A review by Mike Shea Movie Rating: ( * * * * · ) DVD Rating: ( * * * * * )
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This was the movie that took Keanu Reeves off the banned list and onto the suspence list (The Matrix finally removed him altogether). This story is one half Omen and one half The Firm, but plays both pretty well. Reeves is his normal wooden self, certianly not proving any real acting talent (even the Matrix didnt do much for him, but, like Advocate, the rest made up for it). Al Pacino is wonderful, and seems to be right at home playing Satan. I am not so sure that it is a hard role to play though, since it is so extreme. I think playing Michael Corleone must have been much harder. The movies mix of weird satan effects and strong characters really takes it up a notch from your typical horror/suspense film. This DVD was the newly released version that digitally removed the statue behind Pacinos desk and replaced it with some crazy zen wave looking thing, but luckly we are still treated to the same bizarre morphing statue at the end so it really doesnt hurt too bad. I will say though that morphing in general is one of the worst of this days special effects, and I hope we see a lot less of it as people realize how cheesy it is. The DVD is just about perfect. It has a 2.35 to 1 16x9 enhanced picture, a pretty full Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack that does wonders for the mystery of the film, and a slew of extras including a directors commentary. Overall, this is not a bad movie by any means and the DVD is a reference level disk that makes the DVD worth having if you are a fan.