Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15566 in DVD
• Released on: 2001-11-26
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Formats: Anamorphic, Box set, Dubbed, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: French
• Subtitled in: Arabic, Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish
• Dubbed in: French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 101 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
The Crimson Rivers is an openly acknowledged French attempt to make a big Hollywood-style serial-killer thriller. Jean--Ronin(1997)--Reno is Niemans, who while investigating the case of a horrifically mutilated body finds himself partnered with Kerkerian, a younger detective played by Vincent Cassell, (La Haine). Set in beautiful mountain country and shot in CinemaScope by Thierry Arbogast (Leon), it looks fabulous. Kassovitz packs the frame with stylish flourishes from a breathtaking helicopter shot in homage to The Shining (1980), to a lavish stairwell tracking shot inspired by Vertigo (1958). With a sumptuously layered score and some superbly achieved special effects The Crimson Rivers has all the expensive sheen of the American movies it imitates. Unfortunately it also proves Europeans can make films as technically accomplished but ludicrously plotted as Hollywood can: for what begins as a tense and unsettling police procedural, mutates into an action movie where the details make no sense. Even the Boys From Brazil inspired plot is ludicrous. Demonstrating Kassovitz has seen plenty of Brian De Palma and Dario Argento movies, The Crimson Rivers entertains despite its own absurdity, and should see the director following Luc Besson to Hollywood to make even bigger and dumber blockbusters.

On the DVD: Despite not being labelled a special edition this two disc set is one of the most impressive releases on DVD this year; all the more remarkable for being a French film barely seen in UK cinemas. The 2.35-1 anamorphically enhanced transfer is virtually flawless while the Dolby Digital 5.1 sound is superb. Apart from the original French soundtrack there are English and Spanish dubbed versions, and subtitles in 20 languages (including English and French). The first disc includes three trailers, plus three more for other Columbia releases, and two commentary tracks. The first features Reno, Cassel and Kassovitz--all talking at full speed providing a wealth of information. The second--a commentary by composer Bruno Coulais--offers a real insight into the use of music in film as he explains his approach to specific scenes and his overall philosophy of film scoring. This track also features the score isolated in Dolby Digital 5.1, though Colais does talk over the beginning of some cues.

The second disc contains over two hours of documentary material. First is a serious 52-minute making-of, in which cast and director explain how the film was constantly re-written, going so far as to admit it makes no sense. Further documentaries are on "The Scalpel Scene" (26 min) and the "making of the corpse" (9 min) used in the opening scenes. There is seven minutes on shooting the martial arts fight, with or without commentary, nine minutes on shooting the car chase and a section playing the chase alongside the original storyboards, with or without commentary. A documentary on filming the mountain climax (10 min) and a further documentary on creating a digital avalanche (15 min), plus a multi-angle feature presenting the scene as storyboards, edited rushes, special effects or outtakes. The Production Designer archives (13 min) covers the sets. Additionally there is footage from the Far East promotional tour, a poster gallery, filmographies of Cassel, Reno and Kassovitz, the complete storyboards for four sequences, including the never-filmed originally planned opening and a gallery of on-set still photographs. It's a veritable "how to make a blockbuster" on two shiny discs. --Gary S Dalkin

Special Features
2.35 Wide Screen
16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
DVD 9
French\Spanish
English
Region 2
Dolby Digital 5.1 English French Spanish
Dolby Digital 5.1
Director And Cast Commentary
Isolated Music Score With Composer Commentary
Trailers
Animated Menus
The Investigation Making of Documentary
12 Featurettes
Cast And Crew Filmographies
Arabic\Bulgarian\Croatian\Czech\Danish\Dutch\English\Finnish\French\Greek\Hebrew\Hungarian\Icelandic\Italian\Norwegian\Polish\Portuguese\Romanian\Spanish\Swedish\Turkish

Synopsis
Jean Reno reprises his role as a laconic tough cop in Mathieu Kassovitz's disturbing thriller, THE CRIMSON RIVERS. Kassovitz, who rose to fame with his compelling racial drama HATE, brings his signature flare for character development and subtle direction to this unlikely alpine murder mystery. A horrifically mutilated corpse found in a remote mountain village signifies a serious enough crime to call in Parisian detective Pierre Niemans (Jean Reno). Meanwhile, less than 200 miles away, the young upstart detective Kerkerian (HATE's Vincent Cassel) investigates a similarly bizarre crime, the defacement of a young girl's grave. As the two intrepid detectives pursue their cases--Niemans examining bizarre circumstances at a local university and Kerkerian interviewing the dead girls recalcitrant mother (now a cloistered nun)--the two investigations pitch violently towards each other, forcing the detectives to join forces as they recognize the horrifying implications that may link the seemingly isolated crimes. The precarious mountain locale acts as a fittingly terse setting for Kassovitz's tight direction (and surprise ending) as well as Reno and Cassel's powerfully quirky performances, all of which make THE CRIMSON RIVERS a breathtaking and gut-wrenching instant genre classic.

Customer Reviews

Suspense, twist, Alpine scenery and much more

A good suspense movie with a good cast for those who are familiar with French actors. It has everything needed for an entertaining thriller, where clues are slowly dropped along the way as the mystery unravels. Whether the events are plausible is another matter, but then again, sometimes one has to suspend belief, when watching a movie.

There is a sequel with the same name, which is also a mystery, but not as good as this one.

Thoroughly enjoyable, but it ain't quite art
Jean Reno and Vincent Cassell -- what's not to like? Both actors lift an otherwise inconsistent movie above its natural three-star slot.
The Crimson Rivers is a strange hybrid of Hollywood hyperbole and continental cnic, and the mix can be somewhat confusing. The plot isn't altogether clear -- at least not in the dubbed version. With sub-titles it's easier to follow especially if you can busk some of the French dialogue.
The film's preposterous ending suggests that the producers didn't quite know where to take it; the plot veers from noir detective to X-Files-esque neo-Nazi conspiracy to James Bond blows up the whole shebang at the end.
But hey, we had a good time watching it. There's an enjoyable film in here and a couple of great actors. I'll just echo what others have said: I'd be happy to rent this but a bit less happy if I'd paid 20 notes to own it. This isn't the kind of film you'll come back to watch over and again...

Gripping ... until the end
I originally rented this out on a whim of bored. I was stunned, Jean Reno and Vincent Cassell were excellent, the plot was gripping and the while I half expected some of the plot to happen it was done stylishy. You start to get drawn in and want to know what happens next how the two cops interact. The fight scene pulling sounds and atmosphere from Virtua Fighter/Tekken was quite amusing also. And then... and then... it all got quite silly right near the end it was all over too quickly, a big build up only to be spend its load all over your TV screen in a burp of disappointment. If someone ever wants to re make this script ... change the ending.