Product Description

Josh Brolin, Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Kelly MacDonald, Stephen Root, Woody Harrelson, Director: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3496 in DVD
• Brand: Blu-ray Thriller
• Released on: 2008-09-08
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .26 pounds
• Running time: 118 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
The Coen brothers make their finest thriller since Fargo with a restrained adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's novel. Not that there aren't moments of intense violence, but No Country for Old Men is their quietest, most existential film yet. In this modern-day Western, Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) is a Vietnam vet who could use a break. One morning while hunting antelope, he spies several trucks surrounded by dead bodies (both human and canine). In examining the site, he finds a case filled with $2 million. Moss takes it with him, tells his wife (Kelly Macdonald) he's going away for awhile, and hits the road until he can determine his next move. On the way from El Paso to Mexico, he discovers he's being followed by ex-special ops agent Chigurh (an eerily calm Javier Bardem). Chigurh's weapon of choice is a cattle gun, and he uses it on everyone who gets in his way--or loses a coin toss (as far as he's concerned, bad luck is grounds for death). Just as Sheriff Bell (Tommy Lee Jones), a World War II vet, is on Moss's trail, Chigurh's former colleague, Wells (Woody Harrelson), is on his. For most of the movie, Moss remains one step ahead of his nemesis. Both men are clever and resourceful--except Moss has a conscience, Chigurh does not (he is, as McCarthy puts it, "a prophet of destruction"). At times, the film plays like an old horror movie, with Chigurh as its lumbering Frankenstein monster. Like the taciturn terminator, No Country for Old Men doesn't move quickly, but the tension never dissipates. This minimalist masterwork represents Joel and Ethan Coen and their entire cast, particularly Brolin and Jones, at the peak of their powers. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Synopsis
With No Country for Old Men, the Coen Brothers have found a perfect match in Pulitzer Prize-winning author Cormac McCarthy. Their adaptation of McCarthy's praised novel is a staggering masterpiece. In this almost impossibly faithful adaptation, the film takes place in a small Texas border town in 1980. Sheriff Bell (a never-been-better Tommy Lee Jones) has ruled the land for years without the use of a gun, but a new brand of reckless lawlessness has taken over his town. Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) is an innocent Everyman with a devoted wife, Carla Jean (Kelly Macdonald), but when he stumbles across a drug deal gone deadly and finds two million dollars, he's determined to keep it for himself. There's only one problem. He's being pursued by one of the most amoral, evil psychopaths that the big screen has ever seen. Wearing an absurd haircut and brandishing a pressurized weapon that's used to murder cattle, Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) creeps forward on his mission to track Moss down and return the money to its rightful owners to save his own skin. As the tension mounts, the body count begins to rise, confirming Sheriff Bell's inability to battle this new wave of modern brutality.


The most striking thing about the Coen Brothers' thriller is their masterly use of silence to create an almost unbearable level of tension. Cinematographer Roger Deakins is once again at the top of his game, beautifully capturing this stark and lonely world. The well-rounded cast is clearly excited to be a part of such a stellar production--particularly Bardem, whose Chigurh is a freakishly mysterious monster, and is certain to haunt viewers long after the final credit has rolled. In a career filled with striking achievements, this might very well be the Coen Brothers' finest. It is film-making at its best.

Customer Reviews

Miles better than the book - a Coen masterpiece!
'No Country For Old Men' is the movie adaption of the novel by Cormac McCarthy and begins when Llewellyn Moss is out hunting when he comes across the scene of a drug deal gone wrong where several bodies have been shot to death. At the scene he finds a briefcase containing about 2.4 million dollars. He then makes the decision of taking it and going on the run which leads him into a whole world of trouble. Also an escaped prisoner and ruthless murderer Anton Chigurh (not Sugar!) is on the loose and is also after the money, killing anybody who gets in his way. Sherriff Bell is on the case in one of the most dangerous of his life.

I was dying to see this film months ago after seeing the trailers and missed it when it was at the cinema, so read the novel in eager anticipation of the DVD release and I have to admit that I wasn't impressed by it at all, mainly because of how badly it was written. Luckily the Coens have done an excellent job of taking the decent parts of the book and the story, which was actually very good, and have came up with one of the best and exciting thrillers I've seen in years. The film starts of quite slowly but as soon as Moss finds the cash the chase is on and it is a literally non-stop pursuit with so much tension for the next hour and a half.

