Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy	Main Menu Audio & Animation Web Links
Rating
Year Of Production	2005
Running Time	100:00
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Language Select Then Menu
Region Coding	2,4,5	Directed By	Shane Black
Studio Distributor	Warner Home Video	Starring	Robert Downey, Jr. Val Kilmer Michelle Monaghan Corbin Bernsen Dash Mihok Larry Miller Rockmond Dunbar Shannyn Sossamon Angela Lindvall Indio Falconer Downey Ariel Winter Duane Carnahan Josh Richman
Case	?
RPI	$34.95	Music	John Ottman Lior Rosner

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) English Descriptive Audio Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.40:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English Hebrew English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    When a screenplay, cast and director come together to make a film like Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Hollywood goes a long way to redeeming itself from a lot of the other tripe it churns out.

    Unfortunately, Hollywood will be loathe to take risks on films like this, because Kiss Kiss Bang Bang made less than $16 million in its worldwide gross. Considering what a well written script and talented cast were involved that really is a shame.

    Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is the directorial debut of Shane Black. You might never have heard of him, but you've probably seen a movie he wrote the screenplay for; Lethal Weapon, The Last Boyscout and The Long Kiss Goodnight. This movie is his best screenplay yet - more impressive perhaps is his ability to expertly weave a complicated storyline with notoriously difficult actors into one of the best films of 2005.

    Harry Lockhart (played by the talented Robert Downey Jr.) is a petty crook who literally stumbles his way into a Hollywood production. Much to his surprise he finds himself in Los Angeles where trouble quickly finds him.

    Harry's LA mentor is a gay private detective. 'Gay' Perry is played brilliantly by Val Kilmer. His job is to help Harry prepare for his role in the upcoming film by showing him how a PI works. Unfortunately for them, foul play is at hand and they get entangled in a dangerous game where people keep on dying. Harry's love interest is played by the fresh faced Michelle Monaghan, who is an old flame and a struggling actress. When they unexpectedly meet she asks him to help her with a mystery of her own.

    This is a film with a lot of mystery and not a few twists. It's a lot of fun to see how it all plays out, while taking quite an irreverent look at Hollywood, the thirst for fame in the wannabes who flock there and movies in general.

    Highly recommended.

Video

    The film is presented in PAL format at an aspect ratio of 2.40:1 and the disc is 16x9 enhanced.

    This is a great looking disc. The picture is sharp, with no hint of image softness.

    Colours are vivid and quite seductive while skin tones look natural. A lot of the movie takes place at night, so thankfully shadow detail is great. Black levels are good. A lot of the scenes have colour filters used to add to the mood of the film. Flashback scenes are intentionally soft with a different colour style. All in all, it's pulled off really well.

    Considering a lot of the film is dark, grain is not an issue. Thankfully, neither are film artefacts.

    There is no problem with edge enhancement or any MPEG artefacts.

    Overall, this is a fantastic transfer and does a beautifully shot film the justice it deserves.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    The main audio is an English Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) track.

    Dialogue came through clearly, which for a dialogue driven film is very important. Audio sync was fine too.

    The surrounds didn't get too much of a workout but when they did they were immersive and added to the comedy and tension of the film. For the most part the surround use was quite subtle, but when required it kicked in.

    Music added a lot to the film and when used came through the surrounds to good effect.

    The subwoofer was used minimally, but given the type of movie this is that's fine.

    There is also an English Descriptive Audio Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) track. I don't know why these aren't standard on DVDs these days. Hopefully they will become standard for the next generation discs.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

    Unfortunately there are no special features at all. It would've been great to have heard from some of the talented individuals involved.

    The R1 hasn't come out yet, so R4 gets my vote. Be warned, though - the future R1 release will likely get some special features. Edit: At the time of writing this review the R1 had not been released. The R1 version does have a commentary by Kilmer, Downey and the director. as well as a few featurettes, therefore I'm changing it a vote for R1. This is a great film and R4 viewers would enjoy the features we missed out on.

    Overall, this film is one of the best films of 2005. Great script, great cast... what more can you want?

    The video is first class.

    The audio is great.

    No special features is a huge let down but our R4 release came out a few months before the R1. Maybe that's the excuse?

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall