Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		4.5

The Usual Suspects Blu-ray Movie Review

With 1080p resolution, the characters of Keaton, Verbal, McManus, Fenster and Hockney come to life as never before.

Reviewed by Greg Maltz November 26, 2007

Boasting petty criminal characters conceived so brilliantly they achieve near-mythological status, The Usual Suspects is known for riveting suspense and action, an intriguing plotline and a jaw- dropping twist at the end. It also features some of the most memorable lines of the 1990s: "How do you shoot the devil in the back--what if you miss?" Best of all, the Blu-ray version's 1080p resolution allows viewers to rediscover this gem on a level that goes far beyond any DVD release. The characters, Roger "Verbal" Kint (Kevin Spacey), Dean Keaton (Gabriel Byrne), Michael McManus (Stephen Baldwin), Fred Fenster (Benicio Del Toro), Todd Hockney (Kevin Pollak), Dave Kujan (Chazz Palminteri) and Kobayashi (Pete Postlethwaite) now appear with visual details and cues and not available on NTSC.

Kevin Spacey turns in an Academy-Award winning performance as the meek, crippled petty criminal, Verbal Kint.

The film is set in the aftermath of a ship fire that totally burns the cargo and crew. Though meek and disabled, Verbal is the only survivor to walk away from the incident unscathed. He is taken into custody and grilled by the police. Brilliantly played in a characteristic, understated style that earned Spacey an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, Verbal is cleared and allowed to leave. But before he can go, agent Kujan from US Customs shows up to interrogate him. Kujan is trying to build a case against Keaton and he wants Verbal to testify in exchange for immunity. Verbal refuses, but Kujan still bullies Verbal into recounting his story of Keaton, McManus, Fenster and Hockney, leading up to the explosion on the ship.

What follows is a fantastic yarn of lies and half-truths sprinkled within the facts of the case. It is all masterfully portrayed as a series of flashbacks while Verbal and Kujan sip coffee and talk in the LA police station. The story begins six weeks earlier in New York City as Verbal and the other four criminals are brought in to stand side-by-side in a police lineup. None of them are formally charged with a crime, and there are indications Keaton has actually gone straight prior to the roundup. But before they are released, the five hatch a plan to get revenge on the corrupt NYPD and make a large sum of money in the process by robbing a police-protected jewel smuggler and leaking news of the police involvement to the press. Keaton is reluctant and must be coaxed into it with the promise that no one will be killed in the heist. He agrees and the quintet pulls off the robbery to perfection. The acting and writing take chances that pay off, with each actor fully immersing himself in his role. Del Toro creates a uniquely colorful persona in his portrayal of Fenster, Baldwin conveys a reckless abandon and lust for violence, Pollak shows steely courage and resolve, Byrne is a complex mesh of toughness with motives pulling him in all directions. Each actor is at the top of his game.

The five criminals go to Los Angeles to lay low in the aftermath of the New York heist. There, they are enticed into another robbery that is also supposed to involve no killing. Unfortunately, this LA heist goes horribly wrong. As Verbal recounts this carnage, its aftermath and the growing problems and hostility in the crew, agent Kujan receives a tip from one of his colleagues who has a survivor pulled from the water near the charred wreckage of the ship. The witness is badly burned and cannot speak English, but insists that the man responsible for the destruction of life and property on the ship is named Kaiser Soze.

Armed with this news, Kujan confronts Verbal who reacts as if upset that Kujan has been tipped off about Soze. Verbal's story suggests that it may have been Soze who orchestrated the police lineup in New York and the robbery gone awry in LA. He picks up the narration again as the five criminals meet a mysterious lawyer, Kobayashi, who indirectly gave them the LA job. It is Kobayashi who demands they ransack the ship and assassinate the crew. Kobayashi describes it as a very difficult job. "I do not expect all of you to survive," he says. When Keaton and the others refuse, Kobayashi tells them he works for Soze who each of them has unwittingly wronged in the past. Soze is demanding the ship heist as a final favor in exchange for not harming the five or their families or associates. To prove Soze's threat is real, Kobayashi produces envelopes for the five men containing a complete record of every one of their crimes, accomplices and family members. "Everyone I've ever worked with or did time with," Fenster says. "They know everything," Hockney says.

Not easily bullied, the quintet decides to strong-arm Kobayashi, murdering two of his associates and bringing him to a construction site to assassinate him. But he has already outwitted them by involving Keaton's girlfriend and showing Keaton that she is now in Soze's control. He threatens that, should any harm come to him, the girl will meet with an unsavory violation before her death, as will other friends and family of the quintet. Kobayashi is not afraid of death because if he does not do Soze's bidding, his fate would be worse than death and he promises theirs will be too. Now thoroughly spooked, the quintet realizes it is pointless to kill Kobayashi, as he is just a middleman. Fenster decides to flee LA, but doesn't make it. As the rest of them learn of his death and bury the body, they decide they have no choice but to comply with Soze's demands to storm the ship.

