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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Domino (2005)

Domino (2005)

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Released 5-Jul-2006

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Action Main Menu Audio & Animation
Rating Rated MA
Year Of Production 2005
Running Time 122:43
RSDL / Flipper RSDL (61:05) Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By Tony Scott
Studio
Distributor

Paramount Home Entertainment
Starring Keira Knightley
Mickey Rourke
Edgar Ramirez
Riz Abbasi
Delroy Lindo
Mo'Nique
Ian Ziering
Brian Austin Green
Joe Nunez
Macy Gray
Shondrella Avery
Dabney Coleman
Peter Jacobson
Case Alpha-Transparent
RPI ? Music Harry Gregson-Williams
Jan Pomerans
Tom Waits


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 2.40:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 2.35:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles None Smoking Yes
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

    After Tony Scott’s latest foray into action cinema, the visually impressive and emotionally satisfying Man On Fire, I was keen to see what he would do with a script penned by one of my favourite writers of the last few years – Richard Kelly of Donnie Darko fame (infamy?).

    Their collaboration, Domino, is a fusion of action comedy with MTV video cinematography, telling the story of Domino Harvey, a real-life bounty hunter – though this show is far more a fictional hommage to the woman than a factual recounting of her life. Beginning with a shoot out in a farmhouse involving a severed arm with a tattoo, we are soon taken back in time to see how Ms Harvey turned from being a high profile fashion model to a ruthless bounty hunter. Along the way we have Christopher Walken as a reality TV producer, Ian Ziering and Brian Austen Green of Beverly Hills: 90210 fame (again, infamy?) as “celebrity hostages”, Lucy Liu as a hardnosed FBI agent with a penchant for over-sharpening her pencils, and a host of other celebrity co-stars in amusing if often short roles.

    Domino herself is played quite adeptly by Keira Knightley, who handles the role with sufficient sass and style, plus an almost constant sneer that still manages to look hot on her face. Knightley is, however, almost outshined by Mickey Rourke. As Domino’s bounty hunting mentor Ed Mosbey, he puts in a highly memorable gruff-voiced performance of a man who’s made many mistakes and just keeps on making them. However, for my money, Ian Ziering and Brian Austen Green are real standouts, poking fun at themselves the whole way through. Any fan of early 90s TV will scream with laughter.

    Is this a great film? Not quite. By all accounts, it is considerably better than Kelly’s last film, Southland Tales, which completely tanked at Cannes in 2006 (scoring the lowest of any film ranked at that festival, a total of 1.1 out of 5). But it does not hang together as a complete and coherent film with an emotionally satisfying conclusion – the reason for the sacrifices of our main characters comes too little, too late, and rings a little hollow. In that sense, Man On Fire really outshone this effort. That said, this is an extremely fun film, with many laugh out loud moments, and a lot of crazy antics and wonderful visuals. I also highly recommend watching this film twice, as you will pick up on a lot more of the subtleties the second time through.

    A-grade entertainment, this falls short of. Beer and pizza movie? A definite yes.

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Transfer Quality

Video

    Video is presented in 2.40:1, 16x9 enhanced, slightly off from its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1. I watched it in regular standard definition over component and upscaled to 1080i at 50Hz over HDMI.

    This is one of the best transfers I’ve seen for a while – incredibly sharp, fantastic colour, excellent shadow detail. Certainly, this is better over HDMI than over component video, and I would recommend that you view this over HDMI if you have that capability. I no longer have a CRT to view this in standard def that way, so I cannot give any comment about what this will look like on older TVs

    There is some graininess to the print in certain scenes where it lends an intentional filmic effect. Indeed, there are a lot of filmic effects put in by Tony Scott who likes visual flair.

    The print is devoid of film-to-video and MEPG artefacts, and I noticed no dirt on the print even up on a 100” screen.

    There are no subtitles.

    The dual layer pause is at 61:05. It occurs during a scene change and is barely noticeable.

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

Audio

    Audio is available as an amazing Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound (448Kb/s) track in English only.

    As with the video, this is one of the best audio tracks I’ve heard.

    Dialogue is clear and easy to understand, at the times when it’s meant for dialogue to be easy to understand.

    Surround information is plentiful and amazing. The music comes through loud and clear.

    There is plentiful and excellent subwoofer use – enough to give my subwoofer a real workout.

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

Extras

Menus

    All menus are presented in 1.78:1, 16x9 enhanced, static and silent.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    The R1 release also includes:

    Given the quality of the R4 release, I think that we may have an unflagged 5.1 EX track on our release here. That aside, the R1 release is still superior in every way.

Summary

    Domino is a very entertaining if flawed movie. By trying to do too much, it overreaches in some respects, but those who know of the relationship between Ms Harvey and director Tony Scott will see this as the fitting tribute it was intended to be.

    This DVD transfer is exceptional, but we miss out on the extras from R1, including dts audio.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Edward McKenzie (I am Jack's raging bio...)
Monday, January 15, 2007
Review Equipment
DVDSony DVPNS92, using HDMI output
DisplaySony VPL-HS60 WXGA 3LCD Cineza Projector (10,000:1 contrast ratio) with 100" Longhom Pro-Series Micro-Textured White Matte PVC 1.78:1 16:9 Fixed Mount Screen with Black Velour Trim. Calibrated with Video Essentials/Digital Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 720p.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials/Digital Video Essentials.
AmplificationSony TA-DA9000ES
SpeakersJensen QX70 Centre Front, Jensen QX45 Left Front & Right Front, Jensen QX20 Left Rear & Right Rear, Jensen QX-90 Dual 10" 250 Watt Subwoofer

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