Constantine: 2-Disc Deluxe Edition (2005) |
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Constantine: 2-Disc Deluxe Edition (2005) |
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| BUY IT |
| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Action |
Main Menu Introduction Main Menu Audio & Animation Audio Commentary-Filmmakers' Music Video-'Passive' Peformed By A Perfect Circle Teaser Trailer Theatrical Trailer Featurette-Conjuring Constantine Featurette-The Production From Hell: Director's Confessional Featurette-The Production From Hell: Collision With Evil Featurette-The Production From Hell: Holy Relics Featurette-Imagining The Underworld: Hellscape Featurette-Imagining The Underworld: Visualizing Vermin Featurette-Imagining The Underworld: Warrior Wings Featurette-Imagining The Underworld: Unholy Abduction Featurette-Constantine Cosmology Featurette-Foresight: The Power Of Previsualization Deleted Scenes-With Optional Director's Commentary Easter Egg |
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| Rating |
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| Year Of Production | 2005 | ||
| Running Time | 115:48 | ||
| RSDL / Flipper |
RSDL (61:03) Dual Disc Set |
Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Ads Then Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 4 | Directed By | Francis Lawrence |
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Studio
Distributor |
 Roadshow Home Entertainment |
Starring |
Keanu Reeves Rachel Weisz Shia LaBeouf Djimon Hounsou Max Baker Pruitt Taylor Vince Gavin Rossdale Tilda Swinton Peter Stormare Jesse Ramirez José Zúñiga Francis Guinan Larry Cedar |
| Case | Amaray-Transparent-S/C-Dual | ||
| RPI | $34.95 | Music |
Klaus Badelt Billy Howerdel Brian Tyler |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None |
English Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) |
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| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 2.40:1 | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement |
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| Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
| Original Aspect Ratio | 2.35:1 | Miscellaneous | |
| Jacket Pictures | No | ||
| Subtitles |
English English for the Hearing Impaired |
Smoking | Yes |
| Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
| Action In or After Credits | Yes | ||
The Passion of the Keanu, Constantine, is a cliché-soaked, incoherent comic book adaptation, that combines familiar bits from past supernatural horror films with a heavy dose of Catholic guilt. First time feature-film director Francis Lawrence reveals his music video background by providing a patchwork of short, eye-popping set-pieces dripping in CGI, wonderful art/set direction, and themed imagery, without ever bothering to tell a story. Constantine is a mess, but at least it's a beautiful mess. I think Lawrence has invented a new genre, Crap Noir.
Constantine is based on characters and stories taken from the DC Comics/Vertigo Hellblazer graphic novels. As part of the recent rush of comic book adaptations, Constantine was adapted into a script by Kevin Brodbin and Frank Cappello.
The story has a great deal of unrealised potential: John Constantine (Keanu Reeves) is a bitter, disillusioned, hard-drinking, heavy smoking, freelance exorcist who can see the demons that walk among us. His childhood visions, and subsequent psychiatric treatment, led him to commit suicide as a teenager. Although successful, Constantine was revived after two minutes, and brought back to life from Hell.
Having being condemned to Hell for being a suicide, Constantine devotes his life to carrying out God's work (sending escaped demons back to hell), but his crusade is not a holy one - Constantine is trying to buy his way into heaven. Completely irreverent, he happily thumbs his nose at angels and demons alike.
The character of Constantine is an interesting and clever one, but just in case there was ever any doubt, Reeves proves again that he simply cannot act. His sullen, monotone characterisation has absolutely no depth.
Angela Dodson (Rachel Weisz) is a very Catholic LA detective whose twin sister has recently committed suicide. Angela cannot accept that her sister would have killed herself, and believing that ghoulish, cult forces are at work, she enlists Constantine's help to investigate her death. Constantine introduces her to a hellish world where demons walk the streets of L.A., and occasionally lash out angrily.
There is also a confusing plot involving Mammon, the son of Satan, who needs the Spear of Destiny (the spear that stabbed Christ), a psychic, and some help from God to cross over into our world. This storyline has an illegal Mexican immigrant wandering the streets of LA carrying the spear and randomly doing nasty things to innocent bystanders.
Constantine aspires to be a classy, supernatural horror film noir, such as The Exorcist or The Omen, but pulls up very, very short. Director Francis Lawrence needs to learn that a feature film cannot be a two-hour music video, and that great CGI and dazzling FX are never a substitute for a story.
As with many disappointing recent films, the transfer is excellent.
