Sin City

You will never be able to find more police corruption, gang terror, and sleaze than in a lousy town like Sin City, as four stories are interweaved involving a lot of bad people and even more bad places. In "That Yellow Bastard," a creepy pedophile whose kill was thwarted by ex-cop Hartigan (Willis) returns "The Customer Is Always Right," to finish the job eight years later, using Hartigan to try and bait the girl—skinny little Nancy (Alba), a 19-year-old stripper, who is quite possibly the nicest person in Sin City. Then in "The Hard Goodbye," there's gladiator-like Marv (Rourke)—the roughest, toughest lug in town—framed for a murder and out to avenge the death of Goldie (King), the only dame who was ever kind to him. His search will take him to the foulest location in the city—a place known as The Farm—where a silent killer (Wood) with a creepy fetish deserves to die in a hard way. Finally, in "The Big Fat Kill" a corrupt cop by the name of Jackie Boy (Del Toro) has a run-in with Dwight (Owen) and the streetwise ladies of Old Town Sin City, led by Gail (Dawson). Based on the Sin City graphic novels by Frank Miller. (Suzanne Hodges)

Disc One special features include the theatrical version (124:03); Cine-Explore, which allows viewers to experience a uniquely interactive visual commentary with picture-in-picture green screen footage and original art synced up with the filmmakers' commentary with Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller and with Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino; and play the movie with a Dolby® TrueHD 5.1 audio track, featuring a recording of the actual Austin, Texas audience reaction. Disc Two special features include the recut, extended unrated version (141:45) told in four stories: That Yellow Bastard, The Customer Is Always Right, The Hard Goodbye, and The Big Fat Kill; the Kill 'em Good interactive comic book game (HD 41:41); a 15-minute film school; an all green version; The Long Take; Sin City: Live In Concert; a 10-minute cooking school; the featurette How It Went Down: Convincing Frank Miller To Make The Film (HD 05:41); Special Guest Director Quentin Tarantino (SD 07:13); A Hard Top With A Decent Engine: The Cars of Sin City (SD 07:34); Booze, Broads, and Guns: The Props of Sin City (SD 10:57); Making The Monsters: Special Effects Make-up (SD 09:04); Trench Coats & Fishnets: The Costumes of Sin City (SD 07:34); the teaser and theatrical trailer; plus up-front previews.

If ever there was a movie that could be compared shot by shot to the pages of a comic book, this would be it. With scenes adapted straight from panels in the original Sin City comics, previously reviewed, the anamorphically enhanced 1.82:1 DVD picture delivered pure visual excitement. This 1.85:1 1080p AVC-encoded edition far surpasses the DVD quality. The picture is mostly comprised of high-contrast black-and-white imagery, with endless deep blacks and bright whites, and a gray scale that offers a perfect gradation between the two extremes. Spot colors accent details, like Goldie's golden locks, Becky's blue eyes, and Yellow Bastard's putrid skin. You will notice a touch of amber in the prescription bottle as Marv dumps pills down his throat, or in scenes that offer a slight monochromatic tobacco stain that provide a bit of western warmth to Kadie's saloon. The more you watch, the more you revel in the sights that accompany the storytelling. The picture often appears dimensional. Resolution is superb, with sharp edges and finely detailed textures. Images are pristine, with no noticeable noise or other artifacts. This is one stimulating visual experience. (Suzanne Hodges/Gary Reber)

The previously reviewed DVD had a strange shuffling distortion that could be heard in the dialogue throughout the film, which really took away from the experience the Dolby® Digital 5.1-channel soundtrack was meant to provide. That's history with this lossless Dolby TrueHD 5.1-channel soundtrack. Dialogue and narration are separated by a forwardness given to the narration, achieved by using all three front screen channels heavily. Narration is recorded rather well, with superb articulation. Dialogue, a bit forward sounding, has spatial support, which is impressive. A tinny reverberation can be heard throughout the film when subjects talk. Surrounds are typically used as an extension of the front main channels, with prominent directionalized low-frequency ambient sound effects and aggressive music. Off-screen action is mixed well over the front stage. The entire soundtrack features a solid use of the lower-frequency echelon, with a good use of the LFE .1 channel that often extends below 25 Hz. Sometimes the soundtrack delivers an effective holosonic® enveloping experience, with at times, effective directionalized pans and center-back phantom imaging. This is an incredible soundtrack that is sure to thrill fans. (Gary Reber)