THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR, THE (1999): DVD
SYNOPSIS:
Thomas Crown (Pierce Brosnan) is a billionaire who has everything - except some fabulous
impressionist paintings and a mate. He steals the former and isn't looking for the latter.
When a major painting is audaciously stolen, the insurers set investigator/bounty hunter
Catherine Banning (Rene Russo) loose - she's as smart as she looks, maybe even more
dangerous and just as solo and just as successful as Crown. Detective - as he'll keep
reminding us - Michael McCann (Denis Leary) is wary of Catherine, until he recognises that
she has more smarts than most of New York put together. She wants to catch Crown,
professionally speaking, but somehow, cupid jams the airwaves, with two high-flyers coming
face to face (and lips to lips). Still, when it comes to the crunch, nobody, not even the
key players, know which way the dice will roll.
The ultimate in slick and
sophistication, The Thomas Crown Affair DVD not only offers
director John McTiernan's absorbing commentary, but also includes
a fascinating comparative with the original 1968 version in a
feature called 'The Making of a Masterpiece'. McTiernan talks
about the relationship between the two films and describes how
Faye Dunaway's tongue-in-cheek casting as Thomas Crown's analyst
is a cinematic pun, and homage to the infamous notion that this
is a remake. McTiernan ('most people call me McT') is obviously a
perfectionist and points out some of the technically complicated
shots and candidly discusses the balance of sexual aggression
between Pierce Brosnan and Renee Russo and their screen personas.
While there is no repetition of the infamous chess game scene in
which McQueen and Dunaway oozed suggestive sex, there's plenty of
sizzle with Russo as the sexual predator – the resulting
undercurrents are as explosive as volcanic eruptions. As for the
topless scene - McTiernan didn't tell Russo about it until the
day of the shoot. She had no problem with it, but the studio was
terrified and insisted on an alternative scene with a bathing
suit. At one test screening, he recalls, someone said 'Once I saw
she had no top on, I couldn't pay attention to what she said.'
And of course, that is the point. Lovers of trivia will be
fascinated - it was no coincidence that the Mustang used on
Martinique was the same colour as McQueen's in Bullitt, and
there's the car made for Arnie in Last Action Hero. But you'll
have to get the DVD to hear all the details. The DVD menu is
beguilingly set in an art gallery – images from the film are
framed as paintings on the wall and the music theme tantalises.
Easy navigation allows access to scene selections, the excellent
US trailer, a music video and languages. I must admit to some
frustration with the disc sticking and jumping a few times, but
the quality of picture and sound in widesceen is superb. The
Thomas Crown Affair is serious, superb and stylish entertainment
and worthy of repeated viewings."
Louise Keller
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REVIEW
THE
ORIGINAL MOVIE starring Steve McQueen & Faye Dunaway
THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR
(M15+)
(US)
CAST: Pierce Brosnan,
Rene Russo
DIRECTOR: John McTiernan
RUNNING TIME: 113 minutes
DVD RELEASE: March 2000
DISTRIBUTOR: Twentieth
Century Fox Home Entertainment
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