Road to Perdition (2002)

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General		Extras
Category	Mob	Main Menu Audio & Animation Scene Selection Anim & Audio Audio Commentary Featurette-Making Of Deleted Scenes-11 +/- commentary Trailer-CD Soundtrack Gallery-Photo Biographies-Cast & Crew Production Notes
Rating
Year Of Production	2002
Running Time	112:07
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (68:37)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Sam Mendes
Studio Distributor	Twentieth Century Fox	Starring	Tom Hanks Paul Newman Jude Law Tyler Hoechlin Jennifer Jason Leigh Stanley Tucci Daniel Craig
Case	PUSH-11
RPI	$36.95	Music	Thomas Newman

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) Russian Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	Bulgarian Croatian Czech Dutch English Estonian Hebrew Hungarian Latvian Lithuanian Polish Portuguese Romanian Russian Turkish Russian Titling English Audio Commentary	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    The story of this film, a story that sadly takes a back seat to the visuals, revolves around three paternal relationships. There is the old Irish gangster John Rooney's (Paul Newman) relationship with his surrogate son Michael Sullivan (Tom Hanks), and with his son by blood Connor Rooney (Daniel Craig). Then there is the relationship between Sullivan and his son Michael (in the film, the elder is referred to as Sullivan, while the junior is Michael) played by newcomer Tyler Hoechlin. Michael has a distant relationship with his father, not really knowing even what it is he does for a living. After a challenge from his younger brother, Michael takes it upon himself to follow his father to work. It is in this instance that his life changes, as he sees his father and Connor slay three men in cold blood. Worse is to come when Connor discovers that Michael was a witness. The father and son must go on the road together to avoid the wrath of the men Sullivan used to work for, and to try to prevent the boy from becoming his father.

    Unfortunately for Road To Perdition it is this very heavy subject matter that at once helps and hinders the film. Without such themes, it would be a simple escapist adventure, but played to the level they are there is little room for humour in the film, making it draining to watch, and could be too much for some people despite the fact that little actual violence is shown. There is some humour thrown in at around the midway point as Sullivan begins to bond with his son, and the introduction of Jude Law's character - the hired killer Maguire - has a decidedly mischievous tone, despite its subject matter, but in general the film is very serious. This has a lasting effect, as by the end of this film the desire to sit down and watch something pure and cleansing is very strong - a need to bathe the conscience. As with any serious subject matter, this film can be very moving, and the performances help immensely here. The young Tyler Hoechlin does an excellent job in a role that pits him against some of the greats of acting, while Tom Hanks and Paul Newman are both up to their usual standards. Hanks in particular is brilliant with his use of facial expression in a film that is quite light-on for dialogue. His expression as he watches his son contemplate shooting a man is so utterly perfect that it is hard to believe that it is only a film.

    But while the acting is brilliant, what this film will be remembered for is its visual representation. Every viewing reveals more detail, and more scenes and shots that are simply amazing to watch. The comic-book heritage of this film (it is based on a graphic novel - a long comic book - of the same name) is abundantly evident, as shot after shot could be freeze framed, placed with quotes, then pasted into a book to create a comic. From this come some truly awe-inspiring sequences. The first is Michael's view of his father's work. The entire scene takes place at ground level - the point of view of Michael - as he looks through some cracks and between the legs of his father to the remainder of the scene. There are many more throughout the film, but the finest comes when Sullivan walks down a hotel corridor. It starts as a tracking shot above Hanks' head that gradually out-paces him to come down in front just as he takes his gun out and cocks it in the one motion. It then follows him around the corner, into a room, and then lingers to show the details of the room. All in one shot, no cuts. It just gets better with each viewing, especially as the gravity of the situation in which it occurs is such that on first viewing the impact of the imagery is lessened.

    It is not just visual style that is present in this film - it also makes very interesting use of sound design. The dynamic range of the soundtrack is incredible, and entirely on purpose. During the editing process, the decision was made that any violence in the movie would be adjusted to seem extremely loud compared to the rest of the soundtrack. In this way, when a gun fires, the sound level jumps several orders of magnitude. On other occasions sounds are used in this contrasting manner to put the audience on edge, where a typical sound is pulled out and made disproportionately loud simply to make the sound register as unusual at the subconscious level.

    Road To Perdition may not be quite up to the standards of The Godfather, but regardless, it is a very good film that superbly demonstrates that even if style over substance is not sufficient, style will help lift something that has at least some substance to an entirely new level. Do yourself a favour - watch this film, then after it has all sunk in watch it again, just to appreciate the visual style.

