“The Tourist” is visually stunning and Venice, Italy has not looked this great since David Lean’s 1955 film “Summer Time”. And the film looks magnificent on Blu-ray! If you are looking for a fun, popcorn action thriller, definitely give “The Tourist” a try!
Images courtesy of © 2010 GK Films, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
TITLE: The Tourist: Blu-ray and DVD Combo Pack
FILM RELEASE DATE: 2010
DURATION: 103 Minutes
BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (2:40:1), English and French 5.1 DTS-HD MA, English – Audio Description Track 5.1 Dolby Digital, Subtitles: English SDH, English, French and Spanish
COMPANY: Spyglass Entertainment/Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
RATED: PG-13 (For Violence and Brief Strong Language)
RELEASE DATE: March 22, 2011
Directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
Screenplay by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, Christopher McQuarrie, Julian Fellowes
Based on the motion picture “Anthony Zimmer” by Jerome Salle
Producer: Gary Barber, Roger Birnbaum, Jonathan Glickman, Tim Headington, Graham King
Executive Producer: Ron Halpern, Lloyd Phillips
Line Producer: David Nichols
Co-Producer: Denis O’Sullivan
Music by James Newton Howard
Cinematography by John Seale
Edited by Joe Hutshing, Patricia Rommel
Casting by Susie Figgis
Production Design by Jon Hutman
Art Direction by Susanna Codognato, Marco Trentini
Set Decoration by Anna Pinnock
Costume Design by Colleen Atwood
Starring:
Johnny Depp as Frank Tupelo
Angelina Jolie as Elise Clifton-Ward
Paul Bettany as Inspector John Acheson
Timothy Dalton as Chief Inspector Jones
Steven Berkoff as Reginald Shaw
Rufus Sewell as The Englishman
Christian De Sica as Colonnello Lombardi
Alessio Boni as Sergente Cerato
Daniele Pecci as Tenente Narduzzi
Giovanni Guidelli as Tenente Tommassini
Raoul Bova as Conte Filippo Gaggia
Bruno Wolkowitch as Capitaine Courson
Igor Jijikine as Virginsky
Vladimir Orlov as Lebyadkin
Vladimir Tevlovski as Liputin
Alec Utgoff as Fedka
Frank (Johnny Depp), a mild-mannered American on vacation in Venice, Italy, is befriended by Elise (Angelina Jolie), a breathtakingly beautiful woman with a mysterious secret. Soon, their playful romantic dalliance turns into a complicated web of dangerous deceit as they are chased by Interpol, the Italian police, and Russian hit men in this suspense-filled, international action thriller.
Have you ever watched a film that made you want to travel to that country because it looks so beautiful onscreen? That is how I felt while watching “The Tourist”.  Venice, Italy in a movie has never looked so beautiful until I watched this film and how glamorous and breathtaking this film makes you want to be there.
“The Tourist”, an action thriller which was nominated for three Golden Globes (as a comedy) was written and directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, well-known for his 2006 critically acclaimed film “The Lives of Others”.
The German filmmaker along with writers Christopher McQuarrie (“The Usual Suspects”, “Valkyrie”, “The Way of the Gun”) and Julian Fellowes (“Gosford Park”, “Tomorrow Never Dies”, “Shadowlands”) would create an engaging thriller starring Johnny Depp (“Edward Scissorhands”, “Alice in Wonderland”, “Pirates of the Caribbean” films), Angelina Jolie (“Salt”, “Mr. & Mrs. Smith”, “Wanted”) and Paul Bettany (“Master and commander: The Far Side of the World”, “Abeautiful Mind”, “Iron Man”, “The Da Vinci Code”).
While the film met with negative reviews from film critics, the public turned out to support the film as the $100 million film earned over $258 million in the box office worldwide and now “The Tourist” will be released on Blu-ray and DVD in March 2011.
The film begins with a woman named Elise Clifton-Ward (played by Angelina Jolie) being trailed in Paris by the French police working together with Scotland Yard (UK police) who are hot on the trail of a criminal named Alexander Pearce, Elise’s boyfriend.
She secretly receives a letter from a courier which tells her to depart to Venice, Italy by train and to find a man with the same height and build, in order to throw the police off and finally, to burn the letter. Meanwhile, we are shown a mystery man also watching Elise.
The police try to get the letter but Elise has burned it. As they try to follow her, she times it perfectly with the oncoming rush of workers and easily escapes from them.
Elise makes it to the train which is en route from Paris to Italy and as she walks to find a man with the same build as Alexander Pearce, she spots a man sitting alone. His name is Frank Tupelo (played by Johnny Depp) who is a school teacher from Wisconsin, reading a spy novel and smoking an electronic cigarette.