Anton is a truly terrifying character that seems to be so heartless and ruthless with the way he just kills anybody who gets in his way, with his air canister or silenced shotgun. Llewelyn's character is also much better in the film than he is in the book as in the book he was very arrogant and irritating which made me not care too much what happened to him really but in the film his character is much more likeable and did make me want him to get away.

Overall this is one of the best thrillers I've seen in a very long time with amazing action and excitement, a great cast and characters and some really breathtaking scenery and camera work. The only thing that lets this down a little is the ending which sort of just trails off and then finishes suddenly, leaving you guessing what happens next. Anyway, I highly recommend this DVD/Blu Ray and would definitely recommend this over the book. The Coens have done it again and created yet another cinema masterpiece.

A No Holds Barred Movie
Before I give my review I first want to say that this film isn't for everybody, it's slow paced and doesn't spell out the plot for you like some of todays films do. The violence is graphic and unflinching and the actors in every role give a 5 star performance. My review will be based on a three part basis, they will be The Plot, The Characters and The Verdict, these should give you a fair overview of the film along with my personal opinion of the movie itself.

The Plot: Llewelyn Moss is a disheveled Vietnam veteran who's looking for a break. While out doing his usual deer hunting he stumbles across a massacre site where a drug deal has gone awry and whatever happened at the deal it lead to the death of all men involved. While investigating the site he finds a case filled with $2 Million which he decides to steal the money in the hopes of a better life for him and his wife Carla. He knows that he can't just take the money and live a happy life so he tells Carla to go and live with her parents while he goes away for a while until the dust settles. Little did Llewelyn know the man who arranged the deal was a murderous psychopath called Chigurh, he's a man that is prepared to kill anyone who gets in his way or anyone who loses the flip of a coin. He carries around a cattle gun and a silenced shot gun for which he uses to create chaos and torment to everyone he encounters. This is one of the chases of its own as Llewelyn is always one step ahead of Chigurh but with Chigurh being an ex special-ops has his ex colleague, Wells on his. Sherif Bell is also a man on the trail of Moss but he's always two steps behind the two of them.

The Characters: The superb portrayal of every character by every actor in this movie makes it truly superb and something memorable. The characters that stand out the most are that of Moss & Chigurh and I will discuss both these characters in this section.

Llewelyn Moss: Played by Josh Brolin is one of those characters that you root for from the very beginning but there's a deep feeling in your stomach that you know the man is doomed. He's a shell of a man who seems to have simply given up on life up until that moment he finds the money, because he's found it and can see the potential in how it can improve the life of him and his wife he's determined to keep the money no matter who's after him.

Chigurh: This is obviously the character that the whole movie revolves around, he's the venerable psychopath for whom nobody can explain his motives or his ideas. At the start of the movie we come to see him as simply a guy who likes to kill, then our minds are changed when we see him chasing Moss for the money and then our minds are changed again and we believe he may just like killing. When walking to a destination or when entering someone in conversation, he gives off this soulless chill that I can't really explain but once you watch the movie yourself you'll know what I mean. He's almost Frankenstein like in his movement, he shows no urgency or change in pace, he moves fluidly to the point of which when he bursts through doors and starts executing people you start to think. "How did he know they were there?" It's a truly superb performance by the relatively unknown actor Javier Bardem.

The Verdict: I have to say at first I didn't understand this film and it became quite confusing. I wasn't sure who was chasing who and I really wasn't sure what the movie was all about, then it became apparent as to the whole story which only really starts to come together around the middle of the film. It baffles me though, that how a man can kill so many people in sometimes very brutal and loud ways can still stay a step ahead of the police. It's a great movie and has an intelligence to it that we very rarely see on the screen these days. It doesn't have dramatic explosions and it has no point with which it uses background music in order to add effect, this will have encouraged the actors to give an even better performance and let me tell you it worked superbly. You must buy this movie and enjoy it time after time after time as it really is something great and for the two hour runtime I think we can safely say it's a bit too short.

Simply AMAZING
This film is absolute perfection, the suspence, the confusion and the thrill of the characters brilliant