Road to Perdition

Sam Mendes directed what is likely going to be remembered as his greatest film with Road to Perdition (2002). Mendes approached his direction with a steady hand alongside his cinematographer, Conrad L. Hall, to create haunting visuals for his mobster drama.Every scene is shot so beautifully that many of the images from Road to Perdition are burned into my brain now. The rain sequences, in particular, are so visceral to witness that they offset the brutal violence so nicely.David Self's script is a wonderful testament to fatherhood and loyalty with many crime saga themes. Max Allen Collins' comic series is brought to life with punching lines of intense bluntness and clever dialogue of biting wit.Thomas Newman's score is composed of lovely piano melodies and tender sweeping symphonies that sound of forlorn pains akin to those suffered by the gangsters within the film. Road to Perdition's score underscores the serene tone and bittersweet excitement of bloody gunshots throughout the film.The cast of Road to Perdition is phenomenal all around. Tom Hanks is gripping as the hit-man gone rogue for revenge. Hanks plays a stoic father and a menacing figure dealing out a hail of bullets with ease. His quiet nuanced performance gives you everything you need in a leading man. Hanks is cool, strong, thoughtful, and patient as Michael Sullivan. Tom Hanks gives, perhaps, his peak acting in Road to Perdition.Paul Newman is a revelation of subtle, yet intimidating acting in Road to Perdition. In what was Newman's last great role, he finds the heart of Irish mob godfather John Rooney with his gentle and likewise fearsome performance. Newman understands the character is a man who has killed his whole life to attain peace for his sons, while regretting all his bloodshed. His final words on screen are ground shaking. Paul Newman was a classic cool actor and Road to Perdition is a respectable way to go out with a bang!Jennifer Jason Leigh is excellent as Hanks' wife Annie. She is the kindly mother that can be stern as needed. Leigh completely captures a realistic suburban mom involved with the mob. Jennifer Jason Leigh is always a top tier actress and Road to Perdition is no exception.Jude Law is terrifying as Macguire. His sleazy assassination and corpse photographer persona is an unsettling combination. Law gives one of his best performances as you cannot forget his cruel and sudden violence.Similarly, Daniel Craig gives one of his most memorable roles in Road to Perdition. His rapidly unnecessary violence feels so monstrous and callous. Craig plays the self-righteous creep with ease.Lastly, Stanley Tucci and Ciaran Hinds both display fantastic quietly threatening characters in their respective supporting roles. They manage to mesmerize while they are on screen. I must mention the excellent performance from the young Tyler Hoechlin as Michael. His attachment and respect for Tom Hanks is clear as his acting is very convincing for such a young boy.In conclusion, Sam Mendes might never have matched his early success with his erotic drama American Beauty (1999), if not for his riveting gangster thriller Road to Perdition. This film should have won Best Picture over The Pianist in all honesty.

