| The Da Vinci Code (Widescreen Two-Disc Special Edition) | 
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Avg. Customer Rating:   (based on 596 reviews)
Sales Rank: 2083
Category: DVD
Actors: Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou, Ian Mckellen, Jean Reno, Paul Bettany
Director: Ron Howard
Publisher: Sony Pictures
Studio: Sony Pictures
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
Label: Sony Pictures
Format: Ac-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Dvd-video, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), English (Original Language), French (Original Language), Latin (Original Language), French (Dubbed), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD
Running Time: 149 minutes
Number Of Items: 2
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.4 x 0.7
UPC: 043396148345
EAN: 0043396148345
ASIN: B00005JOC9
Release Date: November 14, 2006
Theatrical Release Date: May 19, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com
Critics and controversy aside, The Da Vinci Code is a verifiable blockbuster. Combine the film's huge worldwide box-office take with over 100 million copies of Dan Brown's book sold, and The Da Vinci Code has clearly made the leap from pop-culture hit to a certifiable franchise. The leap for any story making the move from book to big screen, however, is always more perilous. In the case of The Da Vinci Code, the plot is concocted of such a preposterous formula of elements that you wouldn't envy screenwriter Akiva Goldsman, the man tasked with making this story filmable. The script follows Dan Brown's book as closely as possible while incorporating a few needed changes, including a better ending. And if you're like most of the world, by now you've read the book and know how it goes: while lecturing in Paris, noted Harvard Professor of Symbology Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) is summoned to the Louvre by French police to help decipher a bizarre series of clues left at the scene of the murder of the chief curator. Enter Sophie Neveu (Audrey Tautou), gifted cryptologist. Neveu and Langdon team up to solve the mystery, and from there the story is propelled across Europe, ballooning into a modern-day mini-quest for the Holy Grail, where secret societies are discovered, codes are broken, and murderous albino monks are thwarted… oh, and alternative theories about the life of Christ and the beginnings of Christianity are presented too, of course. It's not the typical formula for a stock Hollywood thriller. In fact, taken solely as a mystery, the movie almost works--despite some gaping holes--mostly just because it keeps moving. Brown's greatest trick was to have the entire story take place in one day, so the action is forced to keep moving, despite some necessary pauses for exposition. As a screen couple, Hanks and Tautou are just fine together but not exactly memorable; meanwhile Sir Ian McKellen's scenery-chewing as pivotal character Sir Leigh Teabing is just what the film needed to keep it from taking itself too seriously. The whole thing is like a good roller-coaster ride: try not to think too much about it--just sit back and enjoy the trip. --Daniel Vancini 
Visit The Da Vinci Code Store | On The DVD
The DVD extras on a film as popular as The Da Vinci Code should be plentiful, and this version doesn't skimp. With over 90 minutes of special features, including ten behind-the-scenes featurettes, there's a lot here to explore beyond the film itself. The question is, is there anything new here that we haven't heard before, in all the hype, pseudo-documentaries, and controversy surrounding the movie, to make it worthwhile? For most viewers, the answer will be "yes." Essentially, if you like the movie, if you enjoyed the book, you will get a lot out of them. Just as the movie is intended to make the book come to life, the DVD extras should make the film come to life by pointing the audience into the world of the filmmakers, connecting the dots between print and film, and for the most part they do just that. The extras here range from the typical look behind-the-scenes to more in-depth features on the supporting characters, the locations, and the Mona Lisa herself. "First Day on the Set with Ron Howard" features the director gushing about the opportunity to film in the Louvre and work with Tom Hanks again (the two worked together before on Splash and Apollo 13). It's a short piece that doesn't reveal much beyond making an attempt to share Howard's excitement (with the "Gee, I really loved working with him/her on this project" that you hear in every such featurette), but viewers might enjoy seeing how the stage was set up in the famous museum, down to the spike tape on the floor showing actors where to hit their marks. The Filmmaking Experience, Parts 1 and 2 further explores the creative and technical aspects of the filmmaking process. A Conversation with Dan Brown starts out feeling like a puff-piece (the man who wrote this book got started at age 5 with a story called The Giraffe, The Pig, and the Pants on Fire. "It was a thriller," he says.) and unfortunately it doesn't go very deep into much of anything of interest. But on the other hand, this isn't 60 Minutes here; it's intended to give viewers a better sense of the man behind the franchise, which it does. Much of the footage from this interview is sprinkled throughout some of the other featurettes. Meanwhile, the character behind the franchise, Robert Langdon, is examined in his own featurette, as is Sophie Neveu. The cool thing here is getting under the skin of the actors to see how they approached the characters, knowing that most of the movie-going public already has formed their own ideas about the characters from the book. The most interesting extras are the featurettes that focus on the history behind the mystery. Or is it the mystery behind the history? Either way, the first one on the Mona Lisa, and the second featurette on the many codes and symbols that are hidden throughout the movie balance out the remainder of the extras nicely by demonstrating the sense of intrigue, mystery, and game-playing adventure that made The Da Vinci Code so popular in the first place. --Daniel Vancini Beyond The Da Vinci Code 
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More About The Artist | Stills from The Da Vinci Code (click for larger image)
Description
Dan Brown's international bestseller comes alive in the film The Da Vinci Code, directed by Ron Howard with a screenplay by Akiva Goldsman. Join symbologist Robert Langdon (Academy Award Winner Tom Hanks, 1993 Best Actor, Philadelphia, and 1994 Best Actor, Forrest Gump) and cryptologist Sophie Neveu (Audrey Tautou) in their heart-racing quest to solve a bizarre murder mystery that will take them from France to England - and behind the veil of a mysterious ancient society, where they discover a secret protected since the time of Christ. With first-rate performances by Sir Ian McKellen, Alfred Molina and Jean Reno, critics are calling The Da Vinci Code "involving" and "intriguing," "a first rate thriller."
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| Customer Reviews: Read 591 more reviews...
 Thought provoking, yes, but also a wonderful adventure. April 25, 2008
Now, when I first heard about The Da Vinci Code, I thought it was about finding codes in paintings. It turns out that I was partially right. What I DIDN'T know was that it was also about religion. Not being religious whatsoever, I thought that this movie would be disappointing. However, although there were a few spots that I found difficult to understand, I actually enjoyed the film.
So what's the movie about? Without giving too much away, I'll say that a man who has kept a very important secret is found dead. The man's grandaughter asks a professor for assistance in figuring out the secret.
Let's talk about the positives first. Acting-wise, the casting director couldn't have done a better job. Even the minor characters were spot on. Second, as most people know, this movie was based on a book. I hadn't read the book but, unlike most movies based on books, it wasn't incredibly hard to follow nor do you NEED to read the book in order to understand the movie. If you like puzzles or mysteries, this movie will have you thinking. And talk about adventurous. From police chases to treasure hunts, there's a ton of thrills to be had.
And now for the negatives. As I said above, I'm not religious so it was hard to follow what was going on when the characters mentioned certain biblical people or events. Second, the movie doesn't have a realy big AHA! moment or a turning point. This normally would disappoint me but there's enough little surprises and twists that kept me watching.
Would I recommend this movie? Not really. I don't think it's a movie that can be watched more than once and if you don't like mysteries, you may not find anything interesting about this movie. I still gave it 4 stars because it had me at the edge of my seat almost the entire time.
 So Wrong in So Many Ways March 31, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I saw this movie in on the big screen and was very disappointed. Recently I received this DVD as a gift, and I'm still disappointed. The "extras" reflect the film. They seem "tacked on" to make a quick buck. That sums up the movie, too. The casting in the film is bad. The acting is excellent but these folks are way, way miscast. But that's not really the problem. The problem is that they "shot the book." They just filmed some actors reading the book. Fast. This approach left us with a bit of a mess, and a big embarrassment to a lot of skilled and talented people who have had the bad luck to be associated with this film.
Actually, if the actors had just read the book on an empty stage, it would have been a better movie. The "action" is distracting. It doesn't make you sit on the edge of your seat, it makes you want to go get a snack. Nothing works as it should, because they shot the book.
What was required here was the courage to do something else. Writers notoriously resist any attempt to alter their work when it's made into a film. Well, Dan Brown should have encouraged it. I could write the bones of better script right here. And I will.
The first act introduces a ship-load of weirdos. So let's explore that. Langdon is a professor. That's weird right there. Did he kill the curator like the French police think he did? Maybe. He's a weirdo. Maybe they had a dispute over the number of apostrophes in alphabet soup. What about this strange woman who shows up and butts in? She must be insane. She ought to act a little more insane. The French police are trying to arrest a killer but this loony woman helps him get away, and displays uncanny driving ability doing so.
We learn that Langdon is just weird. He's not a killer. The strange woman is not crazy. She had an unusual upbringing. Think James Bond meets James Beard. Incidentally--there was some hocus pocus about DaVinci paintings that Langdon...
"...figured out while you were in there..."
"In where?"
"Th-th-there."
"WHERE?"
"Th-the ladies room..."
"You mean the men's room?"
"Th-th-th-th-the"
"Never mind."
Oh yeah, give Langdon a stutter. A severe one.
Now we're on our way. The scene where our albino friend whups himself is silly, offensive and dumb all at the same time. Take it from me, cowboy, if you whip yourself regularly, you won't feel it much. Sorta like shaving. All that wincing and prancing just looked fake, not real. Hate to say it but Ron Howard really HAS led a pain-free life. Who'd a-thunk?
Now, I can't write a whole synopsis here, but this film would have benefitted greatly from just about any effort to MAKE IT DIFFERENT FROM THE BOOK. But that didn't happen.
Finally, I gave this movie two stars--but took one away in honor of the God of the Israelites whom this film goes out of its way to mock (takes more guts than I have).
C-ya!
This is what it boils down to for me......... March 29, 2008
....."high speed" chase through Paris is a Smart car.
Not exactly Ronin, is it?
I actually wanted to like this as I really like Tom Hanks but, dear oh dear, Tom. I just can't bring myself to give it anything above 1 star. Over hyped rubbish.
 Excellent movie March 24, 2008
If you liked the book, you should like the movie. There's much adventure and suspense to keep you interested.
Very moving, thought provoking movie March 21, 2008
The mastermind of Dan Brown comes alive in this adaption of the book by the same name. If you are a fan of Ron Howard movies, you won't be disappointed. There are a few deviations from the book, but they are as brilliant as the original story line. The music is also a highlight. Highly recommended.
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