surely get the 'special edition' treatment in the future. Until then, this will do nicely.

Region: 2
Chapters: 28
Ratio: 2.35:1 (anamorphic)
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
Technical Features: Scene selection, multiple languages and subtitles, and English captions for the hearing impaired

This DVD was reviewed on a JVC XV-S57 DVD player.