Public Enemies – Blu-ray Disc Review

November 25, 2009 – 10:07 PM - Posted by: Justin Sluss

Tags: BD-Live, Billy Crudup, Bonus View, Channing Tatum, Christian Bale, D-Box, David Wenham, Giovanni Ribisi, James Russo, Johnny Depp, Leelee Sobieski, Marion Cotillard, Michael Mann, Pocket Blu, Stephen Dorff, Stephen Graham, U-Control, Universal

has an average rating of 7.3 on IMDb
1080p in VC-1 on a 50gb disc
DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio
are ALL Hi-Def with Digital Copy
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– 2009
– 140 Minutes
– Universal
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This uses 34.7GB for the movie out of 42.8GB total.
Street Date: December 8th, 2009

Overall Verdict – Definitely Recommended

Buy it for $16.99 @ Amazon.com

— Review by: Justin Sluss & Brendan Surpless —

Trailer:

The Movie Itself is written and directed by Michael Mann (best known for directing another crime-related film “Heat“). The decade is 1930, the United States is still trying to rally back from the crippling effects caused by the Great Depression. People are out of work, have no money and don’t have much to look forward to. Enter John Dillinger (Johnny Depp), famed and charismatic bank robber. Known for his daft and abrasive robberies, Dillinger is able to always stay one step ahead of the police, which results in him gaining quite a fan base. His lighting quick heists are brought to the attention of the J. Edgar Hoover’s (Billy Crudup) FBI, who make Dillinger their number one target. Determined to stop him is their top agent Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale), a kind of folk hero to those who want justice. Now it’s up to Purvis and the FBI to stop Dillinger in order to prove that the fledgling FBI (at this point “Bureau of Investigations”, minus the Federal) is the national police force the country needs. What results is a film that is another fine Michael Mann effort that is quite interesting throughout thanks in part to not only the story at hand but also the wide selection of fantastic actors.

Director Michael Mann just may be one of the best directors alive today. Even though I felt he did have a misstep with his revision of “Miami Vice“, the man still has created two of the finest films ever in “The Last of the Mohicans” and “Heat“. Here with “Public Enemies“, Mann returns to a somewhat similar theme (robberies and gangs) but is able to create another interesting view on the subject. What helps is the films setting. The sense of the 1930s, all the emptiness felt thanks to the Great Depression, is captured perfectly here. We see the daily struggles, the sense of wanting to return to times before, wanting something more, in each character, regardless if they ever speak a word of dialogue. The physical embodiment and the way the people walk and hold themselves defines the time. Mann and his cinematographer Dante Spinotti (who also worked with Mann on “Heat“) shot each scene, each area whether it be the theater at the end, the varying jails or banks, with a kind of gritty feel to them. Not only was this done to capture the sense of the 1930s, but also to add a sense of realism and scope to each shot that our characters were in.

Speaking of the characters, Johnny Depp as John Dillinger absolutely stole the show, which should come as no real surprise to anyone. Depp captured the essence of the man who Dillinger was in this performance. He showed that Dillinger didn’t necessarily rob banks because he wanted to create violence and harm people, but rather because he wanted the money and enjoyed the physical heist. This similar idea is also touched upon in “Heat” with the character portrayed by Robert De Niro. He doesn’t ever want to harm anyone but rather enjoys the game he’s playing, the challenge of actually robbing the bank. Depp never once tries to portray Dillinger in a manner that makes him seem like he’s nothing more than a petty criminal and someone who’s enjoying what he’s doing. And the actual fact that Depp didn’t ever try to channel other gangster roles, never did research into these roles, and just played Dillinger only playing him the way Johnny Depp knows how to play this kind of role, makes it all that special. The man is utterly convincing here, looks strikingly similar to the real man and defines who Dillinger was to a tee.

Now Christian Bale as Melvin Purvis is more of a hit or miss for me. Certainly Bale does a good enough job here capturing not only the frustration that Pelvis had as he constantly missed getting Dillinger but more the qualities of a man who knew this would either make or break him. However, I felt at times Bale knocked it out of the park (the meeting between the two was excellent) but all too often he’s too bland and lacks the needed tensity in his scenes that bring the audience into his world. This is a problem I’ve had with many Bale roles since his rise to fame from the “Batman” films. He typically doesn’t seem that he cares about his performances anymore. Where are the Patrick Bateman (“American Psycho“), Cleric John Preston (“Equilibrium“, Trevor Reznik (“The Machinist“) roles? Surely he can and has had fine roles since “Batman” (most notable are his performances in “The Prestige” and “3:10 to Yuma“), but he just isn’t doing anything for me anymore, which is a true shame.

Moving from negative to positive are the truly career defining performances by Billy Crudup and Marion Cotillard as J. Edgar Hoover and Billie Frechette respectively. As J. Edgar Hoover, Crudup made Hoover seem like more than a man who wanted to elevate this Bureau of Investigation into more than just the FBI, he made him seem like a man who wanted to do not only for himself physical but also for the betterment of the country as a whole. He showed that crime wasn’t the choice, that what Dillinger was doing shouldn’t have made him a folk hero. Cotillard (known mostly for her award winning performance in “La Vie En Rose”“) brings out a side of Dillinger that many thought he never quite had. True the man was a cunning, calculated killer wanted for numerous robberies, but inside he was still a man who longed for a true love by his side, someone who he could rely on and be with forever. For Dillinger this was Frechette and Cotillard nails this role.

In closing, “Public Enemies” is another fine Michael Mann film. While not as solid as his opus in “Heat“, the combination on Mann, Depp, Bale (to a lesser degree) and the 1930s setting truly make this something special. “Public Enemies” is a well made effort and I believe that if you go in not expecting another “Heat“, you’ll come out quite pleased. If the film doesn’t work for you the 1st time through, give it another spin, you won’t regret it.

Video Quality on this release is in full 1080p using the VC-1 codec on a BD-50 (50 gigabyte dual-layered Blu-ray Disc) in the 2.40:1 aspect ratio. According to IMDb‘s technical specifications under aspect ratio, this was shot on a combination of traditional Super 35mm film and HDTV source digitally using both Arriflex and Sony cameras. Because of this large variety of different source material being blended together shot after shot it seems that we get a bit of obvious inconstancy in film grain and at times the amount of detail. The black level is solid, fleshtones are accurate and the color palette is vibrant to a degree, although obviously subdued and shifting from cool to warm filter at about 45 minutes in.

As mentioned above, there is an obvious inconsistency in first and foremost the film grain amount in scene-to-scene comparison because of the Super 35mm & Digital (HDCam) sources not blending totally well together at times (in some scenes) more-so than others. There is also a bit of interframe deformation at times in both Super 35mm and Digital (HDCam) source material. Also worth noting, there are lots of “dead pixels” in many of the scenes shot on the HDCam’s digitally. This can be rather bothersome, as well can be the semi-constant flickering at times on daytime exterior shots which you will see have the most problems with tree branches or hair. This does prove to be a tad bit bothersome but the amount of detail here in close-ups totally makes up for it as does the fact that all the darker scenes in dim-lit interior shots seem to have been filmed on the tradition Super 35mm cameras and look fine with only a tad bit of digital noise and film grain present.

Overall, the video quality here at times is definitely 4.5 out of 5 impressive and it holds no compression flaws but at the very same time, it is not perfect, it is in fact flawed in quite a few ways as I discussed above. With that being said, this earns a decent (at times impressive and at times bothersome) “4 Star Rating” for overall video quality. Personally, I think all of these inconsistency problems and such could have been avoided if the DP (Director of Photography) and Director (Mann) would have agreed on using one type of camera and not like 6 different types. I say pick one camera, namely a good HD one and go with just it.