The other reviews will tell you all about the great acting, story, etc., so I'll skip that stuff. I would give this FIVE stars, but what do I then give "Citizen Kane"? Or, "The Third Man"? Folks, we gotta' start rating with a tad more strictness, otherwise the ratings become inflated. 3 stars SHOULD be a pretty good flicker.The photography in this film is amazing. This is NOT made from CCD chips, freinds. The A.S.C. on this one is none other than Conrad L. Hall. Wow. Mr. Hall has painted with light on emulsion to perfection. The processing, colour timer is a magician. Yes sir. God bless all the, now jobless, colour timers out there because they are truly whizzes at their art / craft. In the early 1980s, I once was a professional dark room tech and came to appreciate colour balance people. In this flick, ALL the photography professionals out-did themselves. —Thank you, lads for shooting Paul Newman's last film WITH FILM! Indeed, —he IS beautiful. Those Panavision Primo lenses wrap around Paul Newman's character, head, skin, body, bone structure, and, oh yes, blue, I said, BLUE eyes. —Like the tight hug of someone you love. And the man still looks as good as Cary Grant in a drape-shaped suit.Dear lord, I don't care how much they can make CCD digital video look like film; —unless it IS film, it's just too damn easy. There is still a subtle, but SOULFUL difference between real film emulsion and those damn CCD chips. Anyone can point a CCD chip camera and make an acceptable professional ciné film image, because it is the computer that is running the show. A computer still has no soul. This may change, but I pray, not in my lifetime.The story about the great Conrad Hall crying after looking through his line-up lens for a shot of Newman is touching. And it's true; —the man was, IS, "beautiful". I believe, that this was also Conrad L. Hall's last film. —Pure poetry of light. Conrad L. Hall, A.S.C., passed away, 3 January 2003.Info for Amazon's "trivia".I am no Thompson sub-machine gun expert, but I assure the one shown in this film is the real deal. Stop-still the film at the point when the inside of the Thompson case is shown. This is an original case made by the Geib Case Company. I know this because, 1920s and 1930s Gibson F-5 mandolin instrument cases of that same EXACT size, with the same outer covering, inner green/olive felt, leather handle and hardware were also used to hold the one and only Lloyd Loar Gibson F-5 mandolin made and signed by Mr. Loar from 1921 through 1924. —Find one and win $250,000. Find a Thompson and win a lot less.It seems that the Geib Case Company simply used the same case for both the Loar Gibson mandolin AND the Thompson sub-machine gun. Ironic. All that is different, is the inside storage stay-form. Pretty cool, I thought.In this flick, the props are frighteningly accurate. In fact, the supposed "costume goof" is NOT a goof at all. The people dancing in the speak-easy are said to be wearing Sheik and flapper clothing (styles from Valentino's film, "The Sheik") that is stated in the Amazon comments to be "wrong" for 1931. The text further states, that the clothes would have not been worn after 1928. —NO, NO, NO! Think of time AND PLACE. This is a small town in the Midwest, —1931 DEPRESSION time. People did not so readily throw out clothing. Clothing was still mostly tailored and far more expensive than today (far better made, as well). So the styles were NOT wrong for a small town at that time. A few of the automobiles were post 1931, but they were not in the main action. I saw no car newer than, I think,1933. Between the period sets and the streets, the set designers did cracking job. Bravo.Side complaint. Most films these days think nothing about showing a character with a side arm (e.g., a 1911 .45 Colt), cocked for single action, yet the hammer has NO FIRING PIN! I did NOT see that in this flick, but, in almost EVERY film made in the last 20 years, this is being done (e.g. "Saving Private Ryan") —Hey, film makers, we are NOT that stupid. There is nothing that breaks my concentration more than to see a guy shaking in his boots, acting his arse off, with a cocked 1911 Colt that has NO firing pin. Yeah. I know it's just a movie; but we are supposed to be suspending our reality senses, temporarily, to enjoy the story. This is kinda hard when you are seeing props that blatantly look like nonsense.Hey Amazon, the ONLY significant prop mistake I saw in this film was the use of a circa, 1940 - 1950 Stromberg-Carlson telephone. (A Connor Rooney scene) How can I know this? Because I own and use, the same 1943 Stromberg-Carlson telephone connected to the original copper, hard-wired American grid. And yes, I am still hard-wired to the copper wire American grid. I use this phone. It works, even when the power is out. E.g., during the two hurricanes and the great power grid shut-down, I had a working phone. Real phones, also sounds a heck of a lot better. The ring comes from a 70 volt powered, copper bell, via the original 70 volt system. I had to pull all sorts of strings to keep the hard-copper-line with pulse analogue dialing and analogue sound. All others within my area were converted to optical, digital line, 2 - 3 years ago. I am trying to be the last man in America with an analogue hard-wired phone.The other phones in the film were off-era as well. 1931 was the era of dial-less candlesticks, and pedestal phones. Not until c. 1936 did you see more dial phones than non-dial phones. In 1931 rural Midwest, almost NO ONE would have had a dial phone. America was still small enough to simply have the operator connect you manually. E.g., "Operator, please connect me to Murray Hill 7309, thanks". —Yes, only 6 digits., and 4 and 5 digit numbers in rural areas. As Sinatra would say, Nice and Easy, eh?And, yes; when I was a boy, you could pick up a receiver and ask the operator (a human being) to be reconnected to the last call.

This product arrived quickly Via Amazon prime.Video quality for this Blu-ray is great, but not fantastic. I expected to see a bit more fine detail from this transfer. While there were moments where this Blu-ray delivered a solid visual performance, there were also several instances where detail was more subdued. Though given the style of this film, that is not surprising. It is still the best the film has ever looked on home-video, and a definite cut above the old DVD release.I noticed no issues with the audio quality. The dialogue was clear, and Newman's orchestral score was just as striking and enveloping as ever. The special features are basically comprised of the same content found on the DVD version, with one or two short documentaries specific to the Blu-ray.Even after all this time, it's still such an immense film. The performances are perfect, the casting is perfect, the writing is perfect, the cinematography is perfect, and the orchestral score is one of the most famous in modern movie history. For every individual involved with this film, this was their magnum opus. It shines above all others in its genre, and towers above most as a film.If you've never seen this film before, you have done yourself a great disservice. For those looking to experience it for the first time or the fifth, this Blu-ray edition is the highest quality available. I encountered no issues playing this Blu-ray on my 2017 model LG Blu-ray player. No update to my machine was necessary.

Tom Hanks has played many diverse roles in his career, from the AIDS-stricken lawyer in "Philadelphia" to the mutt-loathing cop of "Turner & Hooch".But few characters have been so at odds with his perceived good guy image as the gun-toting mob enforcer he plays in Sam Mendes' 1930s-set follow-up to "American Beauty".Devoted husband and father by day, implacable hit man by night, Michael Sullivan (Hanks) is a mystery to his oldest son, Michael Jr (Hoechlin)... until the boy follows him one evening and sees how he makes his living.Forced to go on the run, a family tragedy compels Sullivan to seek revenge against his boss (Newman) and the latter's unhinged son (Craig), while remaining one step ahead of the freelance assassin (Law) they've hired to kill him.Based on a graphic novel by Max Allan Collins, "Road to Perdition" is a powerful, atmospheric crime thriller that blends "Godfather"-style mayhem with philosophical meditations on the nature of good and evil, and the relationship between sons and their fathers.Perdition is another word for Hell, and thanks to cinematographer Conrad L Hall, there is no shortage of doom-laden symbolism here.Just in case you miss it, though, composer Thomas Newman hammers it home relentlessly with an intrusive, operatic score.But while the flick's portentous posturing occasionally grates, this is still a classy yarn that boasts a strong central performance from Hanks and a superb supporting one from Paul Newman

Beautifully shot, with fine performances as you’d expect from this cast.

Didn't play and had a big scratch. Was asked to return it for refund .I have put it in the bin because it's not worth the hassle

One of my favourite films. Arrived in perfect condition and before the expected delivery date. Very happy!

Hanks and Newman are top actors and Jude Law is awesomely creepy! All about family and betrayal