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List Price: $34.99 | | Label: Warner Home Video
Salesrank: 4972
Released: February 13, 2007 |
| Our Price: $5.00 |
| Used Price: $1.99 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Rookie cop Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) grew up in crime. That makes him the perfect mole, the man on the inside of the mob run by boss Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson). It's his job to win Costello's trust and help his detective handlers (Mark Wahlberg and Martin Sheen) bring Costello down. Meanwhile, SIU officer Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon) has everyone's trust. No one suspects he's Costello's mole. How these covert lives cross, double-cross and collide is at the ferocious core of the widely acclaimed The Departed. Martin Scorsese directs, guiding a cast for the ages in a visceral tale of crime and consequences. This is searing, can't-look-away filmmaking: like staring into the eyes of a con - or a cop - with a gun.
Description of The Departed (Two-Disc Special Edition):
Martin Scorsese makes a welcome return to the mean streets (of Boston, in this case) with The Departed, hailed by many as Scorsese's best film since Casino. Since this crackling crime thriller is essentially a Scorsese-stamped remake of the acclaimed 2002 Hong Kong thriller Infernal Affairs, the film was intensely scrutinized by devoted critics and cinephiles, and while Scorsese's intense filmmaking and all-star cast deserve ample acclaim, The Departed is also worthy of serious re-assessment, especially with regard to what some attentive viewers described as sloppy craftsmanship (!), notably in terms of mismatched shots and jagged continuity. But no matter where you fall on the Scorsese appreciation scale, there's no denying that The Departed is a signature piece of work from one of America's finest directors, designed for maximum impact with a breathtaking series of twists, turns, and violent surprises. It's an intricate cat-and-mouse game, but this time the cat and mouse are both moles: Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon) is an ambitious cop on the rise, planted in the Boston police force by criminal kingpin Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson). Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a hot-tempered police cadet who's been artificially disgraced and then planted into Costello's crime operation as a seemingly trustworthy soldier. As the multilayered plot unfolds (courtesy of a scorching adaptation by Kingdom of Heaven screenwriter William Monahan), Costigan and Sullivan conduct a volatile search for each other (they're essentially looking for "themselves") while simultaneously wooing the psychiatrist (Vera Farmiga) assigned to treat their crime-driven anxieties.
Such convenient coincidences might sink a lesser film, but The Departed is so electrifying that you barely notice the plot-holes. And while Nicholson's profane swagger is too much "Jack" and not enough "Costello," he's still a joy to watch, especially in a film that's additionally energized by memorable (and frequently hilarious) supporting roles for Alec Baldwin, Mark Wahlberg, and a host of other big-name performers. The Departed also makes clever and plot-dependent use of cell-phones, to the extent that it couldn't exist without them. Powered by Scorsese's trademark use of well-chosen soundtrack songs (from vintage rock to Puccini's operas), The Departed may not be perfect, but it's one helluva ride for moviegoers, proving popular enough to become the biggest box-office hit of Scorsese's commercially rocky career. --Jeff Shannon
On the DVD
Introduced by director Martin Scorsese, the nine deleted scenes from The Departed are all interesting to watch, though not a significant loss from the picture. The other bonus features are very good as well. "Stranger Than Fiction: The True Story of Whitey Bulger, Southie, and The Departed" is a 21-minute history of the real-life Boston gangster Jack Nicholson's character was based on. Scorsese, screenwriter William Monahan, and a number of journalists are among those interviewed. In "Crossing Criminal Cultures" (24 minutes), Scorsese and the cast discuss gangster pictures and specifically Scorsese's. Consider that a warm-up for Scorsese on Scorsese, an 86-minute documentary from 2004. (It's the only bonus feature not available on the HD DVD or Blu-ray versions.) There's no narrator or interviewer: it's just Scorsese talking about his upbringing and influences. There's a generous use of clips through The Aviator and even his American Express commercial. --David Horiuchi
Beyond The Departed
More gangster movies | 
Amazon.com's Martin Scorsese Essentials | 
The original inspiration: Infernal Affairs |
The Departed (Two-Disc Special Edition) Reviews:
Masterful, suspenseful, and just plain amazing. 