Video

    Presented at the original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1, this transfer is 16x9 enhanced.

    The transfer is very sharp, containing all the fine detail that helps to bring the film to life. There are a few problems with very heavy grain, most noticeably during the opening shot from 1:29 to 2:01, but it clears up quickly. The rest of the film displays only the low grain levels that were intended to be seen (Sam Mendes states in his commentary that they wanted this to be a grainy film). The shadow detail is likewise excellent, and as almost the entire movie takes place with a pattern of shadows across the screen, that is vitally important. There is no low level noise at all.

    Colours are excellent, representing the filmmakers' intention by being slightly subdued for the most part. Even so, the sumptuous nature of the sets comes through in abundant detail with rich and deep browns, greys, and blacks. On the occasions where the red of blood is present it stands out starkly against these monochromatic backgrounds, making it all the more jarring.

    Aside from some pixelization at the start when the grain is heavy, there are no compression artefacts this transfer. Aliasing is present, and although always light, not infrequent. There are a few moiré effects at the start (at 1:27 and 2:06), but these are caused by the very high grain levels (in fact, it would appear by aliasing on the pixelization caused by the grain). There are a few film artefacts (such as at 19:19 and 100:28), which is a little disappointing for such a high profile and recent film, but they are at least very infrequent, and mostly small.

    The subtitles are very accurate, only missing the occasional small word, and never really affecting the tone of the dialogue. Additionally, the subtitles include a set for the director's commentary, in what is a very encouraging move by Fox. As a side note, the subtitles also include many languages that are not found in either Region 2 or 4 (this is a dual-coded disc), which seems a strange decision.

    This is an RSDL formatted disc with the layer change taking place at 68:37 during Chapter 15. It is very well placed, coming right at the end of a scene with no image movement and almost no sound. I, in fact, missed it the first time through.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    There are three audio tracks present on this disc. These are the original English dialogue in Dolby Digital 5.1 (at 448 Kbps), a Russian dub in Dolby Digital 5.1 (at 384 Kbps), and an English audio commentary track in Dolby Digital 2.0 surround (at 192 Kbps). The choice of Russian is a strange one, as it is located in Region 5, while this disc is only coded Region 2 and 4.

    Dialogue is clear and easy to understand at all times - even when the actors descend into "gangster's mumble". The most impressive aspect of this soundtrack is its dynamic range. In order to highlight the impact and horror of violence, the acts of pure violence - of man at his worst - are extremely loud compared to the rest of the soundtrack. This track will really test your amplifier, delivering crisp and discernible dialogue, followed by sudden and violent noise. Audio sync is spot on throughout, and is never a problem.

    The score is credited to Thomas Newman and is an extremely effective creation. Mixing a more traditional movie score with a combination of Irish orchestrations, and percussive sounds, the score builds tension exactly where necessary, while driving home the emotional impact of scenes on more than one occasion.

    The surround channels are used somewhat inconsistently during this film, only really coming alive during the violent moments, with the soundtrack remaining largely frontal until they arrive. When they are being used, they are used well, carrying both score and effects noise to surround the viewer in the tragedy of violence. At other times they sit virtually silent.

    The subwoofer is well used, backing up the score and violent effects noises very well. The score especially delivers some very deep bass in places, using it to build tension.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

Audio Commentary - Sam Mendes (Director)

Making Of Road To Perdition (24:00)

Deleted Scenes

• Supper Time (2:02)
• Condolences (2:37)
• Words From The Heart (0:53)
• Maternal Love (1:37)
• The Nightclub (2:23)
• Confession (1:27)
• The Motel (2:01)
• Gathering Information (2:17)
• A Dance (2:54)
• Mr. Capone (1:27)
• The Image Of His Father (1:25)

CD Soundtrack (0:30)

Photo Gallery (50)

Cast and Crew Biographies

Production Notes (24)

    The Region 4 version of this disc misses out on;

• DTS 5.1 Soundtrack

• Dolby Digital 5.1 Soundtrack

• DTS 5.1 Soundtrack

    The video quality is very good. There is some heavy grain at the start, but apart from that, there is little to complain about.

    The audio quality is also very good, and although the lack of surround use is a little disappointing, it is more than made up for by the excellent use of dynamic range.

    The extras are not really up to the standard of the rest of the disc. None are particularly compelling, although the commentary is good, and provide little reason to get the disc other than the film itself (although that should be more than reason enough).

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall