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Category:    Home > Reviews > Gangster > Drama > A History Of Violence (2005/New Line Blu-ray)

A History Of Violence (2005/New Line Blu-ray)

 

Picture: B-     Sound: B     Extras: B-     Film: B

 

 

After some very challenging work with Spider, David Cronenberg surmised many by doing two Gangster films.  What surprised many is that they were excellent and both also had one of the big new stars of the day, Viggo Mortensen hot off of the Lord Of The Rings franchise.  They were also against the many films the genre had seen since 1990, most of which were better earlier on than later.  It was also something how Cronenberg’s edge was at home with the sudden violence of the genre and it all started with A History Of Violence.

 

Mortensen plays Tom Stahl, who has a beautiful, happy family, owns a diner and lives in a peaceful neighborhood.  It is a great life and everything is going just fine, until one day, he has to get in the way of what could be a fatal event, prevent it and lands up getting more attention than anyone doing the best thing in a bad situation would or should.  A dangerous mob boss from Philadelphia (Ed Harris) believes he might be a deadly assassin who has disappeared and decides to pay Tom a visit.

 

So is Tom really this killer or are the gangsters just sore someone they were not finished with got away?  That is the mystery for a while and Josh Olson’s screenplay effectively parallels this with other subplots and ideas in making a great statement about violence and society that actually works.  Maria Bello is great as his wife and William Hurt received a Supporting Academy Award nomination for his chilling role as a mob boss.

 

The film holds up very well and was overlooked by critics and audiences alike, but thanks to its stars and the success of Eastern Promises (which was not a sequel) bringing up this film again, it is a title definitely deserving of Blu-ray release. 

 

 

The 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image is a bit of a disappointment, with cinematographer Peter Suschitzky (Cronenberg’s longtime cameraman/collaborator) having done such great work here (the 35mm print looked great) deserves better treatment.  Sadly, more than a few New Line titles have had too much grain removed from them, but it is really noticeable here.  Why do they keep doing this after al the complaints?  Well, it backfires here, but I did still find some good shots here and there.  The DTS HD Master Audio (MA) 5.1 lossless mix is interesting by being quiet in many places, yet really kicks in during key moments, offering a more subtly complex sound mix than many may have caught, but this is a Cronenberg film and Howard Shore’s score is a plus.

 

Extras include a feature length audio commentary by Cronenberg you definitely should hear after seeing the film, Acts Of Violence Minidocumentary Gallery, the original theatrical trailer, Deleted Scene: Scene 44 and three featurettes: Violence’s History: United States Version vs. International Version, Too Commercial For Cannes and The Unmaking Of Scene 44.

 

For more on Eastern Promises, you can start at this link:

 

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/7627/The+Gangster+3-Movie+Collection

 

 

And despite the picture limits, this is still the best A History Of Violence.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo


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