Search - Daredevil [Fullscreen] on DVD

MPAA Rating: PG-13 Content Advisory: Violence, Adult Situations, Questionable for Children, Adult Language, Suitable for Teens Movie Release: 2003 DVD Release: 07/29/2003 Format: DVD - Pan and Scan - Closed Captioned Edition: Dual Layered,Special Collection Audio Tracks: English, French, Spanish Subtitles: English, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 2 Number of Discs: 2 Run Time: 1 hrs 43 mins Studio: 20th Century Fox Total Copies: 64 Genres: Action, Fantasy, Superhero Film See Also: Daredevil [Widescreen], Daredevil [Director's Cut], Daredevil [Blu-ray]

One of Marvel Comics' most popular characters comes to the screen for the first time in this sci-fi action-thriller. Matthew Murdock (Ben Affleck) is a lawyer whose father, a prizefighter, was killed by gangsters when Murdock was just a boy. Since then, Murdock has devoted his life to bringing wrongdoers to justice and is willing to help others by taking on cases no other attorney will touch. Murdock is also blind, after being struck down by a truck while trying to save a man from being hit. What no one knows is that Murdock was also doused with an unusual radioactive isotope which had a strange effect on him -- while Murdock's sight may be gone, his other senses have been raised to such a keen pitch that they act like radar, allowing him to tell where he's going and what happens around him, both near and far away. Murdock puts his gifts to use at night as the costumed crime-fighter Daredevil, whose pursuit of justice has earned him the wrath of underworld leader Kingpin (Michael Clarke Duncan). Kingpin wants Daredevil out of his way once and for all, and hires Bullseye (Colin Farrell), a super-assassin with an uncanny ability to throw blades, to do the job. Daredevil also makes the acquaintance of Elektra Natchios (Jennifer Garner), a woman with super-heroic talents who is also on Kingpin's bad side, though it remains to be seen if she has aligned herself with the forces of good as Daredevil has done. Jon Favreau, Joe Pantoliano, and David Keith highlight Daredevil's supporting cast. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Ben Affleck - Matt Murdock/Daredevil
Jennifer Garner - Elektra
Colin Farrell - Bullseye
Michael Clarke Duncan - Kingpin
Jon Favreau - Franklin Nelson

Director Mark Steven Johnson's adaptation of Marvel Comic's Daredevil comes to DVD from 20th Century Fox in quite a feature-packed release. In this edition, image quality comes cropped with a pan-and-scan picture, while audio options include separate 5.1 Dolby and DTS tracks, along with a standard Surround track for French and Spanish languages. Also included is the appropriate Visual Impaired track, which when selected supplies the film with a running commentary describing the action in the film (up to this point, a rare feature which Artisan also used for their =Basic Instinct disc). Another audio track and the first real supplement of the disc comes with Johnson and producer Gary Foster's running commentary during the film. Full of pats on the back and grueling behind-the-scenes stories, the two sound more than happy with the final result of the film. Disc one also sports an enhanced viewing mode, which uses branching technology to play scene-specific making-of clips for you during the film, in addition to a fun onscreen text commentary which you can also select.

Disc two is split into two different sections -- The Film and The Comic Book. On the film side, the first and most prominent extra comes in "Beyond Hell's Kitchen: The Making of Daredevil." This 60-minute documentary covers most aspects of the production, most notably test footage of some of the earlier costume designs (something the early =Spider-Man and =X-Men discs were sadly lacking). Other extras include Jennifer Garner's screen test, multi-angle dailies, a featured villain Kingpin music video-type clip, and an HBO: First Look special on the film. Also included is "Moving Through Space: A Day With Tom Sullivan," an inspiring look at the sight-impaired consultant on Daredevil. Four music videos and all three original trailers are featured as well, with extra trailers for Danny Boyle's zombie update 28 Days Later and another comic book adaptation, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, thrown in too. The film section ends with a still gallery that includes galleries of various set designs, production stills, props, and a thorough costumes section, giving viewers added insight on the adaptation process from book to film.

In the comic book section, you'll find the other gem of this release in the 60-minute "Men Without Fear: Creating Daredevil" documentary, which focuses on the main comic creators who've helped shape the character from its inception in 1964. Various artists and writers voice their opinions on the horned-one, including Stan Lee, Frank Miller, and Kevin Smith, among a slew of other famous creators. Offering up witty and all-too-human stories about the industry and the Daredevil comic, the documentary actually stands as one of the best representations of comic books made as of this release. If you're a comic fan, whether you liked the film or not, this extra alone makes adding this DVD to your collection completely worth it. Also available for viewing is a small featurette on the translation of Daredevil's hyper senses from comic to film, plus some modeling sheets of all the main characters (taken from the -Marvel Encyclopedia featuring mostly Frank Miller artwork). While the menu presentation leaves little to be desired (likewise the obvious heightened red color added to Daredevil on the cover), it's evident that this disc was put together with care for the fans of the movie and comic combined. It's nice to see the first DVD release of a film be the definitive one, as any future discs will have a hard time beating this one. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide