Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #609 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-01-15
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 143 minutes

Customer Reviews

[3.5]-Books adapted to films are the hardest to please.
After finally viewing this film last night I thought it was alright. Movies such as this seem to be a great challenge for directors. This story been read by so many and I know the film is almost 2.5 hours long, but this could, and should have been a bit longer or expanded in the correct places. The first 200 pages of Dan Brown's book are adapted into about 20 minutes. All of the anagrams, the Fache (Jean Reno) stuff, investigating the crime scene. ALL of that goes by in an incredibly rushed 20 minutes. You have to give those 20 minutes your full, undivided attention or you'll miss important details. Langdon being Fache's number 1 suspect isn't the least bit surprising. You had just been introduced to both characters 2 minutes beforehand. The film finally decides to slow down and take it's time once we meet Ian Mckellen's character, Leigh Teabing. They should have added at least 30 minutes to the first 20 minutes, and probably put some of those extra minutes into the irksome flashy flashback sequences.

The acting is pretty good. Tom Hanks has his weak points in the film, but he's given such little time to react to things, I don't blame him. He gets better as the film goes along. The same can be said about Audrey Tautou. If the film wasn't so swift, I'm sure they'd give great performances. Paul Bettany, Jean Reno, Ian Mckellen and Alfred Molina all gave good performance. I'm not surprised that Dan Brown had Jean Reno in mind for Fache when he was writing the book. Ian Mckellen is great as the lovable and humble old man, Teabing. In my opinion, he has the best lines in the film. And Paul Bettany stands out as the albino monk, Silas. I think he gave the best performance in the film.

Ron Howard does a good job in the directing chair but if he hadn't rushed and gave more respect to the first 200 pages of Dan Brown's novel I'd probably give this film a higher rating. I do recommend this film but it's better to read it before you see it.

Am I the Only One
I never read the book as I've tried reading Dan Brown before and find his writing somewhat laboured.

The film however (when not compared to the book) was simply a good mystery yarn.

The special effects were nicely done and I have to say that I loved the incidental music by Hans Zimmer.

Maybe not for the purist historian but for a couple of hours of escapism, I thought it was great.

Somewhat basic production
This contains the 1 DVD.

The basic plot of Da Vinci (2006) is very interesting. There are some genuine moments of horror brilliantly done with fantastic sound effects. There are plenty of surprises. The adventure has something of a Bourne Identity (2002) action thriller to it, with the nauseating torture of Passion of the Christ (2004). Moreover, the opening sequence is memorable drama, but on the whole the film lacks a bit of edge.

The fanfare score is nauseating - your head swirls after being subjected to it for so long and on so many occasions. A darker score, more variation, and a darker direction would have orientated the film firmly into the horror genre, where it would have performed better.

The production teams seem to have got away with putting in only a very basic job. For example, costume is one area where there could have been more inspiration and originality. The design of the franchise - the DVD cover in particular, is uninspiring and the design team should be warned. "Uncover the secret" it declares, but the whole point about Da Vinci (2006) is that it isn't quite uncovered.

A lot in this film is centred on Tom Hanks- indeed, the film ends with a fade on him. But I can't help thinking something else could have been done.

Perhaps, the book is much better to read.