Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7610 in DVD
• Released on: 2009-05-04
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 93 minutes

Synopsis
Poor Jerry Lundegaard. He's deep in debt. His wealthy father-in-law has no respect for him. He cheats customers at the car dealership where he works. And now he's hired a bumbling duo to kidnap his wife--a plan that goes horribly awry, leading to homicide. Enter Marge Gunderson, one of the most fabulous movie cops in film history. The very-pregnant Marge--played marvellously by Frances McDormand in an Oscar-winning and career-defining performance--just goes about her everyday business, eating (in nearly every scene), talking to the people in the community, and examining bloody corpses as if no day is different from the next. A multiple murder in the small town of Brainerd, Minnesota--home of Paul Bunyan, as the sign claims--seems to have little effect on her. Yet she has an innate cop sense--she is very, very good at her job and determined to solve the case in her offhanded manner.

FARGO is yet another offbeat, highly entertaining film from the Coen brothers (BARTON FINK, BLOOD SIMPLE). The film is nearly colourless; instead, director of photography Roger Deakins washes the screen in the blinding white of the snow, occasionally breaking for the drab grays and browns of police uniforms and winter jackets. Carter Burwell's score further enhances the slow, steady pace of this oddly funny and compelling film. The Coens have once again populated their film with a slew of bizarre characters, with outstanding performances delivered by all, particularly the edgy William H. Macy, the quietly luminous McDormand, the nearly psychotic Steve Buscemi, and the oh-so-cold Peter Stormare.

Customer Reviews

Fargo - Blu-ray Info
Version: USA, Japan, EU, UK, AUS / MGM-FOX / Region Free
MPEG-4 AVC BD-50 / AACS / High Profile 4.1
Running time: 1:38:11
Movie size: 31,857,076,224 bytes
Disc size: 34,572,480,663 bytes
Total bit rate: 43.26 Mbps
Average video bit rate: 30.47 Mbps

DTS-HD Master Audio English 3675 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 3675 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
DTS Audio French 768 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit
DTS Audio German 768 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit
DTS Audio Italian 768 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit
DTS Audio Japanese 768 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit
DTS Audio Spanish 768 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit
Dolby Digital Audio French 448 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 448 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio Portuguese 448 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 448 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio Spanish 448 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 448 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio English 224 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 224 kbps / Dolby Surround
Dolby Digital Audio English 224 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 224 kbps

Number of chapters: 36
Subtitles: English SDH, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai, Turkish

#Audio commentary
#Trivia track
#Minnesota Nice documentary
#American Cinematographer article
#Photo gallery
#Trailers and TV spot

You betcha!
Having owned Fargo both on laserdisc and DVD, watching the Blu-ray transfer projected onto a 200 inch screen is like seeing the film for the first time at the cinema. The picture quality and detail are fabulous - the blood really gushes out of the screen - and one can actually see what is going on in all the murky interior scenes. There is a lot of film grain visible, so thankfully no digital noise reduction applied here. The aspect ratio and framing are correct and the sound and dialogue are much clearer than on the very thin-sounding DVD. There are minor gripes: halos around black objects placed against white backgrounds (see the opening titles, or the lamp posts in Gunderson's car lot) - but this shouldn't prevent any film fanatic from shredding the DVD in the wood-chipper and upgrading to this version.

A film that Goes Far
Do not believe the Coen Brothers when they this is a true story. But it is something that can happen. People have been known to stage `wife kidnappings' for various reasons and things often go wrong in any crime.
Things do go horrendously wrong for William H Macy's car salesman character here, with Frances McDormand (the local sheriff) hot on his trail. She's pregnant and tired, but she does not give up. The two small-time criminals (played brilliantly by Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare) hired by Macy for the dastardly deed seemingly cannot do anything right and leave a trail of bodies and blood on the snow. Of course, they do fall out with each other by the end of the movie and one of them ends up in a wood chipper.
The movie has plenty of light moments and humor despite the high body count and you will get a load of the Minnesota accent and dialect by the time it finishes. But all these elements are well integrated into the movie so that no incident feels out of place. The editor has done a superb job.
This movie will be remembered for its lush photography. The brilliant white snowy landscapes will challenge your telly and please your eyes. The blu-ray transfer is obviously not top grade, but this is the best picture available on any home video release of Fargo. The sound too is average, but then this is a dialogue driven movie with some action in between.
This is one of the Coens' best efforts, eclipsed only by their recent hits such as No Country for Old Men. It is not a walk in the park, for this is a movie that depends heavily on violent undertones. Fargo is a memorable film that deserves a place in your movie library.