The Film
Who is Keyser Söze? If you don't know than you probably never saw The Usual Suspects. For shame!
The film thrust now-famous names like Kevin Spacey, Benicio del Toro, Kevin Pollack, and director Bryan Singer into the spotlight. Stephen Baldwin, too -- can you imagine that? That's how unique and how good this movie actually is. Oscar knew, however, and gave this movie two awards: one for writing and one for Spacey.
Spacey stars as the gimpy Kint (aka "Verbal"), a con artist with CP. It's easy to understand Kint's nickname, as he explains the fantastic tale of five criminals brought together by a twist of fate. Byrne is Keaton, a former corrupt cop; Baldwin is the short-tempered McManus; del Toro is the fast-talking, often-incoherent Fenster; and Pollak is former hijacker Hockney. Add in Pete Postlethwaite as a right-hand man and Chazz Palminteri as an inquisitive investigator and you have the makings of a stellar ensemble.
Really, there's not a bad performance in the bunch. Also, it doesn't hurt that Christopher McQuarrie's prize-winning screenplay is filled with twists and turns, and an explosive (sometimes literally) ending. The Usual Suspects is complex, cool, and completely worth your time.
The Picture
This is actually the second time that MGM has released The Usual Suspects on Blu-ray. It doesn't seem like this release provides anything new. That could be a good thing, since the 2.35:1 transfer looks just fine on its own. The colors are great, and there's good detail overall. Oh, it does have a few soft moments. Those few incidents don't really take anything away from this film, but you will notice them, since the movie is just so darn riveting. It's hard to look away, but if this is your first experience with this film on Blu-ray, you'll be pleased.
The Sound
For such a riveting movie, the audio is a complete disappointment. It's not MGM's fault. They've basically ported the same DTS-HD Master Audio track over from the last Blu-ray release, the one that highlights what sound Singer could afford on a paltry $6 million budget. Wow, though. Don't bother with the surrounds, because they are borderline useless here. You'll catch a faint whiff of the score and one airplane in those surrounds. However, they are virtually silent for most of the movie, with the focus on dialogue and the front speakers.
The Extras
As mentioned before, The Usual Suspects already had its Blu-ray release, so we'd expect this section to be brimming with goodies. Not so. This is one of the studio's new "Blu-ray book" releases, which means the disc is packaged inside a nifty little 26-page book with photos and cast bios. Other than that, you'll just get the film's theatrical trailer and nothing more.
Final Thoughts
The Usual Suspects isn't usual at all, but this Blu-ray certainly is. But even when you know the full details of the story going in, this film is still a classic. If you don't have the Blu-ray in your collection, this is one you'll want to pick up right away. However, there is a perfectly good, identical (except packaging) The Usual Suspects Blu-ray on Amazon for $11.49. If you don't own it, you probably aren't a Suspects superfan. That's who MGM is targeting with this re-release. However, for a few pictures, it's probably not worth another upgrade.
Product Details
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