Rating:  -
I'm really sorry to say that I had never even heard of Daredevil until my cousin rented this movie. Daredevil quickly became my favorite superhero. This movie is absolutely incredible, and out of the superhero movies that have been made recently, only the Spiderman movies would rate higher on my list. So, if you enjoy comics and would like to learn more about a hero that is maybe lesser known than say, Spiderman or the Hulk, check this one out.
Rating: -
I grew up in the 70s and 80s. My favorite comic heroes included The Thing, The Fantastic Four, Conan, The Flash, Wolverine, The X-Men, Captain America (and the Falcon), Tarzan, Spider-Man and Daredevil. What intrigued me about Daredevil was that, although he was very similar to Batman (and, to a lesser extent, Spider-Man), he was BLIND!
Daredevil really started to get hot when Frank Miller and, later, Ann Nocenti wrote for the comic in the 80s (Nocenti's run started out fairly unimpressive but slowly became outstanding).
With this understanding I was naturally excited to see the film rendition of "Daredevil" that debuted in February 2003. After seeing the movie I thought it wasn't bad. They got a lot of stuff right -- like Daredevil's costume, the mood and the casting (this was my first exposure to Ben Affleck so I had no beef with him playing Matt Murdock/Daredevil). Still, there was something wrong with the picture; it was too light and brisk. Yes, it certainly had pizzazz (unlike, say, "Batman Begins"), but it was mostly superhero fluff with little depth -- a perfect example of style over substance. Plus the cutesy playground scene where Matt first meets Elektra was completely out of place.
We NOW know what went wrong: Some studio dork made the idiotic decision to cut out the meat of the story. This naturally DUMBED DOWN the film. In plain language: THE FILM WAS GUTTED!!
All I can say is: Thank God for director's cut DVDs! Two years after its theatrical release I picked up the new Director's Cut of "Daredevil" and was completely BLOWN AWAY! The director, Mark Steven Johnson, took out some unnecessary fluff, like the premature Matt/Elektra sex scene, and added over 30 minutes of material that was completely INTEGRAL to the story and SHOULD HAVE NEVER BEEN CUT in the first place! This new material centers around the characte-defining subplot of Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson working on a case that ties into the whole Kingpin storyline. The fight scenes are also vastly superior in the Director's Cut.
WHAT WORKS: Everything about this film magically "works." Colin Farrell is entertaining as the crazed Bullseye, Jon Favreau is splendid as Foggy and Michael Clarke Duncan is outstanding as The Kingpin, yeah, I know they deviated with the skin color, but who gives a hoot anyway?
The soundtrack, which includes selections from various heavy rock bands, is truly stupendous: The touching moments are truly touching, like when Matt & Elektra share intimate moments on the roof and Elektra's solo workout, and the kick-a$$ parts are really kick-a$$. Two great songs by Evanescence are featured: "Bring Me To Life" and "My Immortal."
There are a lot of great dialogue lines in this film as well, in particular from The Kingpin and Bullseye ("Tell me, how do you kill a man without fear?" "By putting the fear IN him").
Daredevil's origin story is also perfect: emotionally charged but not over-long or needlessly complicated (like "Hulk").
One of the greatest successes of this film is simply the MOOD. It's dark and reverent at the same time. Daredevil is perfectly portrayed as the tortured loner; Affleck does a fantastic job!
WHAT DOESN'T WORK: The aforementioned cutesy playground scene was obviously put in just for fun (to liven things up at that point), but it doesn't belong; it destroys the believability of the picture and characters. It should have been omitted from the Director's Cut. Still, it's not that bad. I can tolerate it; and I admit that it IS a fun scene, if nothing else.
Jennifer Garner is awesome, we all know that, but she doesn't really fit the character of Elektra from the comics. She has a quality to her disposition that's simply too innocent, pure and likable (not that these are bad traits, of course; they just don't fit the character of Elektra, an assassin). Kelly Hu, who played Lady Deathstrike in X2, would've been the perfect choice. Still, I personally don't mind Ms. Garner in the role; it's an acceptable deviation (one must allow some latitude in comic-to-screen adaptations).
