Donnie Brasco

This review is going to focus on the blu-ray US import version of the 1997 gangster film, Donnie Brasco. The reason for this is that in 2007, Sony released an "Extended Cut" featuring an extra 20 minutes footage (taking the running time up to 147 minutes); of further possible interest to UK audiences, is that this version was never released in Britain, hence the US import review.No doubt as most of you already know, Donnie Brasco tells the (mostly) true story of how FBI agent Joseph Pistone (convincingly acted by Johnny Depp) worked undercover for six years in the 1970s, infiltrating the Bonanno mafia family in New York City. His gateway in to this world was through Benjamin "Lefty Guns" Ruggiero, an aging hitman for the mob, brilliantly portrayed by Al Pacino (Pacino, here, plays a mafia character on the very bottom rung of the hierarchy, the diametric opposite to his Michael Corleone of The Godfather). Lefty comes to regard Donnie as the son he wished he had and as the two men bond, Donnie's critical distance from the mob becomes diminished (in reality, Agent Pistone never felt this deep sense of empathy for Lefty, as Ruggiero was a stone-cold killer with over two dozen murders under his belt).The blu-ray US import is not region coded, so it will work on UK blu-ray players. The video quality is solid with some good detail on the wider street scenes and the audio is respectable, given that it's mostly about older men talking in rooms. The best of the limited extras is a 23 minute documentary that contains an interview with the real Joseph Pistone.While I enjoyed immensely Donnie Brasco upon its initial theatrical release, the only real issue I had with the film was that while the story spans six years, that sense of this time actually passing was never really captured on film. The additional twenty minutes footage of this Extended Cut, making the film almost two and a half hours long, now resolves that issue; there are additional mob scenes but most importantly, Pistone's declining domestic life has some flesh put on the bones, which is something the real Pistone said was initially missing from this film (another departure from the true story is that in reality, Pistone never hit his wife). Scenes of Agent Pistone engaged in domestic chores or arguing with his wife, or engaging in trivial banter with his mafia "friends" were not essential to the film and I can understand why they were initially cut, in the William Faulkner, kill-your-darlings, sense. However, they make the film both more intimate and yet bigger and add that all important detail to the story.As to who actually restored this footage to the film, I am at a loss, though it doesn't appear to be British director Mike Newell, as this is not labelled a "Director's Cut" but rather just an "Extended Cut." This made me suspicious of the potential care and quality of this edit but certainly the additional scenes have been edited appropriately and nothing looks or feels out of place or jarring.The gangster genre is one of the defining genres in American cinema, with films like The Godfather (parts I & II) and Goodfellas popularly being considered amongst the best films ever made. Donnie Brasco, while not hitting those heights, is certainly a great addition to this category, with another amazing Al Pacino performance as a frustrated mafiosi, never getting the credit he feels he deserves, while also schooling new kid on the block Donnie Brasco in the customs and language of the mob. This Extended Cut of Donnie Brasco is well worth getting if you feel the same way about the mob genre. Writer Paul Attanasio has crafted a great story and delivered some classic mafia dialogue, such as, "When they send for you, you go in alive, you come out dead and it's your best friend that does it."

Based on fact which is a bonus for me ,Johnny depp and Al pacing, and Anne heche play excellent roles

Not what I expected!!

As described, arrived on time and in condition described

This is a superb undercover cop low ranking street mafia story with excellent performances from Depp and Pacino and everyone else. Pacino can chew the scenery at times but here he shows admirable restraint and at the end is very moving.Mike Newell is a superb director, not an auteur who leaves his personal fingerprint on a film but like a chameleon that adapts to different environments or an anthropologist who observes alien cultures.This is a first rate edition with a longer version than the one released theatrical, an interesting making of and subtitles.

I love this movie, love Johnny Depp and Al Pacino

Donnie Brasco is one of those movies that I forgot just how good it is. I had it on DVD but since going HD many moons ago, it hadn't come within a sniff of my playlist. Now that I have it on BD, my memory is jogged - this is an outstanding and understated movie. Look at the two guy on the cover for a start. It's not like they are terrible actors, eh? It's an awesome true gangster story that I can highly recommend.The Blu-Ray itself is an excellent transfer. The picture is amazing on a 50" screen. The picture quality is the only thing that Sony have gone to town on with this though, packaging and extras are very basic (a featurette and photo gallery) .Audio is PCM uncompressed English or a lifted 5.1 from the DVD version also in English only.Subtitles are English or FrenchRunning time is 147mins as an extended cut.Transfer score is 9/10 movie is also a 9/10

I watched this movie because Joe Pistone was interviewed on 21.03.2017 on The Hagmann & Hagmann Report and was intrigued. The part he relates about going into a room and knowing he could be coming out wrapped out in a rug, simply didnt happen in the film. Yes, he went to Florida with the mob but the reason he gives about why he was pulled off the job was not because the FBI did a bust on him as he was about to kill someone to be become a wise guy, so this script is only based on truth but a lot seems to be added in the film. Always a pleasure though to watch Johnny Depp and Al Pacino despite these differences. Best read Joe Pistone's books available on Amazon.