But who is Kaiser Soze? Did he orchestrate the police lineup in New York, and pull all the strings ever since? Is the cargo of the ship drugs or only human cargo? Why did Verbal survive unharmed while so many others did not? Did Keaton really die, as Verbal insists, or did he slip away, as Kujan believes? Is Verbal telling the truth? Much is revealed in the final moments of the film, which wash over the viewer like an enormous wave of recognition. Snippets of dialogue from earlier in the film are montaged over the complex score, providing spine-tingling clues about exactly what part of Verbal's yarn was fact and what was fiction. The final snippet of dialogue, followed by a fortissimo string finale is especially powerful: "and like that...he was gone."

The Usual Suspects Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Usual Suspects will never win a Blu-ray award for "sharpest picture" or "greatest detail", but it is rated highly for being head and shoulders above any of the DVD versions. The contrast is optimal, colors are vivid and lifelike, black level is good, and noise is minimal due to the use of softener filters. Actually, a criticism of the picture is that the filters may have hurt more than helped. Some film grain and other noise in the picture is actually preferable if it helps the sharpness. But alas, The Usual Suspects suffers a slight bit in depth and overall definition due to the filters applied after the transfer. Perhaps the MPEG-4 treatment on a BD-50 instead of MPEG-2 on BD-25 could have also helped the picture. These criticisms will have implications only for the most refined videophiles. Most will simply find the Blu-ray version to be stunningly vivid compared the NTSC versions. And for fans of the film, it is sheer magic to see details in the faces of Verbal, Kujan, Fenster and the others--details like small lines around the eyes and brow or an almost imperceptible tightening of the lower lip during Kobayashi's discussion with the quintet. Such definition is simply not perceptible or fully resolved on DVD. On the Blu-ray, it seems to jump out of the picture.

The Usual Suspects Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

To a lesser extent, the audio is also improved. The Blu-ray boasts a 5.1 DTS-HD track, but the fact is that the original production suffered a bit in the audio department. The soundstage in particular is weak for a movie featuring many action-packed sequences of gunfire, explosions and yelling voices. Still, there is much to appreciate about the sound quality here. Voices are crisp and the timbre of each character is reproduced well. The string arrangement sounds quite defined, although it does not image from the speakers the way lossless PCM does.

The Usual Suspects Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Unless you consider trailers of other movies to be valuable supplementary material, don't look to the Blu-ray version of The Usual Suspects for bonus features. MGM really needs to step up its game in this department. The lack of material is especially deplorable because this film is one of the classics of the '90s. It was produced on a tight budget and more information about challenges during production would be interesting. What inspired the story and its powerful cast of characters? Nothing is more important than a quality version of the film, but bonus features would be nice.

The Usual Suspects Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Whether it is attributable to lies in Verbal's yarn or odd casting decisions, several characters in The Usual Suspects add to the film's mystique. Chief among these is the Irish Postlethwaite cast as the Japanese Kobayashi. There is a strong clue at the end that the name Kobayashi is used solely to mislead Kujan. But Kobayashi is not the only instance of a character's name failing to match his appearance. Another example is McManus' contact in LA, Redfoot, which one would expect to be the name of a Native American. But Redfoot appears to be caucasian. Again, at the end there is an indication that Verbal used Redfoot to avoid giving Kujan a real name. Strange ethnic inconsistencies crop up constantly. Kaiser Soze is said to be Turkish, possibly with a German father. These mixed-up character portraits add a layer of complexity to the plot, but one must always consider the source, Verbal Kint, and his motives.

The dynamic between Kujan and Verbal itself is pure entertainment. A kind of cat-and-mouse game, nuances are thrown into the proceedings that make it more interesting and add depth to the characters. Even the way the interrogation is filmed is unique. Verbal didn't achieve his nickname for no reason. He knows how to run his mouth and Kujan has a difficult challenge in corralling him. Underlying the interrogation is Kujan's suspicion of Keaton and his belief that Keaton manipulated Verbal. But Verbal is hard to pin down and Kujan occasionally resorts to bully tactics.

The Blu-ray version of The Usual Suspects is an important release of a modern classic. The amazing plotline and well-defined characters are given new life that was for the most part inaccessible in NTSC. Through the increased definition, the mythological stature of Kaiser Soze comes through far more powerfully and the film takes on an epic scope. Considering its odd cast and the convoluted story, the epic feel relies mostly on the interaction between strong characters, the writing and the violent action sequences that are choreographed with drama and precision. Adding The Usual Suspects is an easy recommendation for any Blu-ray library.