Product Description

Studio: Tcfhe Release Date: 09/30/2008 Run time: 124 minutes Rating: Pg13

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #14744 in DVD
• Brand: TCFHE
• Released on: 2008-09-30
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Subtitled
• Original language: English, French, Spanish
• Subtitled in: Cantonese, English, French, Spanish
• Dubbed in: French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 124 minutes

Amazon.com
Darker than its popular comic-book predecessor Spider-Man, the $80 million extravaganza Daredevil was packaged for maximum global appeal, its juvenile plot beginning when 12-year-old Matt Murdock is accidentally blinded shortly before his father is murdered. Later an adult attorney in New York's Hell's Kitchen, Murdock (Ben Affleck) uses his remaining, superenhanced senses to battle crime as Daredevil, the masked and vengeful "man without fear," pitted against dominant criminal Kingpin (Michael Clarke Duncan) and the psychotic Bullseye (Colin Farrell), who can turn almost anything into a deadly projectile. Daredevil is well matched with the dynamic Elektra (Jennifer Garner), but their teaming is as shallow as the movie itself, which is peppered with Marvel trivia and cameo appearances (creator Stan Lee, Clerks director and Daredevil devotee Kevin Smith) and enough computer-assisted stuntwork to give Spidey a run for his money. This is Hollywood product at its most lavishly vacuous; die-hard fans will argue its merits while its red-leathered hero swoops and zooms toward a sequel. --Jeff Shannon

From The New Yorker
Ben Affleck is a blind lawyer who becomes a superhero at night, and much of this new comic-book spectacular is so dark that you can't see it. Not that you're missing anything. What can be seen is derivative, flat, and halfhearted. Dressed in a maroon jumpsuit, Affleck flips from nowhere to nowhere in a digital New York that seems based on sketches rejected by the creators of the first "Batman" movie. Affleck tries for a light-voiced, unemphatic presence, and he registers no more powerfully here than he did in "Pearl Harbor." He seems a put-on movie star, a lazybones puffed by helium bursts of publicity. -David Denby
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Improved version of "Daredevil"
A marked improvement over the previous version of the film, "Daredevil" (Director's Cut) allows director and co-writer Mark Steven Johnson to adjust his film to the darker aspects he originally wanted to portray on screen. I won't be reviewing the previous edition in this review at all (since amazon.com inadvertently combines all editions into one pool this may end up under the previous theatrical DVD release), but will focus on what makes the "Director's Cut" unique and worth picking up for fans of the movie and the comic book.

Sometimes "Director's Cuts" are a mere attempt by the studio to make more money or the director to create something successful out of a disaster. That isn't the case with "Daredevil"(Director's Cut). Director Johnson originally intended to focus as much on Daredevil as he did on Matt Murdock and his career as a crusading lawyer fighting for the underdogs. The 30 minutes of additional footage adds an important subplot about the murder of a hooker which is pinned on street thug (Coolio). The fight sequence at the end between Kingpin and Daredevil is longer and more involved. Many of the fight sequences are cut with an "R" rating movie in mind (and that's what this DVD version received as its rating). Some of the love story between Elektra and Daredevil gets shortened here as well in favor of developing Murdock's character and for some truly interesting (and occasionally funny) courtroom scenes.

Johnson was required by his contract to provide a PG-13 movie and, as a result, he had to reshuffle the movie a bit cutting out much of the subplot as well as trimming down the more intense fight sequences of the film. There's also a number scenes related to character development that got lost along the way most notably the reporter that follows the Daredevil and Murdock himself. Restoring these sequences improve the film and add strength to a narrative that had a number of holes in it and was too simply resolved. Additionally, it gives more substance to Matt Murdock's character creating a much more complex person. We also see much more about Kingpin and scenes that demonstrate how dangerous he can be.

The transfer here actually looks a bit sharper and with slightly better clarity the the original DVD. Like the previous edition, this one has been transferred in the anamorphic widescreen format which translates to better image quality than a standard widescreen transfer. The sound is also top notch with nice use of the surround sound format.

This "Director's Cut" doesn't have all the bells and whistles of the previous edition (in fact it is a single disc release). The only extras are Johnson and producer Avi Arad's commentary track for this edition (which was in preparation for DVD before the movie was even released to theaters) and a 15 minute featurette on the director's intension in creating this edition. While it lacks the extras on the previous edition, it more than makes up for them with a stronger film. My only complaint is that this should have been released at the same time as the original DVD and/or in place of it with a second disc of extras. Unfortunately, Fox has participated in the old double dip.

Overall, "Daredevil" is much improved with this special edition. It's a pity it came out so long after the original (much like the "Lord of the Rings" movies). Johnson points out in the featurette that he considers "Daredevil" to still be flawed movie and while he may be right, restoring the first R rated version certainly makes this film stronger. The "Director's Cut" is far closer to Frank Miller's comic book vision of "Daredevil" than the previous edition. Fans of the movie will definitely want to pick this up.

I Kinda Liked the Original Version, but I Love This One!
This Director's Cut improves on the original in almost every way. The plot holes are filled in, the fight scenes are more violent, and the romance is trimmed down a bit. And believe it or not, former rapper Coolio was actually quite funny, especially in the court scene when he mentions he uses only shotguns (you'll know what I mean when you see it). If this was the version released in theaters I think most people would have this one at the top of the Superhero film lists right beside Batman, X-Men 2, and Spider-Man 2. This version is worth buying and I will never watch the theatrical cut again.

Big improvement over theatrical release
Don't get me wrong, I like the theatrical version of this movie. But, as a lifelong fan of Daredevil in the comic books, the Director's cut is not just more faithful to the source material, it's also a more cohesive film.

The added storyline with Coolio puts more focus on Matt (Ben Affleck) as a man, and how precariously he balances his life as a lawyer and as a vigilante. The toning down of the Matt/Elektra romance makes the the love affair all the more tragic. Jennifer Garner comes off much more believable as Elektra this time around because the love is unfulfilled. The subplot with Fisk's lawyer lends more depth to how insulated Wilson Fisk (Michael Clarke Duncan) really is, and some added footage, really lends to the Kingpin's cruel and violent nature. The fight sequences have a much better flow now, Ben Urich (Joe Pantoliano) is more fleshed out as a character, and Foggy (Jon Favreau) Nelson's sense of humour is given more room.

All in all, this is a more satisfying version of the movie. If you felt let down by Daredevil with the old version, give the Director's Cut a try. As both a movie fan and a Daredevil fanatic, I am more than pleased by this release.