Constantine [Blu-ray] [2005]

I have never read any Hellblazer or Constantine comics, but this film is amazing. An epic story of heaven and hell with great action scenes as well. The story is of a detective (Constantine/Keanu Reeves) who commits suicide, entering hell for two minutes because of his amoral life, before being brought back to life by paramedics in an ambulance. That fact that Constantine entered hell and returned gives him the power to see demons from hell walking the earth in human's bodies. Meanwhile, another detective's sister commits suicide in the insane asylum where she lived and goes to hell becuase suicide is a sin. However, the detecive discovers that her sister was possessed by one of the demons that Constantine can see when she committed suicide. So, basically, Constantine and the other detective team-up (uneasily) to stop the devil from taking over the world with his army of what are, effectively, sleeper-demons, and save the detective's sister from her wrongly-sentenced eternity in hell. I can't tell you anymore without revealing all of the many interesting plot-twists and turns, but the plot is epic. 5 stars.

Great film that is standing the test of time

Excellent

What is it about this film that makes me come back to it over and over again and to even buy it again on blu-ray? There are very few films that I will buy again on blu-ray, but amongst them are The Thing , Blade Runner and, when they come out, the Spaghetti Westerns of Sergio Leone - and this. I know there is a lot wrong with this film, but it keeps reminding me of The Dark Knight which is another Warner Brothers film that I keep watching over and over. There are many similarities between them. No - not cast, director, crew or anything else that I can see on IMDB, but still both films have a fantastical film noir feel to them that, it seems, only Warner Brothers can do (other examples include, of course, The Matrix and even, from 1974, The Exorcist ). To start with, the sound tracks are similar. In both, a simple, insistent syncopated beat with largely acoustic instruments (violin, bass, guitar, marimba) is interspersed with moody orchestral chords. There are also one or two sound references to The Matrix, as when Isabel is standing on the roof of the hospital. Then there are several similar shots - such as rain shot from high-up looking down onto the protagonists. And the highly effective use of tinted filters is another seeming stock in trade for Warner Brothers films of this genre. There are some excellent supporting performances. Apart from a mainly first class performance from Rachel Weisz, there is also Shia LaBeouf delivering a much better performance than he ever managed in the awful Transformers films, Max Baker as 'Beeman', Djimon Hounsou as 'Midnite', the voodoo priest, Pruitt Taylor Vince as Constantine's deranged Catholic priest 'side-kick', Peter Stomare as 'Satan' and, of course, Tilda Swinton as 'Gabriel'. Anything with Tilda Swinton in it is not going to be all bad! And that is far from an exhaustive list. I have never read the graphic novels, so I came to this 'fresh', so to speak and I am impressed with the depth and multiple layers that the film manages to give to the story. Why does Detective Weiss spend the whole film with his arm in a sling? Clearly, this suicide is outside the normal, material, realms of earthly authorities. It is strange that both demons (Balthazar) and angels (Gabriel) share a taste for pin-stripe suits. At one point when Rachel Weisz's character (Angela Dodson) meets Constantine, she is filmed behind a wall of deep green glass, as though she is under water. Shortly after that, she is immersed for real, (baptised) in order to be able to see the hell her sister is in. Hell itself turns out to be a storm ravaged post-apocalyptic vision of Los Angeles, wrecked flyovers concealing Hieronymus Bosch -like horrors. And, yes, we get to met Satan. The sheer banality of his evil is perfect; understated but with an aura of malice that fits right in with the cool fantastical horror of the whole story. And then Constantine - not the other DC Comic, Ayn Rand -inspired billionaire techno-hero Batman, but a terrified man aware of his destiny, fighting it and, incidentally, doing 'good' along the way. O.k. - it's not a Great film, but there's enough here to repay repeated viewing, enough here to leave you thinking. One tip - maybe you know this already but this film, like The Dark Knight, has an English Dolby True HD soundtrack, but the disc defaults to 'ordinary' English Dolby 5.1 - you have to go into the language settings and select the True HD track.

Very Good Film

This film is and always will be amazing. If you love the supernatural, and are captivated by monsters then this is a must watch.

Haven't opened it yet but I look forward to seeing it swiftly delivered on time thanks always a good service

Super cool film on blu ray and prime video.

Excelente edición que contiene la película y los extras (que son muy numerosos) en castellano. La calidad de vídeo es sublime, una maravilla. La calidad de sonido es aceptable pero no sobresaliente. Tiene una cantidad de extras tremenda y pueden ser vistos con subtítulos en castellano. La película puede visualizarse en castellano o inglés con subtítulos, si se quiere, que vienen en varios idiomas entre ellos el español. En definitiva, una edición más que recomendable y bastante más económica que la edición española.

Disc arrived in good condition.

Arrivées rapidement dans de bonnes conditions. Correspondent à la description. Il y a une version française.

Part of my review is about the bluray disk and case. Shippers can treat these carelessly, but mine arrived in good condition and it is a good quality disk. The bonus features work and includes several options such as deleted scenes and the making of the movie which includes discussion of the transition from the comic book character to Keanu's version. As for the movie, Keanu does an excellent job as Constantine. Special effects are quite good and all of the actors did a great job in my opinion. The story line is heavily Catholic-based so that might be a put-off to some. I don't mind it and enjoyed the movie as a great story.

Love this movie! It's all about the supernatural. There is more demonic presence out there, than what people realize. I love how faith was the winner when confronting evil.