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List Price: $28.96 | | Label: Sony Pictures
Salesrank: 26
Released: November 24, 2009 |
| Our Price: $10.95 |
| Used Price: $10.74 |
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MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
In Ron Howard's thrilling follow-up to The Da Vinci Code, expert symbologist Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) follows ancient clues on a heart-racing hunt through Rome to find the four Cardinals kidnapped by the deadly secret society, the Illuminati. With the Cardinals' lives on the line, and the Camerlengo (Ewan McGregor) desperate for help, Langdon embarks on a nonstop, action-packed race through sealed crypts, dangerous catacombs, and the most secretive vault on Earth!
Description of Angels & Demons (Single-Disc Theatrical Edition):
If the devil is in the details, there's a lot of wicked fun in Angels & Demons, the sequel (originally a prequel) to The Da Vinci Code. Director Ron Howard delivers edge-of-your-pew thrills all over the Vatican, the City of Rome, and the deepest, dankest catacombs. Tom Hanks is dependably watchable in his reprised role as Professor Robert Langdon, summoned urgently to Rome on a matter of utmost urgency--which happens to coincide with the death of the Pope, meaning the Vatican is teeming with cardinals and Rome is teeming with the faithful. A religious offshoot group, calling themselves the Illuminati, which protested the Catholic Church's prosecution of scientists 400 years ago, has resurfaced and is making extreme, and gruesome, terrorist demands. The film zooms around the city, as Langdon follows clues embedded in art, architecture, and the very bone structure of the Vatican. The cast is terrific, including Ewan McGregor, who is memorable as a young protégé of the late pontiff, and who seems to challenge the common wisdom of the Conclave just by being 40 years younger than his fellows when he lectures for church reform. Stellan Skarsgard is excellent as a gruff commander of the Swiss Guard, who may or may not have thrown in with the Illuminati. But the real star of the film is Rome, and its High Church gorgeousness, with lush cinematography by Salvatore Totino, who renders the real sky above the Vatican, in a cataclysmic event, with the detail and majesty of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. --A.T. Hurley
Stills from Angels & Demons (click for larger image)
Angels & Demons (Single-Disc Theatrical Edition) Reviews:
Not to be Missed 
2009-11-29 - I'm not usually a fan of this type of film, but I am an avid Tom Hanks fan. I started watching this fairly late last night, and it had me on the edge of my seat from start to finish with nary a yawn. I liked it much better than "da vinci code". I reserve my 5 star ratings for my over the top favorite movies i.e., "Out of Africa", "Fried Green Tomatoes", "Dr. Zhivago", etc., so a 4 rating is an excellent on "my chart".
Much Ado About Nothing 
2009-11-29 - Ron Howard's new film is set mainly in Rome. However, the movie starts off at CERN, which is the largest particle accelerator in the world located in the suburbs of Geneva on the Franco-Swiss boarder. Anti-matter is stolen from facility which will supposedly blow up once the batteries of it's container die out. In real life, over ten years, the facility has only made enough anti-matter to light a light bulb for about three minutes. So as long as we remain ignorant of this little detail we're in for a bit of a heart pumping ride, sort of. This film looks great, but it becomes a bit tiresome as the cops, and Tom Hank's character (Robert Langdon), are always just a little late in the pursuit of the killer. And unfortunately, the danger doesn't seem so much for them, as for the Cardinals, who we are never made to empathize with anyhow. This may be the real flaw of the movie. If there was more inherent danger to Robert, or those close to him, then this film might actually be suspenseful. When the killer does meet Robert head on, in a basement, the killer simply says that his business is not with Robert, as long as Robert doesn't pursue him. That's a sure way to deflate any suspense from a movie! If it wasn't for the great scenery and wonderful direction it doesn't seem like there would actually be too much here to rave about. The movie feels contrived, and silly, with its treasure chest like chase around Rome after an anonymous killer.
cage vehicle 
2009-11-29 - This movie is so dumb it should have been a Nicholas Cage vehicle. It's got everything a brainless thriller should have: a ticking clock, double&triple crosses, murder and mayhem, a beautiful woman and a charismatic action hero: Tom Hanks?? Why did he do this? Saving Private Ryan, Apollo 13, Castaway, Joe vs the Volcano - now those are movies where Tom Hanks belongs and shines. But this is foolishness. I guess what with having done DaVinci Code (ridiculous, true, but a much better movie) and that they must have paid him 50bazillion dollars it shouldn't be a surprise, but I am disappointed. Actually, I'm not dissing Nicholas Cage's acting or charisma. But recently he just seems to pick one odd, silly movie to be in after another...
Overall good, but mundane as opposed to divine
2009-11-28 - Angels and Demons is the second of Dan Brown's books to hit the big screen. This time Professor Langdon is called to the Vatican to investigate the resurgence of the mysterious Illuminati; a Catholic faction that opposed the Church's persecution of scientists during the Scientific Revolution, and was crushed as a result.
Tom Hanks does a great job in his respective role (as he always does), however, the rest of the cast's performance (including Ewan McGregor's) is nothing to write home about, especially Ayelet Zurer who seemed very much out of place (and was rather annoying too). Nevertheless, the setting, the dialogues, the action, and the music are quite decent.
In short, though not a masterpiece, the film will provide for an evening's entertainment!
Move over Indiana Jones, Here comes Robert Langdon 
2009-11-28 - 5 of 5 Stars rating for the movie version of Dan Brown's book Angels and Demons. This book is considered to be the #1 book in the Robert Langdon series as it was written before Da Vinci Code. However, with sales & marketing, most people assume Da Vinci Code is #1. A&D happens before the Da Vinci code. However, Ron Howard & team decided to make A&D happen after DVC in the timeline with several references to DVC. BTW, The Lost Symbol is considered #3 in the series happening after both DVC and A&D.
The story opens at CERN with a group of scientists trying to create anti-matter in large quantities. There are references to finding the "god" particle. We soon learn that one of the scientists is killed and his eye used to gain access to the secure room with the anti-matter. One large container (magnetic enclosure container) was stolen.
Flash forward to Robert Langdon's apartment where a Vatican police officer approaches Langdon to come to Rome to help with an investigation. Well, it is an active case with four kidnapped Cardinales who are to be killed one each hour leading up to midnight when a (anti-matter) bomb will destroy the Vatican. At this time, the current Pope has died (humm, maybe murdered?) and traditional efforts are happening to pick the new Pope. Oh, the four Cardinales are the four leading contenders for the role of new Pope. Why Langdon? Ah, the people claiming to cause this are the Illuminati of which Langdon has been working on a book about them.
Langdon performs some quick research in the Vatican Archives to learn where to start the search for the Cardinales. As with Da Vinci Code, Langdon's search is lead by symbols and history. As he chases each of the four victims, he is too late for most.'
The cool thing about this story is that it takes place within 12 hours of real-time. It is fast paced, exciting, good action with Langdon becoming more of an Indiana Jones with some of the action. The Langdon character is deeply and richly described and is likely to become iconic much like Jones.
As before with Da Vinci, Dan Brown's deep research and crafting of historical facts and locations to meet his needs for the story is impressive. It is interesting to note that all of the Vatican scenes were created in LA as they couldn't get permission to film. Scenes of other locations around Rome were shot on-site. The detail and richness of the sets and costumes is amazing! Tom Hanks as Langdon is wonderful and he is well on his way to being an icon. I can only hope that Howard/Hanks are working on the Lost Symbol.
I highly recommend Angels and Demons it is now on my favorites list. I specially recommend the Blu-Ray 3 disk set with an entire disk of behind-the-scenes materials.
