The Da Vinci Code
January 2007 Reviewed by: Mischa Hayek Format: DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

Ron Howard’s The Da Vinci Code was the most anticipated movie release of 2006. Based on the blockbuster novel by Dan Brown, it tells the story of a modern day race to find the Holy Grail, the cup believed to have been used by Jesus Christ at the Last Supper. Brown’s hero, religious symbologist Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks), teams up with police cryptologist Sophie Neveu (Audrey Tautou) to solve the grizzly murder of Louvre Museum curator, Jacques Saunière (Jean-Pierre Marielle), who is also Neveu’s grandfather. Saunière is found naked on the floor of the Louvre dead from a gunshot wound. But before he died, he scribbled clues in his own blood to help track down the killer. Instead of just leading Langdon and Neveu to the killer, however, the clues take them on an unexpected journey back to the birth of Christianity.

The Da Vinci Code has been released on DVD as a two-disc widescreen special edition, a two-disc fullscreen special edition, and as a gift pack which includes a working Cryptix and a replica of Langdon’s journal. In planning for my review of the two-disc widescreen special edition, I had set aside four evenings to fully view all the special and bonus features which were listed on the box cover. What a disappointment! I needed only two hours.

The first disc contained only the movie, and the usual scene selection and audio and subtitles setup. There was no director’s commentary -- nothing! Instead, there were previews of approximately nine upcoming DVD releases. What a waste!

The features on the second disc looked impressive -- 12 were listed -- but at only 90 minutes’ total playing time, all of them could have been placed on the first disc if Sony had eliminated the previews.

The first two features on the second disc, "First Day on the Set with Ron Howard" and "A Discussion with Dan Brown," were less than five minutes each. Very little is learned from these two. The third featurette, "A Portrait of Langdon," has little to do with Langdon but is an admiration session of Tom Hanks by director and good buddy, Ron Howard. This is not worth a cup of coffee. The fourth featurette, "Who is Sophie Neveu?," has Howard and others talking, briefly, about the character and the search for an actress to play Neveu. We learn about Howard’s preference to cast a native French actress but most importantly we learn that Tom Hanks was wonderful and gave so much of himself during each audition of the French actresses. The featurette, "Unusual Suspects," is a longer piece dealing with the supporting cast. The actors were, of course, all wonderful as well. I could go on but most of the remaining features were simply Howard, et al., admiring one another -- the usual Hollywood boot-licking exercise that ensures future employment. In summary, there is nothing substantive in the bonus features. I would have preferred a cheaper one-disc release over the impotent two-disc special edition.

Sound and picture quality were adequate. Much of Howard’s The Da Vinci Code takes place at night, as it does in the novel. Consequently, the darkness hides any blunders in set construction or design. Since The Da Vinci Code is a character-driven, atmospheric thriller, rather than visual and auditory, the overall experience of it would be improved only marginally by a great home-entertainment system.

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