STUDIO: Warner Brothers
RELEASE DATE: September 23, 2008
STARRING: Guy Pearce, Russell Crowe, Kevin Spacey, James Cromwell, David Strathairn, Danny DeVito, and Kim Basinger
WRITTEN BY: Brian Helgeland & Curtis Hanson
DIRECTED BY: Curtis Hanson
FEATURES: Audio Commentary
Making Of L.A. Confidential
Sunlight And Shadows: The Visual Style Of L.A. Confidential
The Cast Of L.A. Confidential
L.A. Confidential: From Book To Screen
L.A. Confidential TV Series Plot
Vintage Cast/Creator Interviews
Director Curtis Hanson's Photo Pitch
The L.A. Of L.A. Confidential Interactive Map Tour
Music Only Track Showcasing Jerry Goldsmith's Score
Trailer Gallery
Bonus CD Soundtrack

Russell Crowe and Leonardo DiCaprio will soon hit theaters together in Ridley Scott's Body of Lies but they will always share another thing for me in the cinema of my mind - two of the best movies of 1997. That was the year that both men became a star in two of the biggest films of the year. DiCaprio was the driving force behind what worked about Titanic (I've long thought that his not getting nominated for Best Actor when the film was showered with Oscars is one of the biggest snubs in the Academy's history) and Crowe gave what is still one of the best performances of his career as Bud White in the masterpiece that is L.A. Confidential. I understand why Titanic won Best Picture and the film is a cultural milestone that can not be denied, but eleven years down the road, Curtis Hanson's examination of sleaze and corruption under the Hollywood sign is the better film. L.A. Confidential was a great movie in when Crowe and DiCaprio became stars in 1997 but, looking at it again in gorgeous high-definition, it's clear that the film can now be called a classic.

L.A. Confidential is one of those few films that I would truly call flawless. It's one of my personal favorite films of all time, a masterpiece of screenwriting (Brian Helgeland and Curtis Hanson did win that Oscar), production design, ensemble acting, and perfect direction. I've long been a James Ellroy fan and Hanson perfectly understood what works about that mad writer's aesthetic, his obsession with a city that thrives on both glamour and sleaze at the same time. Three cops (some of the career-best work by Guy Pearce, Russell Crowe, and Kevin Spacey) find themselves entangled in a mystery that involves call girls cut up to look like Hollywood starlets (including an Oscar-winning Kim Basinger), a mysterious millionaire (David Strathairn), a tabloid journalist (Danny DeVito) and the Chief of Detectives (James Cromwell). Mystery, ambition, romance, and humor drive L.A. Confidential, one of the most immensely rewatchable films of the '90s. I've seen it half a dozen times at least and know that I will see it that many more times on Blu-Ray alone.

The standard DVD version of L.A. Confidential was always one of the more disappointing in my collection. It was one of the first on the market, so the video, audio, and even the packaging always left a little something to be desired. And the extras were not befitting a movie of this caliber. All of that has been atoned for with the Blu-Ray release. The 1080p High Definition 16x9 2.4:1 picture perfectly captures the amazing Dante Spinotti's cinematography and the audio tracks are overwhelmingly complete including not just a Dolby TrueHD English 5.1 track but 5.1 tracks in both Parisian French and Quebec French, both Castilian Spanish and Latin Spanish (that one is just 2.0 but the fact that there are two Spanish tracks is remarkable), German, and Italian. There can be no complaints about the audio.

And, finally, there can be no complaints about the special features for L.A. Confidential. The audio commentary alone is a gem, featuring critic/historian Andrew Sarris, Russell Crowe, Kevin Spacey, Guy Pearce, James Cromwell, Ruth Myers, David Strathairn, Kim Basinger, Brian Helgeland, Jeannine Oppewall, Dante Spinotti, Danny DeVito and even James Ellroy, who everyone should hear speak at least once. He's crazy in the best sense of the word, kind of like Hunter S. Thompson. He's a fascinating dude. As for the commentary, it's clearly a spliced-up series of sound bites and it would have been wiser to divide it into multiple tracks instead of the cluttered one provided. Fans will adore an all-new featurette gallery that includes four featurettes, a TV Series Pilot for a failed adaptation (that stars Kiefer Sutherland!), vintage cast and crew interviews, and much more, even an interactive map tour of the L.A. in the movie. It's a stunning collection for a masterpiece of a film and a must-have for any serious movie collector.