THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (2011, Blu-ray released March 20, 2012 – MSRP $49.99)
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is a cracking good story, any way you slice it. Director David Fincher (Se7en, The Social Network), however, has sexed it up and turned it into so much more with his stylish cinematic adaptation, now available in a pristine-perfect 3-disc Blu-ray pack from Sony.
- “Hoping to distance himself from the fallout of a libel conviction, journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) retreats to a remote island in Sweden’s far north where the unsolved murder of a young girl haunts her industrialist uncle forty years later. Ensconced in a cottage on the island where the killer may still roam, Blomkvist’s investigation drawn him into the secrets and lies of the rich and powerful. And throws him together with one unlikely ally – tattooed, punk hacker, Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara).“
I knew I was going to love this film from the first frame. Hell, from the first marketing materials that hit the interwebs over a year ago. Fincher has always been a master craftsman when it comes to the world of design, a cinematic aesthete in the vein of Kubrick and Scott. And I’m a sucker for stunning, well put together imagery. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is so impeccably well designed and shot, from the production design and lighting, the use of digital cameras, right down to the very matte-silver duct-tape holding Salander’s army boot together, that I sat in awe for its entire two-and-a-half hour runtime. It looks and sounds marvelous. A treat (sometimes, a difficult to watch treat) for the senses.
I can’t poke a hole in the story, adapted from the first book in the late Stieg Larsson‘s literary blockbuster Millenium series. It is what it is, and does what it does with great aplomb, as many millions of satisfied Barnes and Noble and Amazon customers will attest to. But Fincher and his marvelous cast bring such a thrill to the mysterious proceedings, that had the plot failed to interest, I have little doubt the film would still entertain. Daniel Craig doesn’t seem to be the most elastic actor, unnecessarily toughing up Blomkvist (though, you can’t really blame a guy for remaining ripped like a fiend between starring in Bond films, can you?) but providing a muscular, well-dressed foil for Rooney Mara’s punky, brave Lisbeth Salander, a role for which she was nominated for an Academy Award. The supporting cast is stacked with heavies such as Christopher Plummer, Stellan Skarsgård and Robin Wright, along with a host of British screen and Bergman film alums – a clear sign you’re in for some well-acted cinema, if nothing more. Speaking of cinema (strange thing to say on a movie blog), I can’t help but note the call out to influential Swedish director Victor Sjöström in the name of a shop that pops up several times in a pivotal location in the film. Nice one, Fincher!
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo was shot digitally and had a completely digital workflow, from camera, to edit bay, to Blu-ray. This disc is a completely faithful representation of the film but it might not dazzle you as brighter, warmer films might, in high-def. The dark and cold nature of the shots maintain their unconventional beauty on Blu and offer one of the finer 1080p encodes I’ve seen this year. It’s not easy to coax that kind of detail out of dark areas but Sony has managed it! Amazing. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is just as awe-inspiring, able to portray the faintest nuance and ear-shattering clamour with equal quality. The Trent Reznor/Atticus Ross soundtrack sounds fantastic. Turn it up!
Sony has provided a veritable cornucopia of bonus goodies in this 3-disc set, including an incredibly thorough and fascinating commentary track with director Fincher. That’s all you get on Disc 1, but over on the second Disc you’ll find hours worth of featurettes, camera tests, image galleries, montages and trailers. It’s all great stuff (scroll down for a detailed list of all the extras on the discs), showing tons of behind-the-scenes footage – all seemingly quite candid and floral in language – but, at the end of every 2 or 5 minute little chunk, you’ll be cursing the lack of a ‘Play All’ option. I know I was. I find it strange to say that one of the coolest extras in this package is the bonus DVD edition of the film, again, mostly for aesthetic reasons – it’s designed to look like a DVD-R, burned just for you and labeled with a Sharpie. So cool and so fitting for the film. This is a great disc set collected in beautiful packaging.
Highest possible recommendation!
Special Features:
- Commentary by David Fincher
- Vangar Archives:
- Men Who Hate Women
- Characters
- Salander, Lisbeth – Casting Salander, Different in Every Way, The Look of Salander, Mara/Fincher, Irene Nesser, Salander Test Footage
- Blomkvist, Mikael – Casting Blomkvist, Daniel Craig on Film Acting, Dressing Blomkvist, Investigation (stills) photogallery,
- Vanger, Martin – Stellan Skarsgård on Film Acting, Psychopathy, Bondage, Torture, Wrapped In Plastic, Set Design(stills)
- On Location
- Sweden – Stockholm Syndrome, Stockholms Tunnelbana, Fuck These People, The End, Picture Wrap
- Hollywood – Casting Armansky, Armansky Audition, Thinking Evil Shit, Rape/Revenge, Int. Blomkvist’s Cottage, Int. Martin’s House, Int. Salander’s Apartment
- Post Production
- In The Cutting Room
- ADR
- Main Titles (Multi-Angle) With Commentary by Tim Miller of BLUR Studio
- Visual Effects Montage
- Promotion – Theatrical trailers, TV spots, one sheet
- Hard Copy- Commentary with Director David Prior
