Dan Brown's international bestseller comes alive in the fil, 'The Da Vinci Code', directed by Academy Award Winner Ron Howard. Join symbologist Robert Langdon and cryptologist Sophie Neveu in their thrilling quest to solve a bizarre murder mystery that will take them from Paris to London - and behind the veil of a mysterious ancient society, where they discover a secret so powerful it could shake the very foundations of mankind. (DVD Blurb)
IMDB gives this film 6.4/10, however I would place it around the 7/8 mark. This has been a popular film and grossed US$224m in its opening weekend. Boxofficemojo suggests that toward the end of 2006, this film had grossed over US$750m.
STORYLINE ~~~~~~~
I am going to review the storyline from a fictitious point of view. There is much debate surrounding the factual accuracies and other criticisms due to the very contentious issues this film brings up. Whilst this is an important factor of the Storyline, one could write an entire book of that critique so i'm going to avoid it.
The story centres on the Holy Grail. Although this time it is not a cup hidden in a cave with Sir Richard, It is a bloodline. This film twists and turns as they discover more about a secret order, and many hidden truths
about the Christian faith.
Whilst the overall storyline is good, and a great film to really get stuck into, there is a lot to take in in a short space of time initially. This can happen when a complex book is made into a film as a book that has much detail is going to be difficult to condense into a standard length film. This film runs for 2 Hours and 22 Minutes so couldn't really be much longer. Whilst this is a drawback, it is essentially inevitable and any cut in detail would have a larger negative effect on the overall film.
CAST ~~~
Tom Hanks is a fantastic actor and has made many good films and won many awards (e.g Best Actor, Philadelphia; Best Actor, Forrest Gump). This film was nothing special from him. A good performance but not the kind that would merit 5 stars. The same is true of the other actors in this. It does have a good cast with Audrey Tautou and Sir Ian McKellen amongst others. It is a good performance by McKellen and no one has a bad film, it just leaves something to be desired.
The actors suit the roles they play very well. McKellen is a fantastically articulate, intelligent Man and he plays exactly that role in this. Tom Hank's is in the same situation playing an academic and he really seems to fit the role perfectly.
MAIN CAST LIST ~~~~~~~~~~~
Tom Hanks as Professor Robert Langdon Audrey Tautou as Sophie Neveu Ian McKellen as Sir Leigh Teabing Paul Bettany as Silas Jean Reno as Bezu Fache Alfred Molina as Bishop Aringarosa Charlotte Graham as Mary Magdalene Jürgen Prochnow as André Vernet Etienne Chicot as Lt. Jérôme Collet Jean-Yves Berteloot as Remy Jean (Rémy Legaludec in the novel) Jean-Pierre Marielle as Jacques Saunière Hugh Mitchell as Young Silas Seth Gabel as Michael the Cleric Marie-Françoise Audollent as Sister Sandrine
SOUNDTRACK ~~~~~~~~~
The score for this film was performed by the ever impressive Hans Zimmer. Due to the religious underpin of this film, Zimmer opted for a full orchestra to give it the grand effect it merited. The music in this film is very good and I don't consider it to really be due any criticism.
The score was nominated for the 2007 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score. Zimmer was nominated for Best Composer in the 2007 Critic's Choice Awards, and was nominated for the similar award in the 2007 Grammy's. This shows the strength of Zimmer's score in this movie.
The soundtrack is available for individual purchase and the music is very good so for someone looking for interesting, well made background music this could well be a good buy as well.
FILMING ~~~~~
One of the best aspects of this film is the locations at which it is filmed. There are some fantastic settings that will blow you away. The filming of Paris, especially the Louvre at the beginning and end was great. This is a great film to watch in High Definition if you ever get the chance to do so. This is well filmed which is good because as it has an epic plot it requires impressive settings.
SUMMARY ~~~~~~~
This is a good film, not great. The book was fantastic and there was definitely a reason as to why it was a best seller. The film, as with most book-turned-film attempts, was never going to be as good. There was so much content in the book that there was, at times, the feeling that the book was going at a real pace and was action packed. This would definitely transfer over to the film, and I'm happy they accepted that rather than attempting to cut too much from the original novel. I would definitely recommend buying this, especially as it is available for around £4-£5. I haven't seen the extras on the DVD so I'm unable to comment on them. This will prove good value for money and you will enjoy it.
A FUN FACT ~~~~~~~~
To protect both the fabric of the building and the works of art it contains, the production's use of the Louvre Museum in Paris was carefully controlled. For instance, no equipment was allowed inside the Louvre during the opening hours, so filming took place at night. Since the crew were not permitted to shine light on the Mona Lisa, a replica was used to film instead. No blood or mysterious writings were permitted on the wooden floor of the museum so these scenes were shot at Pinewood Studios outside London. In the end, 5 replicas of the Mona Lisa were used. (C/O IMDB)
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 2002 - Thriller - Director: Bharat Nalluri, Rob Bailey, Andy Wilson - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Matthew MacFadyen, Keeley Hawes, David Oyelowo, Peter Firth, Jenny Agutter, Lisa Faulkner
Thriller - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Timothy West, Neil Morrissey, Tara Fitzgerald, Annette Crosbie, Pauline Quirke, Rob Brydon, Denise Van Outen, John Thomson, Kevin Whately, David Suchet
I'm sorry for the H, but for this to be a full DVD review, I would prefer to see a review of the extras in the same detail as your review of the film, rather than just a comment to say you've not seen them. Alternatively, you can set this to be a "Film Only" review, which may be better.
gemsarchitect 22.11.2008 08:31
good one...
thereddragon 08.11.2008 11:25
I loved the book, found it an exciting gripping page-turner and totally absorbing, but was very disappointed with the film, which just seemed very lacklustre and slow (and long). Good review.
Dan Brown's international bestseller comes alive in the film THE DA VINCI CODE, directed ... more
by Ron Howard. Join symbologist Robert Langdon (Academy Award Winner Tom Hanks, 1993 Best Actor, Philadelphia, and 1994 Best Actor, Forrest Gump) and cryptologist ...
Uncover The Secret. Dan Brown's international bestseller comes alive in the film The Da ... more
Vinci Code directed by Ron Howard with a screenplay by Akiva Goldsman. Join symbologist Robert Langdon (Academy Award'‚ Winner Tom Hanks) and cryptologist Sophi...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Advantages: Exciting Story, Explores many historical and religious themes Disadvantages: Lacking in Characterisation, Suspense and Plot Structure
webtoolsclient1 25.04.2009 (11.05.2009)
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Review of The Da Vinci Code (DVD)
readalittlereadalot 17.06.2007 (17.06.2007)
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Review of The Da Vinci Code (DVD)
Advantages: Good mix of drama/action/suspense and plot explanation, entertaining enough to keep you watching Disadvantages: Not for the squeamish, subject may offend or bore, may seem far-fetched, subtitles
IzzyS 21.09.2008 (21.09.2008)
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Review of The DaVinciCode (DVD)
![The Da Vinci Code [2006] [DVD]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78189413.jpg "The Da Vinci Code [2006] [DVD]")
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