Donnie Brasco [DVD]

Told from the viewpoint of a low level gangster who's misplaced trust, and friendship, costs him everything. Excellent acting from Al Pacino and Jonny Depp. A must see.

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."

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.

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 French Running time is 147mins as an extended cut. Transfer score is 9/10 movie is also a 9/10

Excellent quality and speedy delivery, a good film, will definately purchase from again soon, A + seller

I was enraptured by the entire film, it has fantastic stakes and character. Pacino and Depp are simply incredible. Definitely would recommend.

FBI agent Johnny Depp works undercover with New York Mafia wiseguys in 1978 after winning the trust of shabby hoodlum Al Pacino. Away from his wife and three young daughters for weeks at a time, Depp pays a heavy toll for his close up view of criminals at work. Mike Newell’s heavyweight gangster drama, based on the memoirs of real-life agent Joe Pistone, is an East Coast blood brother to Martin Scorsese’s masterful Casino. It seems authentic in detailing the grubby lives of criminals on the make and the acting is simply terrific. Pacino, in particular, has rarely been so muted. His sad-eyed loser ‘Lefty’ Ruggiero is a curiously sympathetic killer. Pacino, great actor that he is, humanises a monster. There’s no wit and repartee in this bleak landscape of lost souls, just joyless banter and an all-pervasive paranoia. In one of the film’s most telling images, Pacino moves to give a congratulatory hug to newly made up crew boss Michael Madsen. As the men part, the fear in their dead eyes gives the lie to their smiling faces.

The film is amazing, 5 stars... But I had to watch it on Netflix because when I put the film in my DVD player, there was a problem with the aspect ratio. Basically the film was shrunk to a small rectangle half the size of my TV screen, despite the fact I have a modern TV and DVD player, I couldn't enlarge it. I feel bad giving a 3 star rating, it was delivered quickly and the actual film is well worth the watch but they have given me a defect disc so I have little choice.

Super Film mit tollen Darstellern

Un clásico, y para mi gusto, junto con infiltrados y Uno de los Nuestros, la mejor película de mafiosos. Precinto y todo en perfectas condiciones. La historia cuenta como un agente del FBI se infiltra en la Cosa Nostra gracias a un miembro de la familia. Basada en un hecho real. 100% recomendada.

SIN DUDA, UNA DE LAS CINCO MEJORES PELÍCULAS DE GÁNSTERES QUE SE HAN RODADO.

In meiner Wahrnehmung: Neben der Triologie „Der Pate“ , „Good Fellas,“ und „Casino“ zählt der Film sicherlich zu den besten Filmen des Genre Mafia.

I've long been a fan of mobster movies, and I've long thought of "Donnie Brasco" as one of the more fascinating films in this genre. This is because it's based on a true story. "Donnie Brasco" stars Al Pacino and Johnny Depp, and was directed by Mike Newell ("Four Weddings and a Funeral"), It tells the story of FBI Special Agent Joseph D. Pistone (played by Johnny Depp), who successfully infiltrated one of New York's great Mafia families in the late 1970s, and spent six years undercover, gathering vital intelligence that was used by the U.S. Justice Department to severely diminish the Mafia's power throughout the country. Posing as Donnie Brasco, a jewel thief, Pistone was befriended by Benjamin "Lefty" Ruggerio (played by Al Pacino) , a low-level soldier in the Bonanno crime family. So successful was Pistone in penetrating the Bonanno family, that he was actually proposed to become a Mafia "made man" shortly before the FBI terminated "Operation Donnie Brasco" in 1981. "Donnie Brasco" is certainly different than your "average" gangster flick. Instead of focusing on the rich and powerful Mafia crime lords, this film depicts life in the lower echelons of organized crime in New York, mostly through the eyes of "Lefty" Ruggerio. Here's a man who's at best an average "earner," but who's filled with ambition. He is frustrated when he's continually passed over for promotion by younger, less experienced men. When he befriends "Donnie Brasco" (Pistone), he quickly develops a strong fatherly affection for the younger man. For his part, Donnie Brasco becomes so emotionally entangled with the people he's investigating (especially Ruggerio) that he begins to lose sight of why he's there: to help bring these criminals to justice. "Donnie Brasco" is a reasonably accurate portrayal of Pistone's experiences within New York's Mafia. It is very well acted, with especially brilliant performances from Al Pacino, Johnny Depp, Michael Madsen, and Anne Heche. The language is raw, there are graphic scenes of violence, and a few liberties are taken with historical facts, (most notably the fate of Ruggerio), but none of that in any way detracts from the film's entertainment value. The Extended Cut of "Donnie Brasco" adds about 20 minutes to the film's runtime, with scenes added so seamlessly that I found it nearly impossible to tell the difference from the original theatrical release. "Donnie Brasco" is an excellent film in every way. Highly recommended.