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List Price: $14.94 | | Label: Sony Pictures
Salesrank: 2260
Released: November 7, 2000 |
| Our Price: $7.79 |
| Used Price: $3.06 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Posing as jewel broker Donnie Brasco FBI agent Joe Pistone is granted entrance into the violent mob family of aging hitman Lefty Ruggiero. When his personal and professional life collide Pistone jeopardizes his marriage his job his life and ultimately the gangster mentor he has come to respect and admire. Based on a true story.System Requirements:Starring: Al Pacino James Russo Bruno Kirby Johnny Depp Michael Madsen and Anne Heche. Directed By: Mike Newell. Running Time: 127 Min. Color. This film is presented in "Widescreen" format. Copyright 2000 Columbia TriStar Home Video.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: R UPC: 043396052727
Description of Donnie Brasco (Special Edition):
Based on a memoir by former undercover cop Joe Pistone (whose daring and unprecedented infiltration of the New York Mob scene earned him a place in the federal witness protection program), Donnie Brasco is like a de- romanticized, de-mythologized version of The Godfather. It offers an uncommonly detailed, privileged glimpse inside the world of organized crime from the perspective of the little guys at the bottom of Mafia hierarchy rather than from the kingpins at the top. Donnie Brasco is not only one of the great modern-day gangster movies to put in the company of The Godfather films andGoodFellas, but it is also one of the great undercover police movies--arguably surpassing Serpico and Prince of the City in richness of character, detail, and moral complexity. Donnie (Johnny Depp, a splendid actor) is practically adopted by Lefty Ruggiero (Al Pacino), a gregarious, low-level "made" man who grows to love his young protégé like a son. (Pacino really sinks into this guy's skin and polyester slacks, and creates his freshest, most fully realized character since his 1970s heyday.) As Donnie acclimates himself to Lefty's world, he distances himself from his wife (a terrific Anne Heche) and family for their own protection. Almost imperceptibly his sense of identity slips away from him. Questioning his own confused loyalties, unable to trust anybody else because he himself is an imposter, Donnie loses his way in a murky and treacherous no-man's land. The film is directed by Mike Newell, who also headed up Four Weddings and a Funeral and the gritty, true crime melodrama Dance with a Stranger. --Jim Emerson
Stills from Donnie Brasco (click for larger image)
Beyond Donnie Brasco on Amazon.com
DVDs starring Al Pacino |
More Gangster Movies |
The Memoir |
Donnie Brasco (Special Edition) Reviews:
Great movie 
2008-08-30 - This is one of the best gangster movies ever made. Great acting, great filmmaking.
The extended version is great, as the additional scenes flesh out the story and just make the movie all that better, with more scenes!
Nothing crazy about the extras - just a few solid featurettes.
Donnie Brasco
2008-08-13 - Excellent movie. Excellent cast, especially Johnny Depp and Al Pacino. Keeps you on the "edge of your seat" the whole time.
It doesn't get much better than this.
2008-08-08 - A great storyline with great actors. It never gets old, do not miss this movie.
Fantastic
2008-06-24 - Has too be the best blu-ray movie i have EVER seen and i buy a lot. Its the extended version and it seemed like the movie went on for hours... As for the PQ and the Audio 100% and better. Thank you for a great blu-ray for my collection.
Deep masterpiece on crime fighting.
2008-06-08 - None of us knows what it's really like to go undercover. We think we do but we don't. Sure, we've watched the movies, read the books and all but what it's doing to your soul, your family life, everything, that it destroys all you have and feel, that is what this movie is about.
When Lefty (Al Pacino as a low level mobster) takes in Donnie (Johnny Depp as an undercover FBI agent) he tells him "Wiseguys are always right. Even when they're wrong they're right," he is wrong. Dead wrong. He just doesn't know it yet.
Lefty treats Donnie as a son and Donnie gets emotionally involved. In his own way Lefty has a big heart, his hopes and dreams. But the dirt gets in the way and they don't materialize.
Bit by bit both Lefty's and Donnie's lives derail. Donnie starts losing his wife and kids and Lefty his rank in the (crime)family.
Can they do anything to save what's left? Do they want to and if so, what is more important, life as it was, friendship or the uncertain future? Does risking everything justify the costs?
Based on a true story this marvelous film shows the dirt as it is. Forget about the romance of other mobster movies and enter loyalty and misery. Both Al Pacino and Johnny Depp give larger than life performances. The supporting cast is terrific as is the directing. The 70s style indoor lighting helps turn it into a timeless masterpiece.
The Blu-ray disc is sharp as can be. This one should be in your collection.
