6.7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
New Year’s Eve in Las Vegas. Roulette wheels spin, cards snap, slots chime, champagne fizzes, shows go on…and the lights go out. It’s the perfect time to steal a kiss or a $25 chip. But for Danny Ocean and 10 partners in crime, it’s the ideal moment to steal millions.
Starring: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford, Angie DickinsonComedy | 100% |
Heist | 46% |
Crime | Insignificant |
Adventure | Insignificant |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: VC-1
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.35:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: Dolby Digital Mono
German: Dolby Digital Mono
Spanish: Dolby Digital Mono (Spain)
Portuguese: Dolby Digital Mono
English SDH, French, German SDH, Portuguese, Spanish, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
It's Vegas, baby! And Old Vegas at that. The Mint, the Golden Nugget, the Bootlegger Bistro, the Golden Gate and, of course, the Sahara, Riviera, Desert Inn, Sands, and Flamingo. The classic, Rat-Pack era Strip. No Cirque du Soleil, no MGM Grand, no Elvis impersonators, no Blue Man Group, no Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, no Siegfried and Roy. Sharp suits and cigs, high-class broads and cool cats. Snake eyes and double-down bravado, Big Band in the Copa Room. Filmmaker Lewis Milestone's oft-panned Ocean's 11 is a celebration of all things Old Vegas; a slick, unabashed tribute to the reign of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Peter Lawford, Joey Bishop and Sammy Davis, Jr. But like its Kings of Swing, self-indulgence haunts its legacy. As sure-footed and sharp-witted as it can be, Ocean's 11 is rather bloated and ungainly. As breezy as its furrowed brow ensemble's chemistry is, its stuffy setups and stilted cadence spoil some of the fun. Long before the credits roll, the weight of its screenplay crushes any semblance of effortlessness as the film, brisk and bristling as it may be, struggles to rise to the height of its Rat Pack stars.
"The odds are always with the house..."
Say what you will about some of Warner's lesser catalog releases. Far more often than not, the studio treats its classic titles -- true gems and divisive guilty pleasures alike -- with the utmost respect. Honestly, I didn't expect much from Ocean's 11 video transfer. Chalk it up to its fifty years, limited appeal or barebones marketing campaign. But Warner's excellent 1080p/VC-1 transfer handily trumps its DVD counterpart and should easily surpass humble expectations like mine. William H. Daniels' Old Vegas palette is awash with bold neon blues, deep backroom reds, satisfying blacks and warm, relatively natural skintones. Better still, delineation is impressive, contrast is spot on (despite a few bowling alley-esque dips and dives) and nary a distracting artifact or color band spoils the proceedings. Detail is a tad inconsistent and noise occasionally invades nighttime sequences -- no thanks to an at-times spotty source littered with soft shots and problematic scenes -- but by and large, the integrity of the original image has been meticulously preserved. Fine textures are apparent throughout, object definition is clean and crisp, edge enhancement is kept to a minimum and the whole of the presentation, grain and all, is faithfully rendered. Only a handful of scenes will raise DNR flags, and of those scenes, an even smaller handful are prone to slight smearing. All things considered, Ocean's 11 looks great and reinforces Warner's place with Sony at the head of the catalog pack.
Warner's DTS-HD Master Audio Mono mix is just as faithful, albeit to lesser ends. Dialogue is bright, clear and well prioritized, and only a small smattering of inconsequential lines is muffled or pinched. The whole of the track struggles with tinny effects, a somewhat hollow musical score and stagey background chatter, but at fifty years and counting, it rarely detracts from the studio's otherwise noble mastering efforts. Of course, without any LFE oomph or engrossing soundfield to speak of, there's little else to praise (or complain about for that matter). Ideally, every studio would offer a lossless mono or stereo mix and a snazzy 5.1 remix on their catalog releases, pleasing both purists and progressive audio-junkies in one fell swoop. But production budgets are king, and I would rather have a solid mono mix than an overwrought 5.1 redux. Frankly, I'm just happy to see every catalog release earning a full-fledged lossless audio track. Just a year ago, that wasn't the case.
The highpoint of the 50th Anniversary Edition extras is Frank Sinatra Jr. and Angie Dickinson's audio commentary, despite the fact that silence tends to dominate the track. Recorded individually, Sinatra delivers a slew of dry but interesting production tidbits, touching on the genesis of the project and his father's involvement, while Dickinson offers up a number of amusing first-hand anecdotes, many of which steal the show. Unfortunately, Sinatra is a bit too enamored with the film, Dickinson tends to get lost in her memories, and there isn't much to speak of beyond the commentary. A clip from "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson" with guest host Frank Sinatra (SD, 4 minutes) is worth watching but far too short, a "Tropicana Museum Vignette" (SD, 2 minutes) is little more than a tourist promo, the disc's "Vegas Map" includes quick video histories of the film's featured casinos, two theatrical trailers (SD, 4 minutes) are included for good measure, and a brief easter egg can be found on the Special Features menu by pressing "down" from the "Vegas Map" and clicking on the dice that appear (many thanks to forum member "bluskies" for finding the hidden extra).
Ocean's 11 is a byproduct of early '60s Rat Pack kitsch, but fans of the era and its swinging stars won't mind. Warner, meanwhile, continues to grant even its lesser catalog titles strong releases, and this one is no different. With a fit and faithful video transfer that trounces its standard DVD counterpart, a solid DTS-HD Master Audio mono mix and a semi-decent supplemental package, the Blu-ray edition of Ocean's 11 justifies its asking price. Limited appeal? Indeed. But fans who buy in will be pleased.
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