Frank is allured by Elise’s style as she doesn’t get into conversations but tells him that if he enjoys spy novels, to imagine why she’s on the train off to Italy and asks Frank to give her a scenario. Frank does just as she asks but then she requests for Frank to ask her out to dinner, but not in a form of question. Frank finds this mysterious woman so alluring and strong that he enjoys his time sitting with her and now about to have dinner with her.
As the two eat, Frank seems to feel that two men are watching them (which they are and the police take a picture of Frank to send to Scotland Yard). Back at Scotland Yard, Inspector John Acheson (played by Paul Bettany) tries to figure out if Frank is Alexander Pearce and contacts Interpol to await the arrival of Frank, who may be Alexander Pearce. As for John, he is under intense pressure to finish this case which has been costing them a lot of money and his boss, Chief Inspector Jones (played by Timothy Dalton) wants him to finish this investigation soon.
Meanwhile, at Scotland Yard, as an employee is researching Frank Tupelo, a person inside the division secretly contacts a gangster named Reginald Shaw (played by Steven Berkoff) that both Elise and Frank (who he believe is Alexander Pearce) are arriving in Italy and for Shaw, he wants Alexander badly because Pearce stole two billion dollars from him.
Elise takes Frank to a beautiful hotel right near the canal and together, they have dinner together. Frank learns that Elise is a woman that is very much in love with her dear Alexander but the two have not seen each other in two years and have been communicating via letters. As the two arrive back home, when Elise opens the balcony, she sees a man watching their hotel room and realizes that she must do what Alexander has said and make the authorities think Frank is Alexander. So, when Alexander comes to join her on the balcony, she kisses him.
The man takes a photo of the two kissing and sends it to the police, meanwhile at a distance, watching them kiss are Shaw’s men.
The kiss literally makes Frank want even more. As she goes to sleep, part of Frank wants to join her but he decides not to. When he wakes up the following morning, room service has arrived and Frank is surprised that Elise has left and ordered for him. When he goes to check her room, she is not there. Meanwhile, Shaw’s men break into the hotel room and when Frank sees the gun, he runs into the bathroom and locks the door and escapes from the back window. Running from roof tops to avoid the men with guns and shooting at him, he tries to escape. Why are these men after him?
Frank manages to escape but is detained by Italian authorities. Frank tells the investigator his story but it seems a bit far-fetched that a man meets a beautiful woman, she takes him to her hotel room and men start shooting after him. It doesn’t make sense, especially since he’s just a teacher from America. But as the investigator locks him up for the night to look into his story, he finds out that there is a bounty on Frank’s head.
The investigator sneaks Frank out of the jail and tells him that there is a bounty on his head because there are people who think he is Alexander Pearce. A wanted man!
The investigator tells Frank he needs to get him out too safety and drives him by boat to a mystery area…but waiting for the investigator are Shaw’s men who have paid the investigator to deliver the man they think is Alexander Pearce. Shocked and confused, Frank doesn’t know what to do… until a boat pulls up right next to his, driven by Elise who comes to save him.
What will happen to Frank… the Tourist?
VIDEO:
“The Tourist” is presented in 1080p High Definition (2:40:1). There is nothing but positive I can say about the cinematography and overall look of “The Tourist”. Glamorous and breathtaking, director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck has really shown us the beauty of Venice, Italy through this film. It was a big deal with David Lean’s “Summer Time” when we saw the beauty of Venice onscreen but with the wide shots courtesy of James Newton Howard (“The Sixth Sense”, “Unbreakable”, “The Fugitive”) the look and feel of Venice’s beauty and the decrepit buildings also show its age, as well as scenes showcasing its darkness.
The Blu-ray release of “The Tourist” showcases the detail of the Italian locations and facial textures, skin pores, hair, clothing textures, you name it…the Blu-ray releases shows off it’s clear details with efficacy and as expected, the day scenes are vibrant, the night time scenes are spot on with its inky blacks.
The picture quality for “The Tourist” achieves perfection!
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
“The Tourist” is presented in English and French5.1 DTS-HD MA and English – Audio Description Track 5.1 Dolby Digital. Similar to the excellent picture quality, “The Tourist” sounds great via its lossless soundtrack. Because the film has its fair share of action, from the jet engines of the boats during its chase scene, the sound of guns shooting, broken glass to radio chatter, the presentation is crystal clear. But it’s important to note that this film does not have an immersive lossless soundtrack.
I will say that “The Tourist” is more of a front and center-channel driven soundtrack, there is use of the surround channels but it is not as immersive as one would hope and I don’t recall hearing the LFE used as much throughout the film as well. But considering the film focuses more on dialogue and character development than continuing action, the lossless soundtrack is adequate for this film. So, it’s not exactly a soundtrack that will win over audiophiles but the lossless soundtrack works for this film.
