Robert Rodriguez broke the mould with the "brash, beautiful and breathlessly violent" crime anthology Sin City. He flouted union rules for the chance to co-direct with comicbook creator Frank Miller and the result left critics with their jaws on the floor. Quentin Tarantino also called the shots on a section of the film, but some moviegoers found the hardboiled sensibility too much to stomach. While it did respectable business, it wasn't the blockbuster many had anticipated.
Black, White And Green
For a film that has broken new ground in digital photography and with such breathtaking results, it's very surprising and very disappointing that the DVD release affords virtually no insight into this process. An eight-minute behind-the-scenes featurette only contains snippets of on-set footage where a green screen was mounted for actors without dressings or props. Many of the cast including Bruce Willis and Clive Owen reflect on this reinvention of filmmaking without talking about the challenges of working in such a stark environment.
Blood For Blood
Adding a little more substance to the discussion, Rodriguez, Miller and Tarantino explain the roots of the project and how it eventually came together. Interestingly, the entire opening sequence (featuring Josh Hartnett) was filmed before Rodriguez even had the rights to Miller's graphic novels as a way of persuading him to give up the goods. Initially, Miller was unsure of the pitch, but on seeing the sequence, happily bought into Rodriguez's vision, ie "Instead of trying to turn it into movie, which would be terrible, let's try and turn cinema into this book."Sadly there are no other extras with the maverick directing trio even denying us an audio commentary. It prompts this reviewer to suspect that a Special Edition package may be in the works to coincide with the release of Sin City 2 in May 2006. Watch this space...
EXTRA FEATURES
