 | |  | | Media: | HD DVD | | Country: | UK | | Studio: | Warner Brothers Home Entertainment | | Cert: | 15 | | Discs: | 1 |
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| Review Scores | | Movie |  | | Picture |  | | Sound |  | | Extras | | | Overall | | | Review Verdict | | V for Vendetta is really quite a daring little anti-hero terrorist movie, set in a dystopic future which is not a million miles away from now. Although it often lapses into more style-orientated than substance, it posits some interesting questions and, at least, offers quite a nicely conceived, thrilling tale. On HD DVD we get superb video presentation, solid audio accompaniment, and all of the extras from the DVD release, as well as the new IME feature exclusive to HD DVD. Overall, newcomers would be advised to check it out, and fans would not be disappointed by upgrading with this release. | | Overall score : 8 | | Movie | | V For Vendetta | | Date | 2005 | | Genres | Drama
Action
Thriller
Sci-Fi | | Director | | James McTeigue | | Stars | Hugo Weaving
John Hurt
Natalie Portman
Roger Allam
Rupert Graves
Stephen Fry
Stephen Rea
Tim Pigott-Smith |
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Screen captures are for illustration purposes and may not originate from the item reviewed. | | V For Vendetta Review| HD DVD review written by Cas Harlow, published 14th July 2007 | In 1948, acclaimed author George Orwell wrote a book entitled 1984 about a dystopic future where an oppressive, totalitarian government – employing the famed Big Brother tactics – controlled the nation. The attempt was to go as far as to control the way that people think, through scripted press, heavy surveillance and outright torture. Although I don’t want to posit too many observations on the state of the world today, all of those elements appear to be in full force these days. Torture appears to have become a Government instrument, justifiable in certain circumstances (whether or not I agree with this on a personal level, I have serious reservations about who they appoint to make the decision as to whether torture is necessary), and who knows how much we read in the press is not fed to us for specific reactions? And these days, particularly in key cities, it is becoming more common to find yourself observed by CCTV and even talked to over the attached speakers – better watch yourself the next time you flick a cigarette butt. It seems that Orwell’s future has finally reached us. Things are clearly not as bleak as they are in the movies however, particularly those which paint such a dystopic vision – from the classic 1984 movie interpretation, to the Mad Max and Matrix trilogies – but they make for strong backdrops over which to play out the fictional tales.
Alan Moore is the man who wrote From Hell, the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Watchmen. Since the first two cinematic interpretations of his graphic novels disappointed him, he has been highly cautious about Hollywood ruining his work, with production on the Watchmen moving at a snail’s pace – just so as to ensure it goes right, and plays a proper tribute to the original book. V for Vendetta was Moore’s 1988 story of a very Orwellian dystopic future, and in 2005 it was made into the movie of the same name, produced by the men behind the Matrix, the Wachowskis. Although his name was removed, V for Vendetta is clearly still classic Alan Moore, and one of the better adaptations of his books.
V for Vendetta’s dystopia sees Britain reigning supreme over the rest of the world – including America (‘the colonies’) – ruling with an iron fist, imposing curfews, torturing terrorism suspects, brainwashing the population into a stupor with fictional news broadcasts, and generally oppressing its own population through the use of corrupt law enforcers (‘Fingermen’). When a young girl, Evey Hammond, is caught by the Fingermen past curfew, she finds her life on the line. Preventing an attempted rape, a mysterious stranger comes out of the night to save her, wielding long twin daggers, and sporting a hat and a Guy Fawkes mask. He calls himself, simply, V and he changes Evey’s life forever. She follows him, initially reluctantly, then through a slightly perverse method of persuasion, as he exacts upon the country a shocking series of terrorist attacks on key London landmarks. He seeks to wake the brainwashed population, topple the totalitarian government and change the future of the nation and, potentially, the world. His plan is to be carried out over the course of a year, from one November 5th Guy Fawkes’ Night to the next, and Evey is to become a big part of it.
V for Vendetta is a stylish, well-contrived tale of a scary alternative vision of the world as we know it. It cleverly weaves its year-long story with just enough punch to keep your focus, enough flashbacks to give it some depth and enough twists to keep you guessing. Whilst it is clearly still not as good as the original graphic novel (Sin City is one of the few interpretations to has even come close in that respect), it is a solid tale of rebellion against oppression, love in spite of hate, good facing evil. It has some interesting characters – not least the eccentric (possibly even hammy) lead character, and his female accomplice – embodied by some relatively well known actors.
The Matrix’s very own Agent Smith, Hugo Weaving, seems perfectly chosen for the lead character of ‘V’. Although you never get to see his face, his voice is extremely distinctive and he manages to deliver most of the (very theatrical) dialogue relatively seriously, without coming across as too camp. Natalie Portman puts on a reasonably convincing posh Brit accent, bringing the initially naive Evey to life, and carrying her character through all the toils and tribulations of this stylish escapade with suitable aplomb. The rest of the cast are predominantly British, with Stephen Fry (Gosford Park) playing a closet sympathiser, Tim Pigott-Smith (The Vice), Rupert Graves (Damage) and Roger Allan (Between the Lines) as corrupt Government instruments and Stephen Rea (The Crying Game) as one of the less corrupt detectives, determined to actually find out the truth behind the mysterious vigilante and his actions. And the man at the heart of the totalitarian state is, ironically, played by the victim of the totalitarian state in the original 1984, John Hurt.
V for Vendetta is an almost classic, plotting out a clever tale over its two-hours-plus runtime. It is a decent, fairly adult, graphic novel interpretation that is – in theme – not worlds apart from the Wachowskis’ acclaimed Matrix trilogy. It paints the ever-popular bleak future state – as ever pictured in bleak-weather England – and tells the tale of a fairly monumental uprising that puts a spin on the whole concept of terrorism. At a time when productions are wary of depicting the blowing-up of national landmarks, the movie gets away with plenty of fairly significant terror acts, and cleverly manages to convince the viewer that these acts are justified. That fact alone makes the movie recommended viewing.
Movie score : 7 | | 966 word review written by Cas Harlow. |  | To comment on this review, click here and post a reply.
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