Subtitles are presented in English, English SDH and Spanish.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“The Tourist” comes with the following special features in standard and high definition (audio in stereo, subtitles in English):
- Audio Commentary – Director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck goes into great detail of the style he wanted to accomplish for the film, working with the cast members and the technical details for the film. Especially differences that were made for the chase scene and more.
- Canal Chats – (8:01) A featurette with the director and cast while driving through the canal in Venice talking about the film and their character.
- A Gala Affair – (7:12) Director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck wanted a glamorous ball and we get to see how the set design was made for this film, including the location of where this ball was shot in.
- Action in Venice – (8:28) A featurette on the boat chase and the type of shots used for this scene. Also, how director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck wanted this scene to be different than other chase scenes for other films.
- Bringing Glamor Back – (9:08) Director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck wanted glamor and elegance for the film. Also, the locations of where “The Tourist” was shot in Venice.
- Tourist Destination: Travel the Canals of Venice – (3:12) The director, producers and cast talk about the beauty of Venice and shooting in the canals.
- Alternate Animated Title Sequence – (2:14) An alternate title sequence created for the film.
- Outtake Reel – (1:26) Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie and Paul Bettany talk about how they kept cracking up throughout the shooting of this film and footage of them laughing and joking around on set.
“The Tourist” did not receive the best reviews from film critics and when it received three Golden Globe nominations for best comedy film and comedy roles for both Depp and Jolie, it even furthered the flame for those who disliked the film. But while critics disliked it, moviegoers came out to see this film starring two of America’s big-draw talents, Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie.
Johnny Depp’s role was to play a writer Frank, who is trying to get by with life and enjoy traveling through Europe. Not an assertive man but because he found a woman, so strong and not down-to-Earth, needless to say, he is automatically smitten by her and starts to care for her deeply.
Meanwhile, Angelina Jolie plays the girlfriend of the criminal that everyone is going after. Far different from her character role in “Salt”, Jolie’s Elise is a mystery, but Jolie knows how to bring sexual attraction and seduction to the big screen, as masterful as Depp who is able to fill in any characters shoes and do it with so much efficacy.
Some reviewers felt the two didn’t have the right chemistry onscreen but I don’t blame the chemistry, without spoiling too much of the story, as we learn about Elise’s past, you would tend to expect more action on her part. As for Depp’s Frank, I’m not sure anyone would expect a school teacher to become an action star, so in some way, pacing seems a bit off and you feel that there are a bit of holes in the screenplay.
What the filmmakers did do right is include a third character that would catch the audience’s attention and that third character is the city of Venice itself. When showcasing Venice, its canals, the hotel, the ballroom, director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck was able to showcase the beauty of the city and it shows on film, so much emphasis was given to achieving glamor and elegance, as much as I enjoyed watching it onscreen, it does take away from any action-driven plot that the film could accomplish.
But considering the challenges that this film had gone through since it was first created, the film originally had Lasse Hallstrom and Charlize Theron, then later Bharat Nalluri, Tom Cruise and then Sam Worthington. The director was in it, then left and then returned to re-write it and next thing you know, while shot in 58 days, the film was shot quickly because Depp was only available for a short time as he had to film the fourth upcoming “Pirates of the Caribbean” film. Also, making things limited for its action scenes are the rules that the film crew had to abide in Venice. And because they were strict on how fast the boats can go during the chase scene, once again, the film crew had to make some compromises.
Needless to say, with a quick rewrite, quick shooting schedule and many challenges to begin with, director Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck literally had to pull a rabbit out of his had and deliver.
And while the film is not action-packed as one hoped it would be, I do feel that the film did manage to capture the elegance and glamor of the city and while cinematography can’t be a film’s sole savior in entertaining viewers, for me, the overall style of the film was quite captivating.
The Blu-ray release of “The Tourist” does capture that beauty and there is no doubt about it, the picture quality of “The Tourist” is magnificent and the special features were also fun to watch (focusing heavily on the beauty and darkness of Venice, Italy).
Overall, I did enjoy “The Tourist” and by no means did I feel bored by it. It may have its share of plot holes but I feel that Depp and Jolie were quite enjoyable onscreen and while others may find their pairing to be bland, I didn’t feel that way at all. I felt there was a good balance of being an action thriller/comedy but had its own limitations through pacing issues but by no means did I feel this film was terrible.
One thing you will notice is that those who do enjoy the film always comment on the visuals of the film and the beauty and glamor of Venice, Italy and I do believe that because Director Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck wanted to showcase the city the way he did for this film, it was the primary factor in enhancing one’s enjoyment for this film. Shot anywhere else and I don’t think this film could have achieved the same result.
If you are looking for a popcorn action thriller on Blu-ray, definitely give “The Tourist” a chance.
