Darkman [DVD]

Darkman was a trip and a half man. Think of Who framed Roger Rabbit meets the Shadow. This was hands down Liam Nesson's best performance to date. He really went all the way. It's an old 90's movie with super hero vibes but he's like of like the Meta Hero. Got into all sorts of trouble because of his female companion. Can't live with em can't live without em XD I watched with my brother with drinks and we laughed a lot! So it was definitely worth eh $4 rental fee. FYI Acting in general is pretty terrible for this movie so don't expect Oscar winning performances from anyone but the Darkman himself.

THE STORY: A brilliant scientist is horribly disfigured and left for dead by ruthless mobsters who mistakenly believe he possesses documents that could expose their underworld & political connections. When he revives the doctor's fragmented mind demands retribution for the grievous injuries he's suffered and the promising professional career & personal life which they forever stole from him. Justice has a new face. The twisted face of... DARKMAN!THOUGHTS: Part homage to the classic Universal Monster films of the 1930's & 40's, part hybrid of Phantom of the Opera & The Abominable Dr. Phibes, part comic book ...and 110% Sam Raimi. DARKMAN wasn't the hit it should have been when arrived in theaters back in 1990. Mainstream audiences then just weren't quite ready for Sam's one-of-a-kind, hyperkenetic visual storytelling style. It took almost a decade before they'd caught up and were finally ready to embrace him. DARKMAN paved the way for Sam to get access to SPIDER-MAN. There almost certainly would never have been a Sam Raimi SPIDER-MAN if DARKMAN hadn't gotten him noticed by the bigwigs in Hollywood. Before then he was only barely known as a maverick director of low budget genre films like his Evil Dead trilogy. DARKMAN put him on the map, in a big way.THE BLU-RAY: Shout!Factory really knocks one out of the park for this deluxe Blu-ray edition of Sam Raimi's 1990 cult classic DARKMAN. The transfer looks very nice; clean, sharp picture, strong color and crisp, nicely-balanced audio. It's worth every penny to upgrade to this beautiful edition if you've got a Blu-ray player. Shout! has also gone to the extra mile for fans and delivered a truly impressive variety of newly created bonus material. Brand new interviews with the film's primary acting cast: leading man Liam Neeson, ballsy damsel in distress Frances McDormand, and slimeball extraordinaire Larry Drake. Usually, actors don't care to discuss past projects unless they've won lots of awards or were big box office successes. Darkman under-performed during its theatrical run, only becoming a hit after finding its audience on home video & cable. It's great to see the three main actors not only willing to talk about a smaller film like this one but to do it with so much enthusiasm. Neeson is a big name now, but he shows his love of the film and shares warm memories of the cast & crew. The same goes for Drake & McDormand. Nice job getting these done and including them.But that's not all folks! There are also new interviews from two of the actors who portrayed Durant's henchmen, reminiscing about their roles and sharing their memories of the shoot. Then the interviews shift focus to the technical aspects of the production, with all-new interviews from practical make-up artist Tony Gardner, (who created the beautifully gruesome Darkman prosthetic make-ups), and achieving the look of the film with production designer Randy Ser & art director Philip Dagort. There's also an interesting audio commentary track from DOP (director of photography) Bill Pope. Original vintage interviews, actor profiles and the theatrical trailer are included as well, plus galleries of rare artwork, production stills, etc. You can tell the crew at Shout!Factory are big fans of this film. Heck, even the reversible box art for this Blu-ray is a treat; you can chose from new artwork commissioned just for this Blu-ray release or flip it over to expose the original U.S. theatrical poster art. Nice. A big round of applause to everyone who put time into this release. 5 STARS

Used blu-ray was in great condition and worked excellent. Shipping was fast too.

When I say this is Wes Craven's Swamp Thing on steroids I'm comparing films not actual characters. The thug/henchmen Pauly in Darkman was also a thug/henchmen in Swamp Thing named Bruno. Darkman has the feel of a adult superhero film, picture Lon Chaney's phantom from Phantom of the Opera and is also part action, adventure, crime, horror, drama, sci-fi film covered with dark humor with a sprinkle of cartoon as when Peyton Westlake/Darkman played by Liam Neeson does a road runner move on top of a moving truck while hanging from a hook that is suspended from a helicopter.Liam Neeson does an effective job, who better down the road to train Christian Bale to become the Dark Knight than Darkman himself. The bad guys are great and dark, the leader played by Larry Drake (Dr. Giggles) is notable and has a collection of fingers that he takes from people.Seems like Raimi has wanted to do a super hero movie long before spider man. He eases Bruce Campbell into being a hero from evil dead 1 and 2, then three years later does Darkman who would be one cool super hero but he's not quite there yet, although I haven't seen the sequels, Raimi does create one cool character. Then a couple years later does Army of Darkness and Bruce Campbell has evolved into a super hero character on his own, or maybe it's because Bruce is Darkman, when you see the ending of Darkman you'll know what I'm saying. Finally he stops beating around the bush and does Spider man. Spider Man 2 is one of the best super hero movies out of all super hero movies in my opinion.So, Darkman has something for everyone. If you like super hero movies this is for you, if you like action/adventure this is for you, and if you liked Swamp Thing your going to love it.The hd dvd looked fine as most do, however there really aren't many bright colors that pop in the picture to really show it off, it wouldn't be my reference hd dvd for picture quality, I would recommend Hot Fuzz or 300 to show off your picture quality. The sound was very impressive. There are no special features to mention.Thanks for reading.

A dark and entertaining mean joke by Sam Raimi, who plays with appearance and viewers' expectations to tell a story that is halfway between Jekill and Hyde and Phantom of the Opera.Visually inventive and with a lot of very good ideas, it is one of the few films where Liam Neeson is properly casted, since he surprisingly works better in ambiguous roles where he can play the good guy with a dark side, rather than being just all mean or all nice.Frances McDormand shows her acting abilities in a time when she still had some sexy/dark lady appeal, before becoming a brilliant and crazy actress.The film is all in all a brilliant attempt to adopt comic books technique and style, adapting them to cinema language and not merely inserting a comics style into a film, resulting in special effects that are funnily visible, almost hand-made. Something that Raimi must be very familiar with.The blu ray is very good and maybe the only weakness in the whole operation is that is does not sound genuine but maybe too artificial.

The print is full screen and veryfine indeed.Uncut is on the box,i don't know if it is or is not..but i wouldsway towards uncut.Bill Popes photographyis stunning,Neesons finest work?with Raimi directing him you bet it is.He wears a hat.PROF.TORU TANAKA

I enjoyed this movie as a kid and recently bought and watched it as an adult. I still enjoy Liam Neeson's performance, but for the most part the movie is silly. It's too much Sam Raimi silliness. Worth a watch, but I can't see myself going back to as one of those "I'm in the mood for..." movies.

This is a Sam Raimi film,pre Spiderman and post Evil Dead.Raimi fans will not be disappointed,over the top violence and some great one liners.As a bonus it looks better than ever on Bluray.Liam Neeson makes an excellent tortured hero and there is a great bad guy,recommended

Great film. Good value for money. Very happy.