Works mostly on the level of an atmospheric drama. As a mystery, and as a thriller, it's not as successful.
So what's wrong "From Hell"? A lot of small things, really. Choosing to make the five prostitutes friends makes the film seem as vaguely familiar as those teen slasher pics that take us down the familiar road of attrition. Graham seems too virginal to be playing a prostitute, and for a poor person living on the streets in Victorian England, she's looking awfully rosy-cheeked and freshly scrubbed in every scene. Having her attracted to the inspector and him a widower who's ready for romance just seems too easy-cheesy, and strikes the wrong note for a plot counterpoint. Likewise, bringing in a prostitute from France who's a lesbian just seems a blatant but half-hearted attempt to throw in a little sexual titillation from another angle. And speaking of angles, as gorgeous as those backgrounds are, there are frames where you are jarred out of the illusion of the film's reality because of overly artsy shots from the Hughes brothers.
None of the negatives add up to enough to indict the filmmakers, but they do keep "From Hell" in the category of a decent but not great movie.
Video:
From John's description, "From Hell" looked good in standard definition, but it looks even better in High Definition. Though it's transferred at a fairly low bit-rate (19mbps) using AVC technology, the 1080p picture (2.35:1 widescreen) looks great. One suspects that a higher bit-rate might have made the foggy scenes look too pristine, more unreal than surreal. The palette is drab, reflecting Victorian England mostly at night, but the black levels are strong enough to pull out all sorts of shadows and variations, even in darkness. No complaints here.
Audio:
The featured audio is a DTS HD 5.1 Master Lossless audio, which Fox seems to be gravitating toward as of late. It's clear, it's pure, and it's resonant, with sounds filling the room rather than seeming to have been broadcast from specific sources. Alternate soundtracks are Spanish or French Dolby Digital 5.1, with subtitles in English (CC) or Spanish.
Extras:
This 50-gig disc has some but not all of the features from the two-disc special edition. The commentary by the Hughes brothers, screenwriter Rafael Yglesias, cinematographer Peter Deming and Robbie Coltrane is here (and it's pretty good), and so is the trailer and 20+ deleted scenes (including an alternate ending that's even cheesier) with optional commentary. Missing are ALL of the making-of features, while exclusive to the Blu-ray disc is a pop-up trivia track that's interesting to watch the same time as the commentary.
Bottom Line:
"From Hell" works mostly on the level of an atmospheric drama. As a mystery, and as a thriller, it's not as successful. But it has Johnny Depp, who changes himself so much each film to become his character that he's always fun to watch. For that reason alone, this disc is worth adding to your collections.
None of the negatives add up to enough to indict the filmmakers, but they do keep "From Hell" in the category of a decent but not great movie.
Video:
From John's description, "From Hell" looked good in standard definition, but it looks even better in High Definition. Though it's transferred at a fairly low bit-rate (19mbps) using AVC technology, the 1080p picture (2.35:1 widescreen) looks great. One suspects that a higher bit-rate might have made the foggy scenes look too pristine, more unreal than surreal. The palette is drab, reflecting Victorian England mostly at night, but the black levels are strong enough to pull out all sorts of shadows and variations, even in darkness. No complaints here.
Audio:
The featured audio is a DTS HD 5.1 Master Lossless audio, which Fox seems to be gravitating toward as of late. It's clear, it's pure, and it's resonant, with sounds filling the room rather than seeming to have been broadcast from specific sources. Alternate soundtracks are Spanish or French Dolby Digital 5.1, with subtitles in English (CC) or Spanish.
Extras:
This 50-gig disc has some but not all of the features from the two-disc special edition. The commentary by the Hughes brothers, screenwriter Rafael Yglesias, cinematographer Peter Deming and Robbie Coltrane is here (and it's pretty good), and so is the trailer and 20+ deleted scenes (including an alternate ending that's even cheesier) with optional commentary. Missing are ALL of the making-of features, while exclusive to the Blu-ray disc is a pop-up trivia track that's interesting to watch the same time as the commentary.
Bottom Line:
"From Hell" works mostly on the level of an atmospheric drama. As a mystery, and as a thriller, it's not as successful. But it has Johnny Depp, who changes himself so much each film to become his character that he's always fun to watch. For that reason alone, this disc is worth adding to your collections.
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[release]22223[/release]