Angels & Demons (Two-Disc Extended Edition)
by Ron Howard
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Actor: Ayelet Zurer, Ewan McGregor, Pierfrancesco Favino, Stellan Skarsgård, Tom HanksDirector: Ron Howard
Brand: Sony
Producer: Anna Culp
Producer: Brian Grazer
Producer: Dan Brown
Writer: Dan Brown
Producer: John Calley
Writer: Akiva Goldsman
Writer: David Koepp
DVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language); French (Original Language); French (Dubbed)
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen, 2.40:1
Running Time: 138 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2009-11-24
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
DVD Reviews of Angels & Demons (Two-Disc Extended Edition)
DVD Review: "Be careful...these are men of God"-3 1/2 stars.
Summary: 3 Stars
Angels and Demons(released May/09)brings to the screen yet another Dan Brown novel of the same name.Like its' predecessor(The Da Vinci Code)Brown throws together a mixture of historical fact,conjecture and mythos to bring to vivid life another story involving the Church,its' past and it's atonement for past sins.Unlike the former movie,this film is almost apologetic in its' tone at times,especially near the end giving the viewer a more even approach to the subject matter.It also has a different focus than Da Vinci.
The story here involves the return of the Illuminati.This was a group formed as far back as the 8th century but in the 1500s included many scientists(Galileo was reputedly a member)and intellectuals who thought the Church's dogma and control of science and scientific ideas was flawed and wrong.The Church in response publicly killed four of its more prominent members and now the Illuminati,it would seem,is out for revenge.Their target is the LHC(Large Hadron Collider) in Switzerland where anti-matter has been produced and subsequently stolen by them.At this same time the Pope has died and a new one has yet to be voted into office.Carmelengo McKenna(Ewan McGregor)is the person officially in charge until a new pope is elected and he is overseeing the Cardinals all being sequestered to vote a new Pope in.Before they can go into conclave four of the Cardinals up for election are kidnapped by members of the Illuminati.The Vatican sends one of its' security team to the US to find Robert Langdon(Tom Hanks)to assist in finding the captured Cardinals.
There is a serious twist involved in the Cardinals rescue.Each one will be executed on the hour starting at 8PM and at 12AM the missing anti-matter will explode killing thousands of Vatican citizens and visitors.Langdon is introduced to the head of the Swiss Guard who is directly responsible for the Pope and Vatican security,Commander Richter(Stellan Skarsgard).He is very much aware of Langdon and his work and two consistently butt heads as the investigation takes them on a windy path.Langdon finally latches on to the first clue and they travel the city from one end to the other trying to locate where the bomb and Cardinals are located.Langdon is even given access to ancient Vatican archives which helps them to narrow the search area.Three Cardinals are unfortunately killed as the police and Langdon arrive just a little too late,but ever so closer with each point searched.The final Cardinal to be executed winds up in a deep fountain which Langdon witnesses;tied and weighed down by weights on a trolley.Calling for help Langdon finally manages to rescue the Cardinal and learn the whereabouts of the bomb/antimatter.
The bomb is located right below the modern Vatican in the Necropolis,the foundation of the modern Church where St Peter himself was executed,upside down.Langdon and the police race back.In the meantime Commander Richter has confronted the Carmelengo in his office,alone.When screams are heard the security force breaks in to find Richter standing menacingly over the Carmelego who is shouting he is the one and has a gun(pointing to Richter).Richter is shot as another papal official comes running in also bent on doing the prostrate Carmelengo in.He is also shot.There is no time to think or act as all race down to the Necropolis and finally find the vile of antimatter.They are unable to change its batteries which would have enabled safe transport back to Switzerland,so in an apparent act of selfishness and higher calling the Carmelengo takes the vile and flies with it(in a helicopter)straight up as far as it will go and out of harms way.All watch the helicopter go out of sight then a glimpse of a descending parachute,just as the explosion occurs.All in the square are knocked to the ground and as the blast wave subsides the Carmelengo comes drifting in unconscious to the ground.
While the Carmelengo is being tended to by medical personnel Langdon makes a discovery on Richter's security video.The real truth comes out that the Carmelengo staged the entire Illuminati threat himself.Richter confronted him with the truth and unfortunately the unsuspecting security men had no idea what the real situation was and shot him and the other papal employee by mistake.The video was brought to the attention of the sequestered Cardinals and the Carmelengo was summoned to account for his actions.The Carmelengo was cornered as he tried to leave the Vatican and killed himself in a horrible fiery death.As Langdon leaves he gets a thank you from Church officials,the newly elected Pope(the cardinal he managed to save) and an ancient booklet of which he had repeatedly asked for but had been denied.
I found this movie a little less engaging than the first one.The acting throughout is great but the premise hasn't got the bite of the first one.The first movie was full of Vatican complicity and intrigues dating back to the origins of the Church itself and doesn't make apologies for its stance.This film seems to be making amends for the first and the controversy it created...big time.Sometimes the script even sounds as if members of the Church themselves wrote it,as near the end when Langdon is told that the Church is flawed because it is run by men,who are also flawed.And the Carmelengo is given several good lines regarding the Church,its' good intentions and deeds.This has the effect of rendering the scripts bite down to a slight scratch at times.It also makes the movies center shift away from possible Vatican complicity in shadowy undertakings to focusing more on the Langdon angle and his amazing abilities to unveil the clues for the race against time to save the Cardinals and the Vatican itself.Much different from the first film which was what made it the huge success it was.
Technically the movie has been transferred wonderfully as is the sound.It is in its 2:40:1 aspect ratio.The 2 DVD set extras include the featurettes:"Rome wasn't built in a day","Writing Angels and Demons","Characters in search of the true story",the story of the LHC,"Handling props",a look behind the scenes of the movie,and a interview with the real John Langdon.Impressive extras they are.
In conclusion I do recommend this film to all.If you liked the Da Vinci Code you will like this one but be warned in the end the tack that has been taken in this film plot is quite different from the first.Vatican complicities and wrongdoings are not so much the focus this time,as is the hunt to find the truth instead.
Description of Angels & Demons (Two-Disc Extended Edition)
In Ron Howard's thrilling follow-up to The Da Vinci Code, expert symbologist Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) follows ancient clues on a heart-racing hunt through Rome to find the four Cardinals kidnapped by the deadly secret society, the Illuminati. With the Cardinals' lives on the line, and the Camerlengo (Ewan McGregor) desperate for help, Langdon embarks on a nonstop, action-packed race through sealed crypts, dangerous catacombs, and the most secretive vault on Earth!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
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