The Devil's Own


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Details At A Glance

General
Extras
Category Thriller Theatrical Trailer(s) 1
Rating Other Trailer(s) None
Running Time 107 minutes Commentary Tracks None
RSDL/Flipper No/No Other Extras None
Region 4    
Distributor Columbia Tristar    
RRP $34.95    

 
Video
Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame No MPEG None
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 2.35:1 Dolby Digital 5.1
16x9 Enhancement Yes Soundtrack Languages English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
English (Dolby Digital 2.0 )
French (Dolby Digital 5.1)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio 2.35:1    
Macrovision Yes    
Subtitles English 
French
Dutch
Arabic
   

Plot Synopsis

    The Devil's Own is an action thriller starring Harrison Ford and Brad Pitt.

    The story begins in Northern Ireland in 1972, where a young Frankie Maguire sees his father assassinated by a masked gunman whilst they are seated at the dinner table. We then fast forward to 1992, where we learn that Frankie is a very wanted member of the IRA and is responsible for multiple killings of British police and army personnel.

    We witness an ambush by the British which goes wrong, and Frankie escapes. A plan is hatched for Frankie to go to America to acquire missiles so that the IRA can fight against the British helicopters which are troubling them greatly.

    Frankie, travelling as Rory Devane (Brad Pitt), lands in New York in February 1993. He stays with Tom O'Meara (Harrison Ford) and his family. Tom is an honest policeman who has no idea of Rory's background.

    Rory meets with his friend Sean Phelan (Paul Ronan) and we learn that Sean has acquired a boat and the necessary contacts to undertake the weapons deal.

    We see Tom at work, and we come to learn that he dislikes guns and violence intensely. Tom is placed in a very compromising position by the actions of his partner, Eddie, who shoots an offender in the back whilst the offender is trying to escape. Tom lies about what happens to keep Eddie out of trouble, something which he agonizes over later.

    Tom arrives home to find burglars in his house whom he intuits were searching for something in Rory's room (the basement). The burglars don't find anything, but Tom finds a bag full of a great deal of cash. Tom arrests Rory. Rory escapes on the way to the police station and is forced to shoot Eddie.

    Rory is required to attend a meeting at a warehouse with the arms dealer, which he does, and a shoot-out ensues. Rory gets his weapons, and prepares to leave America, but Tom intercepts him on the boat as he is leaving the dock.

    What follows is the climactic confrontation between Tom and Rory, where, as we are shown - 'it's not an American story, it's an Irish one - there's no happy ending'.

    The Devil's Own is a movie that works on several levels, and questions what is right and what is wrong, and how context affects this. It shows two very principled men in their complex struggles to come to terms with this.

Transfer Quality

Video

    This is a perfectly reasonable DVD transfer, but is not quite up to the usual Columbia Tristar standard. There are a few minor faults with the transfer, which is a pity. The transfer is presented at an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, 16x9 enhanced.

    The transfer was razor sharp at all times. Shadow detail was a little lacking at times, but the complete absence of low level noise meant that this was not a huge problem.

    The colour was generally very well rendered. Several indoor scenes, however, were a little oversaturated.

    No MPEG artefacts were seen.

    There were a few brief sequences where some side-to-side wobbling was apparent - possibly on the original negative rather than as a result of the transfer. These sequences occurred at the outside of the airport, whilst Tom and Rory are walking outside at night together, and in church. They are all brief sequences, and the artefact is minor, but noticeable. There is also a sequence marred slightly with vertical aliasing (Megan's bed head) which commences at approximately 91:53. Finally, there appeared to be two minor skips in the video; one at 97:42 and one at 98:50.

    Film artefacts were exceptionally rare. The interpositive this transfer was taken from must have been in absolutely tip-top shape. There was only one artefact that I noticed very early on the movie and after that there were pretty much none to be seen at all.

Audio

    There are several audio tracks on this DVD. The default audio is English Dolby Digital 2.0 channel, surround encoded. I still cannot understand why Columbia Tristar persist in having this as their default audio format rather than the superior 5.1 mix. Also present on the DVD is a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack (which I listened to) and a 5.1 track in French. There are no MPEG tracks at all on this DVD, so it certainly appears as if Columbia Tristar has abandoned MPEG audio encoding, leaving only Roadshow Home Entertainment still using MPEG encoding for audio.

    Dialogue was usually clear and completely intelligible. On occasion, you did have to concentrate on the dialogue a little to understand it, but this was as much a problem to do with the accents the actors' used rather than the audio mix.

    The musical score was composed by James Horner, and has his characteristic lush sound about it. It is a suitable accompaniment to the video.

     The surround channels were used frequently during the movie to provide an enveloping sound field. Music, ambient sound effects, and sound effects during action sequences were present in the surround channels, including one of the most enveloping sound fields I have yet heard during the gun battle early on in the movie. This had the effect of putting you right in the middle of the action with bullets whizzing by in all directions, without ever localizing to a specific rear channel.

    The .1 channel was used both to enhance the music, and to underscore the action sequences, and was quite effective in doing so.

Extras

    The only extra on this DVD is the theatrical trailer, presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio, non-16:9 enhanced with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack (mixed in mono).

Summary

    I enjoyed The Devil's Own on DVD more so than when I saw it at the cinema, mainly because the audio quality was so much better on the DVD. The movie itself can be enjoyed on several levels; it is a reasonable action picture, but at the same time the two principal characters are both complex characters, both with good and bad in them, and you are able to get to understand both of their motivations and torments. Harrison Ford and Brad Pitt interacted well together in this movie. The other characters in the movie are really only there playing fairly minor roles whilst we concentrate on developing the two leads' characters. The arms dealer, in particular, is quite a one-dimensional villain, but it is still pleasing when he gets what is coming to him.

    The video quality is below the standard of previous Columbia Tristar releases artefact-wise, but absolutely crystal clear otherwise.

    The audio quality is very good, with a pleasing and enveloping sound field.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

Michael Demtschyna
9th November 1998

Review Equipment
DVD Pioneer DV-505, using S-Video output
Display Loewe Art-95 95cm direct view CRT in 16:9 mode, via the S-Video input. Calibrated with the NTSC DVD version of Video Essentials.
Audio Decoder Denon AVD-2000 Dolby Digital AddOn Decoder, used as a standalone processor. Calibrated with the NTSC DVD version of Video Essentials.
Amplification 2 x EA Playmaster 100W per channel stereo amplifiers for Left, Right, Left Rear and Right Rear; Philips 360 50W per channel stereo amplifier for Centre and Subwoofer
Speakers Philips S2000 speakers for Left, Right; Polk Audio CS-100 Centre Speaker; Apex AS-123 speakers for Left Rear and Right Rear; Yamaha B100-115SE subwoofer