BOTTOM LINE: "Daredevil: The Director's Cut" ranks up there with the best superhero films of all-time! You name it: X2, Spider-Man 1 & 2, Batman Begins, "Daredevil" is as good or better! In fact, it's my personal FAVORITE! If you haven't seen the Director's Cut do whatever you must to obtain a copy and see for yourself. I talked a friend of mine, who's in the comics business, into viewing the Director's Cut. His initial appraisal of the theatrical cut was 6/10 Stars; after seeing the Director's Cut he raised his rating to 9.5/10 Stars! Like me, he was utterly stupefied that the decision was actually made to gut-out such important story elements in the theatrical release.
Ahh, but all is well now because we have the Director's Cut. Be sure to check it out if you haven't already!
Rating: -
I first saw Daredevil in the cinema and to be fair to it, its not a bad film. But it is particularly average, nothing really special. In fact to me it was a bit of a dissapointment, I'd really wanted more from it.
Fast forward to now and anyone in the same position as me really really should watch the directors cut. Why this wasnt made the theatrical release I don't know! It improves on the original in every possible way.
The film is generally a lot darker, showing the real price Matt Murdock pays for being Daredevil. Theres an amazing scene expaned upon where he comes back from dealing with a rapist and he reveals his back to show many many scars and you get a great sense of his unhappiness. Also added is a new sub plot that deals with a man falsly accused of murder and Matt's defence of him as he follows the trail all the way back to the king pin. All of this helps build the finale up to more than just vengence for a lost girlfriend but for all of hells kitchen.
On top of that the completely redundant sex scene is removed which doesnt detract from his relationship with Electra, far from it, instead it builds it up into something purer and more special than it was before and more tragic when he loses her. The end fight with the kingpin is expanded uopn in a way that feels natural rather than forced, as if thats exactly how it should have been first time round.
On top of this there have been lots of small touches included into the new edit, the emphasis on the catholic influences upon Murdocks life as well as a reference to his mother that fans of the comic will love. The parts of Ben Urich and Matt's law partner have been new and expanded scenes that all benefit the film.
I really cant stress enough how much of an improvement this is, even if you loved the first cut you should watch this, I'm sure you'll be amazed! The darkness and humanity of the character have been brought to life superbly, and the end result is all the better for the changes.
Rating: -
Okay....at first I did not like the casting of Ben Affleck as Matt/Daredevil...and after seeing the theatrical version of the movie...I didnt like it even more. (nor was the movie that good) I am not a real big Affleck fan. However, after a few times seeing the theatrical version of the film, I thought Ben did an OK job. Then I aquired the director's cut of the movie. Holy damn this is DEFINITELY what the movie should have been when released into the theaters. It is more in depth with everything. It gives the movie a darker, more awesome tone, a lot more is understood, and the story flows better. I REALLY enjoyed this version to the point where I actually want to see a sequel WITH Ben involved!
If you did not like the theatrical version of this movie, like me and many other movie lovers...you MUST see this director's cut to redeem yourself of the time lost watching the original. 5 stars.
Rating:  -
It's SO hard to review this disc fairly. I mean, if there was EVER an argument over the studios wanting to maximize the profits from one movie by releasing several versions of it, "Daredevil" makes a compelling piece of evidence for the trend. (George Lucas himself would be the clincher for the plaintiff, but I digress). As the talking heads say for themselves, there will always be praise and dirision for both versions. I actually LIKED the cinema cut, despite some rather huge plot holes, but there is a case for telling what amounts to be the real story of "Daredevil." The theater release was on the receiving end of some scathing reviews, and most of them were dead-on: too little story, too many arty jump-cuts and "cutsy" bits (particularly in the playground "fight-dance"), and too much buildup for too little payoff (the "Kingpin Showdown").
So why was all the primo story sequences and extended fight stuff cut? Demographics, my friend. And I get the feeling most of the creative crew weren't involved with what went out, as the story only benfitted from them being left in. THIS was a necessary rerelease. Yes, the first disc is still a must have, but one must wonder as to why, if the memory was chock full with the first DVD, wasn't this movie WORTH a 3-DVD treatment the first go-round?
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