The Boondock Saints, Blu-ray (1999)
Starring: Willem Dafoe, Sean Patrick Flanery, Norman Reedus, David Della Rocco, Billy Connolly
Directed by: Troy Duffy
Studio: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
Video: 2.35:1 anamorphic/enhanced for 1080p HD
Audio: English DTS-HD 5.1 Master Lossless Audio
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
Special Features: Audio commentary track with director Troy Duffy; audio commentary track with actor Billy Connolly; theatrical and extended movie versions; seven deleted scenes; outtakes; printable script; trailers for “Babylon A.D.” and “Max Payne”; D-BOX motion code
Feature Length: 110 minutes
Movie Rating: *** Video Rating: ***
Audio Rating: **** D-Box Motion Quality Rating: ***
“The Boondock Saints” is the story of two Irish brothers in Boston who, believing that it is their mission from God, kill off criminals in their town. These brothers, Conner MacManus (Sean Patrick Flanery) and Murphy MacManus (Norman Reedus), have started their vigilante work – with the local Russian mob being the initial target. The local police have largely looked the other way when it comes to investigating Conner and Murphy, but all that changes when FBI agent Paul Smecker (Willem Dafoe) comes to town. Smecker quickly discovers that the MacManus brothers are involved in the recent killings around town yet he is torn on whether to arrest them or leave them to do the dirty work that no one else wants to get involved with.
I had not watched “The Boondock Saints” prior to viewing this Blu-ray release but I was aware that the film had established quite a cult following among its fans. After viewing the movie, I can’t say that I was as impressed as many others are. “The Boondock Saints”, at least for me, is a decent action film with a smattering of funny one-liners, but nothing that I felt catapulted it into the upper echelon of great film-making. That being said, die hard fans of the movie will definitely want to own this Blu-ray release while all others should consider renting it first.
The high definition video quality of “The Boondock Saints” is good. Images occasionally lack depth but are otherwise clean. Black levels remain consistently deep throughout the movie. Colors are accurate and natural with well-saturated hues. While there is some noticeable film grain and print defects, picture defect mastering is solid with no major flaws or compression artifacts. The overall audio quality is very good with the English DTS 5.1 track serving as the basis for this review. The soundtrack actively incorporates all of the discrete channels into its mix. Dialogue is crisp, intelligible and securely anchored in the center channel. The surround channels are aggressively utilized for the sound effects and music score, plus include several split rear effects. The low frequency effects channel is strong and powerful.
“The Boondock Saints” is compatible with the “D-BOX” Motion Code™ System, meaning that if you have the compatible D-BOX equipment, your movie viewing experience will be enhanced by adding both motion and vibration to your seating. About ten percent of this movie has motion effects and/or vibration present, primarily resulting from gunshots and physical confrontations. Among the D-BOX highlights in the film are the alley fight that takes place in Chapter 6 (24:00), the MacManus brothers falling through the ceiling in Chapter 10 (42:00), and the shooting followed by the chair falling over in Chapter 21 (1:32:30). In these scenes, D-BOX enabled me to feel fists thumping and the force of bodies as they were slammed to the ground, the reverberation of the heavy gunfire, and the realistic motion when someone (or something) fell and crashed to the ground. “The Boondock Saints” is a violent movie and D-BOX certainly adds to the intensity taking place on-screen. Overall, I would rate the D-BOX motion/vibration quality for “The Boondock Saints” as good.
– Calvin Harding Jr.