2009-11-07 - I loved this movie! It has a great story, and the acting is top-notch. You can really feel the tension. This movie is just plain amazing and if you don't like it there is something wrong with you.
Martin Scorseses soon to be masterpiece
2009-08-06 - just because the DVD case says a new american crime classic from the legendary Martin Scorsese doesn't mean it is. so every one saying it's not a classic your wrong and right. because the several things that make a movie classic is age like the film a Fistful of Dollars (Clint Eastwood) it's old. but not just age makes a classic. Power hous performances. a good story line and the way the storyline unfolds. not to mention time. and the departed clocks in at a whopping 2 hrs 31 mins. The usual time for a Scorsese picture. this film may not be a classic now but pretty soon in maybe 10 or 15 years it will. Also see Scorsese's no film Shutter Island coming in theatres Oct. 2nd. ( Leonardo De caprio, Ben Kingsley, Mark Ruffalo.)
i don't have anything good to say about this. 
2009-07-09 - i didn't buy any of the story i'm sorry. the whole thing seemed convoluted, contrived, and cliche ridden! so much of the script is just stupid. a huge disappointment considering the director and the players. is it me or is jack nicholson just doing caricatures of himself anymore? none of the actors come off well here. alex baldwin who has reinvented his career as a supporting actor in recent years does not come off well and mark walhberg who has given good perfomances in such films as "the perfect storm" and "three kings" is not used well here either. i might as well throw in the veteran actor martin sheen also, all three of their characters are badly written! going way back to "mean streets" from 1973 scorsese had a knack for weaving classic rock and other forms of music into his big films, but here it just seemed awkward? also the editing just seemed fast and forced most of the time, to me the film just went from one thing to the next on and on and on way to fast. a lot of the big critics peed their pants over this movie and it won the oscar but i just didn't get it. this is not a great film by any stretch! as far as scorsese winning the oscar for best director for this i can only sum it up like this. look at paul newman who won the 1986 best actor oscar for his role in "the color of money" after being cheated out of the award in 1961 "the hustler" 1963 "hud" 1967 "cool hand luke" and in 1982 "the verdict" you could throw a couple more in there also. does any serious movie fan think his reprised role as fast eddy felson in "the color of money" was oscar worthy? it's the same thing here, scorsese should have won 3 or 4 times befor this and that is why he won here. in my mind it not only cheapens the award itself but tarnishes the artist also. so save your money and do not buy or even rent this! if you're a real movie fan you'd be much better off buying or renting scorcese's "mean streets" or newman's "the hustler" or "hud", then you'd understand the difference between a great film and crap which is exactly what "the departed" is. i'm sorry!
Great movie, but save a few bucks and buy the single disk edition.
2009-05-18 - The Departed is a great film. It has no less than 6 terrific performance, a gripping story, fantastic editing, and an engaging score. For just pure entertainment value it never dissapoints. It's not quite up there with Scorese's big three masterpieces--Raging Bull, Goodfellas, and Taxi Driver--but I'd put it at the top of the second tier of Scorsese movies just ahead of The Aviator and underapreciated The Last Temptation of Christ.
However on special features the two disk set is lacking. The special features probably could have all fit on one disk with the movie pretty easily. There's some deleted scenes and a few very short featuretts. I got through all the special features in a very short time and nothing was very memorable. I've bought other Scorsese two disk sets like Ragining Bull and The Aviator and was definetly satisified with their special features. Those films even had commentary, which The Departed does not. Such a shame better treatmeant wasn't given to the movie that Scorsese finally won an Oscar for. Save a few bucks, buy the single disk edition.
Awesome Crime/Mob Drama 
2009-04-19 - This is a great Crime/Mob Drama. Story is awesome. Acting is great. Directing is top notch. Very enjoyable movie with a lot of WTF moments. A must see.
