'Constantine' - High-Def Digest Review

[Attebery]

Peter has reviewed 'Constantine' he thinks the film is entertaining but a bit of a mixed bag. Fans of the graphic novel will probably like it. This Blu-ray has great video and audio and plenty of supplements. Not an automatic purchase, but worth checking out.

Full review here:
http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/261/constantine.html

[konohaavid]

Sounds cool. I thought the movie was decent as well. Plus Shia in it was awesome.

[Punisher52]

Looking forward to adding this to my collection.

[Maxx_75]

I don't know how but even though Mr. Woah isn't the best actor he manages to be in great movies. He or his agent must make good choices. I had this on HD DVD and it looked and sounded great. I will double dip.

[rainman208]

My copy is on the way. I'm glad Warner gave this one an HD audio track. It was my only concern with this movie. Looking forward to checking it out in all it's HD glory.

[Hi-Def Steve]

I love this movie, one of the few where Keanu doesnt annoy the shit out of me. Looks like its almost identical to it's hd dvd counterpart so I'll be sticking to the hd dvd.

[Blu-Ray Kid]

Question...

How can you say this.. "I can only hurl superlatives at 'Constantine.' The print appears as perfect as is possible, with not a defect or blemish to be found. Blacks are also rock solid, contrast excellent and detail superb even in the darkest scenes. Three-dimensionality is also impressive -- it really feels like you can reach out and touch the screen at times."

Then give it a 4 out of 5 ?

This site used to be the first place I look for reviews, now its slowly becoming school boy-ish.

[shawnmos]

Originally Posted by Blu-Ray Kid

Question...

How can you say this.. "I can only hurl superlatives at 'Constantine.' The print appears as perfect as is possible, with not a defect or blemish to be found. Blacks are also rock solid, contrast excellent and detail superb even in the darkest scenes. Three-dimensionality is also impressive -- it really feels like you can reach out and touch the screen at times."

Then give it a 4 out of 5 ?

This site used to be the first place I look for reviews, now its slowly becoming school boy-ish.

Because it's a copy and paste from the HD DVD review.

[staticneuron]

What really gets me is this "standard-issue, effects-laden videogame action sequences". Can someone explain to me how did video games get drawn into this and then seemingly get used as a negative connotation. I highly doubt any action sequences were created by video games. It is all derived from films. I could understand talking about the over the top action sequences put out by hollywood for the average summer popcorn action film but to somehow use vieo games to describe it seems out of place.

[MattS]

Saying that "fans of the graphic novel will probably like it" is actually borderline insulting to those fans; Constantine the movie is infamous for being more or less a bad joke to the people who have read Hellblazer the comic (it's okay to call it a comic, it really is that and not a graphic novel).

Hellblazer was the forefront of the late 80s British Invasion that gave us Jamie Delano (Outlaw Nation), Garth Ennis (Preacher), Neil Gaiman (Sandman), Warren Ellis (Transmetropolitan), Grant Morrison (Arkham Asylum)... These guys are living legends - and they all wrote Hellblazer. It is considered the flagship title of the awesome Vertigo line, and it's still worked on by some of the best talent in the industry (Brian Azzarello, Mike Carey, Andy Diggle). And that's just the writers.

The character was created by Alan Moore, ferchrissakes!

Believe it or not, I actually have a soft spot for the movie, but the point here is this: don't get discouraged by the cheese. Constantine has about as much in common with Hellblazer as Willow does with Lord of the Rings (yes, it was originally supposed to be an adaptation).

Don't miss the great book because of the dumb movie.

(And there's decidedly more noir and less fantasy in the book. It's almost as if Hollywood upped the eye candy to the detriment of the story! Unbelievable, I know!)

[Emoney7]

Yeah from what I understand its nothing like the graphic novel, having never read it I can't comment....

But this is one the few reviews I aree with peter a 100% on, I find the movie very entertaining but also realise it is utter nonsense, and from a theologically standpoint it is ridiculous.

Still a great disc in my HDdvd collection, doesn't look like any reason to double dip though.

[eastx]

My comic book experience with Constantine is from his guest appearances in Swamp Thing and I thought the movie version of the character was pretty similar (besides the wrong hair color, etc.). But that's just a passing familiarity with him, which kind of shows how much the movie makers understood or appreciated the real character... I'm sure it's Constantine-like but very different.

[Nicodimus22]

Just watched it last night, and I was very pleased. If you like the movie, it's a no-brainer.










*spoilers*










but DAMN if that car crash in the first couple minutes doesn't scare the crap out of me every time, it's so loud. Yay for TrueHD making it even better.

[beyondmediaonline.com]

I am watching this now for the first time on Blu-ray, owned the film on HD DVD and DVD. I didn't have a TrueHD enabled receiver at the time when the HD DVD released. Is it me or does the dialogue scenes sound as if they are echo like they were in tons of halls filming the audio as they did on the HD DVD version? The picture quality is excellent again, same as the HD DVD.

The soundfield though is awesome, the effects and voices coming from the surrounds is insane.

[rainman208]

Watched my copy this weekend. I agree with the other poster who said some of the dialoge (mainly in the early exorcism scine) sounded like they were in a empty concert hall. but after the first 5-10 min the dynamics balanced and sounded fine. PQ look amazing, black levels and colors were rich and deep.

I remember reading reviews after frist seeing this movie on DVD and some folks complaining about the casting of Tilda Swinton as Gabriel. After watching it again after many years I too now am scratching my haead as to the reasoning behind that casting decision.