Sin City

Innovative and dazzling in its absolute loyalty to the visual style of its comic book inspiration, Sin City is a triptych of dark, violent tales set in a fallen metropolis of corruption and grime. A collaboration between director Robert Rodriguez (Desperado, Spy Kids) and graphic novelist Frank Miller (the gritty reinventor of Batman and Daredevil)--whose unique touch in the unusual role of co-director is unmistakable--the film's stunning, stark black-and-white cinematography features exclamation points of illustrative color while the Pulp Fiction-like plot weaves together short stories of gravely-voiced, cinderblock men (Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke, Clive Owen) protecting or avenging femme-fatale women (Jessica Alba, Jamie King, Brittany Murphy) against rapists, killers, and crooked cops by whatever bloody means necessary. On the downside, the groundbreaking neo-noir is not without its weaknesses: Sin City only skims the surfaces of its protagonists' souls, does even less for their women, and loses its rhythm with an unexpected epilogue. However, the thriller makes up in atmosphere what it lacks in profundity and could not be a more vivid cinematic realization of Miller's vision, or a better example of Rodriguez's explosive imagination. Recommended. [Note: DVD extras include a nine-minute behind-the-scenes featurette and trailers. Bottom line: a very disappointing extras package--there are rumors of a special edition coming later--for one of 2005's most innovative films.] (R. Blackwelder)[DVD Review—Nov. 29, 2005—Dimension, 2 discs, 147 min., not rated, $39.99—Making its second appearance on DVD, 2005's Sin City (Recut, Extended, Unrated) has the same great transfer as the original release, backed by DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. This version includes both the theatrical release with three different audio commentaries (one by filmmakers Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller; the second by Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino; and an Austin premiere audience reaction commentary), and the newly extended edition—roughly 20 minutes longer—viewable in four separate parts, mirroring the format of the original graphic novels. DVD extras include the 18-minute featurette “The Long Take” on Tarantino's segment, a “15-Minute Flick School” making-of with Rodriguez (13 min.), the “All Green Version” sped-up film in front of a green screen (13 min.), “Booze, Broads and Guns: The Props of Sin City” (11 min.), “Sin City: Live In Concert” cast and crew party (10 min.), “Making the Monsters: Special Effects Makeup” (9 min.), “Special Guest Director: Quentin Tarantino” (8 min.), “A Hard Top with a Decent Engine: The Cars of Sin City” (8 min.), “Trench Coats & Fishnets: The Costumes of Sin City” (8 min.), “10-Minute Cooking School” on the Sin City breakfast tacos (7 min.), “How it Went Down: Convincing Frank Miller to Make the Film” (6 min.), a “Sin-Chroni-City” interactive game showing how the storylines tie together, and trailers. Bottom line: a whopping extras package for one of 2005's most eye-popping films.][Blu-ray Review—May 12, 2009—Dimension, 2 discs, 114 min., not rated, $35.99—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 2005's Sin City looks amazing and features a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. Blu-ray extras are almost identical to the previous release, including both the theatrical release with three different audio commentaries (one by filmmakers Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller; the second by Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino; and the third an Austin premiere audience reaction commentary), and the newly extended edition—roughly 20 minutes longer—viewable in four separate parts, mirroring the format of the original graphic novels. Other extras include the 18-minute featurette “The Long Take” on Tarantino's segment in the film, a “15-Minute Film School” making-of featurette with Rodriguez (13 min.), the “All Green-Screen Version” sped-up version of the film (13 min.), production featurettes on “Booze, Broads and Guns: The Props” (11 min.), a “Live In Concert” cast and crew party (10 min.), “Making the Monsters: Special Effects Makeup” (9 min.), “Special Guest Director: Quentin Tarantino” (8 min.), “A Hard Top with a Decent Engine: The Cars” (8 min.), “Trench Coats & Fishnets: The Costumes” (8 min.), “10-Minute Cooking School” on Sin City breakfast tacos (7 min.), and “How it Went Down: Convincing Frank Miller to Make the Film” (6 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are a “Kill ‘Em Good” interactive comic book feature, and a “Cine-Explore” picture-in-picture visual commentary. Bottom line: an outstanding Blu-ray debut of one of the most visually arresting films of the decade.]