Search - My Name Is Modesty on DVD

MPAA Rating: R Movie Release: 2003 DVD Release: 09/28/2004 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV - Closed Captioned Edition: Dual Layered Audio Tracks: English Subtitles: Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 18 mins Studio: Miramax Members Wishing: 4 Genres: Action, Action Thriller, Glamorized Spy Film

Peter O'Donnell's novels and comic strip was previously brought to film by actress Monica Vitti and director Joseph Losey in an eponymous 1966 spy spoof. Quentin Tarantino had been interested in bringing the character to the screen for a series of films, but the idea languished. Reportedly, Miramax rushed My Name Is Modesty into production because their option on the material was on the verge of expiring. While there were rumors that Luc Besson was going to direct, with Natasha Henstridge starring, that version never came to fruition. The film was released straight-to-video with Tarantino's imprimatur. Relative newcomer Alexandra Staden plays Modesty, and the film serves as a prequel, an introduction to the character of O'Donnell's work. It opens in the Balkans where some soldiers happen upon a resourceful little girl, a wild child. The film then flashes forward to Modesty as a young adult running a casino for the shady businessman, Louche (Valentin Teodosiu). When ruthless bandits attack the casino and the staff is taken hostage, Modesty secretly signals her partner, Garcia (Raymond Cruz), that there's trouble, then buys time by engaging the bandit leader, Myklos (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau of the original Nightwatch), in a battle of wits. She uses the roulette wheel to barter the lives of the hostages for bits and pieces of her life story. And so the film flashes back to her orphaned past, showing how she was taken in by Lob (Fred Pearson), a wily older gentleman, who taught her to read and write several languages and how to thrive in a dangerous world. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

Alexandra Staden - Modesty Blaise
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau - Myklos
Raymond Cruz
Fred Pearson
Valentin Teodosiu

My Name Is Modesty gets a first-rate DVD release with this disc, which offers a widescreen anamorphic transfer that preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The English soundtrack is rendered in Dolby Digital 5.1. Spanish subtitles are accessible. Supplemental materials include a commentary track recorded by the director and the producer, a second commentary track by the screenwriters, a making-of featurette, interviews (including one with fan Quentin Tarantino), and a collection of Modesty Blaise art. This is a first-rate release. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide