Review of Sicilian, The

Introduction

Arguably one of Mario Puzo`s greatest novels, The Sicilian follows the fortunes of one Salvatore Giuliano (Christopher Lambert), who attempted a revolution of Sicily.

Like others of Cimio`s works (The Deer Hunter etc), this film is vast in it`s cinematographic scope and one that didn`t do too well at the box office but has garnered a decent cultish status since.

The film also boasts memorable performances by Terrance Stamp, John Turturro, Joss Ackland and others.

Gore Vidal is the uncredited author of the excellent screenplay....

Video

Video quality is good but not excellent, there is some graniness evident but this is never intrusive. DVD artefacts are invisible and colour saturation is excellent throughout.

There are lots of subtitle options and they work :)

Audio

Oddly the audio options are: English stereo or German or Spanish surround. All three soundtracks are Dolby Digital.

Sound presentation is good, with decent stereo separation in both the German and the English versions (I don`t speak Spanish but I assume it`s as good!)

The DVD menu plays a short excerpt from the main theme on an endless loop.......

All voices come across well and the soundtrack is never intrusive and blends well with the expansive storyline (incidentally this story is the basis for "The Godfather")

Features

This disc boasts a fairly small list of special features - the trailer and a photo gallery (mostly of Christopher Lambert in macho poses)

I said it was a small list. To be fair they are good quality stills.

Conclusion

The Sicilian is an excellent film and well worth tracking down. This DVD is vastly superior to previous offerings on VHS (or Region 1 DVD) and, with the exception of a somewhat meagre features list, is heartily recommended.