The widescreen transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 2.40:1, 16x9 enhanced.
The transfer is razor sharp, as seen with the ornate ceiling at 4:06 or the detailed wallpaper pattern at 21:30. This is often a very dark film, and the black level and shadow detail are both excellent, such as the shadowy interior at 10:41, or the dark night club at 32:51.
The beautiful photography uses a number of coloured lenses throughout to provide the very stylish and themed look of the film. The colour palette is excellent, and perfectly saturated. The skin tones are accurate.
There are no problems with MPEG or film-to-video artefacts. A few tiny film artefacts appeared infrequently, but I had to look hard to spot any. The print used as source material is pristine.
English and English for the Hearing Impaired subtitles are present, and they are very accurate.
The feature is presented on a Dual-Layered disc, with the layer change placed at 61:03. It was slightly disruptive, as it is in the middle of a scene. The feature is divided into 34 chapters.
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As with the video, the audio is excellent.
There are two audio options: English Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) and English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s). Considering there are only two audio tracks, I was disappointed that the surround mix was encoded at the inferior 384Kb/s.
The dialogue quality and audio sync are excellent on the default English Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track.
The musical score is credited to Klaus Badelt, Billy Howerdel, and Brian Tyler, and it is a very atmospheric and effective score, which suits the film well.
The film's sound design is great, and I was very happy with the DVD's surround presence and activity. The surround sound mix is very immersive and aggressive, and as this is a horror film that adds a lot to watching it. The rear speakers are used effectively to help carry the score and provide ambience throughout, for example the creepy sounds at 12:26 or the rain at 19:36. There is also a bit of clever panning between speakers, such as the helicopter at 51:25.
The subwoofer is also utilised very heavily throughout to support both the score and the sound effects, such as the ominous rumble at 12:26, or the demons at 36:14.
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As a two-disc set, there are plenty of extras, including a forced trailer for Warner Bros Movie World, which can be skipped.
Animated menus, with audio.
Audio Commentary
Presented in Dolby Digital stereo surround-encoded audio, Director Francis Lawrence, Producer Akiva Goldsman, and Screenwriters Kevin Brodbin and Frank Cappello provide a chatty, screen specific commentary that focuses heavily on the production, while also providing a few behind-the-scenes bits of trivia and anecdotes.
Music Video
'Passive' performed by A Perfect Circle, presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, non-16x9 enhanced.
Teaser Trailer (0:52)
Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, 16x9 enhanced.
Theatrical Trailer (2:16)
Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, 16x9 enhanced.
Disc Two
Featurette-Conjuring Constantine (15:43)
Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, this looks briefly at the original character from the comic, and how that was brought to screen. There are some behind-the-scenes shots and interviews with key cast and crew.
Featurette-The Production From Hell
Divided into three sections, all featurettes are presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1:
Featurette-Imagining The Underworld
Divided into four sections, all featurettes are presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1:
Featurette-Constantine Cosmology (5:20)
Phil Cousineau, author of The Hero's Journey, discusses mythical stories and the attributes of a hero. What's not mentioned is that books like his have in recent years become a blueprint for plotting Hollywood scripts. Thus we often get a series of very similar movies with characters facing, and overcoming, similar obstacles.
Featurette-Foresight: The Power Of Previsualization (13:56)
Storyboards have come a long way, as they now seem to be computer generated cartoons. Here we get a comparison, with or without Lawrence's commentary, of selected scenes from the film.
Deleted Scenes-With Optional Director's Commentary (17:45)
There are 14 scenes, including extended scenes, and an alternate ending, presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, non-16x9 enhanced.
Easter Eggs
Featurettes on stunts, make-up, and computer animation.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
Constantine is only due out in R1 on 17 July, 2005. As far as I can tell, the R1 and R4 will be the same, although the R2 has DVD-ROM features, including a Constantine PC Game Demo.
Constantine is a lost opportunity. The comic book source material for the story is cool and intelligent, but this film definitely is not either of those.
The video quality is excellent.
The audio quality is also excellent.
The extras are short, but plentiful.
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| Audio | |
| Extras | |
| Plot | |
| Overall |  |
| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Pioneer DV-535, using S-Video output |
| Display | Grundig Elegance 82-2101 (82cm, 16x9). Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable. |
| Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials. |
| Amplification | Sony STR DE-545 |
| Speakers | Sony SS-V315 x5; Sony SA-WMS315 subwoofer |