Product Description

Tom Hanks, Ayelet Zurer, Ewan McGregor, Stellan SkarsgårdDirectors: Ron Howard

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #366 in DVD
• Brand: Blu-ray Drama
• Released on: 2009-09-14
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Subtitled in: English, Hindi
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .26 pounds
• Running time: 138 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
If the devil is in the details, there's a lot of wicked fun in Angels & Demons, the sequel (originally a prequel) to The Da Vinci Code. Director Ron Howard delivers edge-of-your-pew thrills all over the Vatican, the City of Rome, and the deepest, dankest catacombs. Tom Hanks is dependably watchable in his reprised role as Professor Robert Langdon, summoned urgently to Rome on a matter of utmost urgency--which happens to coincide with the death of the Pope, meaning the Vatican is teeming with cardinals and Rome is teeming with the faithful. A religious offshoot group, calling themselves the Illuminati, which protested the Catholic Church's prosecution of scientists 400 years ago, has resurfaced and is making extreme, and gruesome, terrorist demands.

The film zooms around the city, as Langdon follows clues embedded in art, architecture, and the very bone structure of the Vatican. The cast is terrific, including Ewan McGregor, who is memorable as a young protégé of the late pontiff, and who seems to challenge the common wisdom of the Conclave just by being 40 years younger than his fellows when he lectures for church reform. Stellan Skarsgard is excellent as a gruff commander of the Swiss Guard, who may or may not have thrown in with the Illuminati. But the real star of the film is Rome, and its High Church gorgeousness, with lush cinematography by Salvatore Totino, who renders the real sky above the Vatican, in a cataclysmic event, with the detail and majesty of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. --A.T. Hurley, Amazon.com

Stills from Angels & Demons (click for larger image)

Synopsis
ANGELS AND DEMONS re-teams director Ron Howard and star Tom Hanks for the sequel to their international blockbuster adaptation of Dan Brown's novel THE DA VINCI CODE. Although the book Angels and Demons was written before the novel THE DA VINCI CODE, the movie transpires after the events of the earlier movie. Hanks stars as Professor Robert Langdon, the most respected symbologist in the United States, who uses his knowledge in order to decode a symbol on the skin of a murder victim. The clues put him on the trail of an international conspiracy involving the Catholic Church. Ewan McGregor and Ayelet Zurer also star in the Sony Pictures production.

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Featurettes:
  - Angels & Demons: The full story
  - Rome was not built in day
  - CERN: Pushing the frontiers of knowledge

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Customer Reviews

Very enjoyable movie
Enjoyed this much more than I expected too. More thrilling with twists and turns in the plot than the first movie. Bluray picture was superb on 1080p 50" plasma and HD audio was was equally crisp. The extended version just seemed to have more blood and gore.

It's not easy being a sequel (or prequel)
As an action film this is slick and entertaining. I loved the fact that it is so close to being in real time; the film goes for about 2 1/2 hours and seems to cover a period of not quite double that. The plot is refreshingly different from "Da Vinci" despite having some points of contact, and it certainly does have a rather extravagant twist late on. The cinematography is gorgeous, showing off the splendour of Rome with locations such as St Peter's Square and the Pantheon. Rome is always going to look beautiful, but Ron Howard does a great job of combining beautiful shots with the fast-paced unfolding of his story.

The acting is something of a mixed bag with Armin Muller-Stahl and Stellen Skarsgard being good new recruits, whereas Ewan McGregor and Ayelet Zurer were on the weaker side, even though McGregor gets a good deal better towards the end. It may well depend on your general feelings about him as an actor. Sceptics will see slight improvement, fans will see another good performance.

As a Blu-Ray this is very good indeed, perhaps only on this score does it trump its predecessor. Visuals are super-sharp, with all the depth, plasticity and perfectly placed colours and contrasts that you would expect from a Sony showcase release. They ran a lot of 4k technology based cinema screenings of this to show how good that can look (although it was shot on 35mm film and not with digital HD cameras). The soundtrack is also very good, with dialogue, music and effects well balanced. Everything sounds rich and full, with intelligent use of surround speakers and subwoofer(s).

If there was no such movie as "The Da Vinci Code" I probably would have thought better of this one. As it is, you can't fail to notice that the interpretation of signs and riddles is less intriguing this time. The 'big ideas' portion of the film is this time cast as Science vs Religion, but this is never really given much of a work-out when you compare it with the superb intertwining of action and dialogue last time that examined notions of the 'sacred feminine' and what that might have to do with church and bible history. It also has to be said that in contrast to the elegant and witty conversation between Hanks and McKellen in "Da Vinci Code" McGregor's address to the conclave is cringeworthy for anyone who realises that the intellectual level those people would be on is nothing like the tissue of cliched platitudes with which he attempts to sway them.

"Angels & Demons" is good entertainment but much less sophisticated than its predecessor. Definitely worth seeing, but hard not to be just a little disappointed.

Good film to own on BD
I saw this in the cinema and liked the fast-paced action. The BD is a high quality transfer, fully taking advantage of some amazing shots of Rome and St Peter's in the film. There are loads of extras which I haven't had the chance to see. Certainly, its a good disc to buy.