Audio Quality on this release is presented in DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio. Things here start out with a bang, literally during the opening gunfight scene. I’ll say here that the amount of rear channel presence is excellent as well as the lifelike quality of the sound effects for the gunshots. Dialogue is loud, upfront (literally and metaphorically) and distinct throughout the film, never requiring even the slightest of volume adjustments. The film’s original music done by Elliot Goldenthal sounds great throughout but really gets intense starting about 54 minutes in with great rear channel presence and LFE/bass as well. This film makes good use of the 5.1 soundscape to deliver the film’s original music and also to deliver the sound effects (Foley) from a 360 degrees of direction, especially during bank robbery shootouts and such. This really has a good lossless 5.1 presentation, impressive enough to earn it a “4.5 Star Rating” for overall audio quality.

Bonus Materials are presented in Hi-Def (HD) video quality using VC-1 codec with Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo sound — unless otherwise noted.

• BD-Live is included on this release which requires the user to be a “Profile 2.0” capable Blu-ray Disc Player for internet connectivity. Once connected, you’ll be able to get the latest trailers from the studio (in this case Universal) as well as share scenes with your friends, chat with “My Chat” or even record your own commentary track with “My Public Enemies Commentary” via BD-Live and Universal‘s Hi-Def website.
• “Gangster Movie Challenge” is a online multiplayer trivia game that works via BD-Live. This is comprised of 6 rounds, each focusing on a Universal gangster film and each round is comprised of 10 trivia questions from that film. The films included in this trivia are (obviously) “Public Enemies“, “American Gangster“, “Scarface” and “Carlito’s Way“. This proves to be worth playing at least once which should take you 30-45 minutes to do. I don’t see much replay value though once you’ve played it through once.
• “Pocket Blu” is included on this release which allows users on an iPhone or iPod Touch to add exclusive bonus content to their portable device as well as use the touch screen of the device as a virtual keyboard or remote control.

• “U-Control” uses Bonus View which requires the user to be on a “Profile 1.1” capable Blu-ray Disc Player to display either information or video as you watch the film. First you have the Picture-In-Picture which gives you some behind-the-scenes scene specific featurettes discussing how cast and crew brought the film to life. Next you have “Interactive Timeline” which allows you to follow three different timelines in the crime spree that Dillinger spanned across 14 months. This timeline feature includes archival materials, historians and family members discussing him as well as his gang.
• Digital Copy of the film is included which is compatible with both iTunes and Windows Media portable devices, both Mac and PC. As with all digital copies, this will only last for one year after the street date.
• “Larger than Life: Adversaries” (10:19) has the two stars of the film Johnny Depp, Christian Bale and the writer/director/producer Michael Mann discussing how the two portray their real characters, the first one of the most legendary bank robbers of all-time and the other one of the first major “G men”.
• “Michael Mann: Making Public Enemies” (20:32) is your average “making of” style featurette and proves to be very entertaining and most importantly informative.
• “Last of the Legendary Outlaws” (8:44) has Depp, Bale and Mann discussing the real John Dillinger and other notorious outlaws from the time period such as Bonnie & Clyde, Baby Face Nelson and Pretty Boy Floyd. This proves interesting and just as how Christian Bale puts it, “the last dying breath of the wild west” and those type of outlaws pretty much died out when Dillinger was gunned down.
• “On Dillinger’s Trail: The Real Locations” (9:48) proves that Michael Mann went to his best extent here to record as much of this at the real original locations where the major events occurred. Mann is undoubtedly a perfectionist.
• “Director’s Commentary” gives you an audio commentary track recorded by writer/director/producer Michael Mann.
• “Criminal Technology” (9:39) takes a look at the guns and cars that existed in the 1930′s that you see Depp and Bale use in the film. You also get to see them learn how to fire them “realistically” (whatever that means).
• “D-Box” motion code is included for those of you rich enough to actually have the hardware to decode this. It’s nice to see included but I’m thinking… maybe you should make like Dillinger and go rob a bank to get yourself the hardware — JUST KIDDING!

Overall the bonus materials are very enjoyable and so is the “Gangster Movie Challenge” trivia game (at least one time through) as well as the Digital Copy. This earns a decent “3.5 Star Rating” for bonus materials.

Blu-ray Disc packaging:

Screenshots:

NOTE: The full-sized 1920×1080 files are in a .PNG file format and uncompressed. Bare with the slow loading times, keep in mind these files are at least 1MB (1 megabyte) in size each.

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