Gone In Sixty Seconds appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.35:1 on this single-sided, double-layered DVD; the image has been enhanced for 16X9 televisions. Not too much interfered with the visuals in this strong transfer.
Sharpness seemed consistently excellent. Even during the widest shots, I detected no signs of soft or hazy images. The film maintained exceptional crispness and accuracy from start to finish. Jagged edges and moiré effects didn’t show up, and I noticed only a sliver of edge enhancement. Print flaws were virtually absent and created no distractions.
Colors were cleanly and smoothly reproduced. Director Dominic Sena came from the world of music videos, and that influence appeared in the movie’s color schemes. We found lots of moody lighting; various greens, blues, reds and yellows dominated the proceedings. The DVD replicated them nicely, without any signs of bleeding or noise; the hues seemed clear and vibrant. Black levels were equally solid; they appeared deep and rich, and shadow detail looked appropriately heavy but never excessively opaque. All in all, the movie presented a fine visual experience.
Even better was the Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack of Gone in Sixty Seconds. This sucker kicked into higher gear during the opening credits and rarely let up after that time. All five channels offered a tremendous amount of discrete information throughout the film. The audio placed all sounds correctly in the proper locations and blended them together neatly. When cars moved across speakers, I heard no awkwardness or forced qualities; the vehicles panned smoothly and effectively. The track provided consistently engaging and involving sound at all times, but it really took off during the film’s climactic car chase; that’s when it delivered everything I’d want from it.
Audio quality seemed similarly strong. Dialogue appeared crisp and distinct with no signs of edginess or problems related to intelligibility. Music was dynamic and bold and seemed accurately reproduced; the songs and score all were clear and bright. Effects appeared realistic - sometimes hyperrealistic, really - and lacked distortion or other flaws. Bass was deep and taut and added a solid punch to the package. Ultimately, the soundtrack to Gone offered exactly the kind of stellar experience I expected from it.
How did the picture and sound quality of this new DVD compare to the original release? I thought the new one cleaned up the picture a little but otherwise was comparable. Audio remained the same, and the picture improvements were minor.
This DVD presents an “unrated director’s cut” of Gone in Sixty Seconds. It runs about nine minutes longer than the original theatrical edition. What do you get with that extra material? Nothing too exciting, I’m afraid.
While the unrated Coyote Ugly actually added some sex and nudity, we find nothing non-“PG-13” here. Actually, at the start of the film, Tumbler talks about a new form of masturbation he prefers, and I don’t think that made the original cut.
Otherwise, the new version simply expands the existing one with subdued footage. It presents a few more character moments and story topics but nothing memorable. Frankly, it’s hard to tell the difference between the two movies, as the longer one doesn’t deviate in any notable way from the original.
Though it’s not a packed special edition, Gone does present a few supplements, most of which are brief video featurettes. Note that all of these repeat from the original 2000 DVD; no new extras pop up here.
In the “Jerry Bruckheimer” section we find two pieces. Conversations With Jerry Bruckheimer is a seven-minute and 25-second overview of his career and producing philosophy. Like his movies, it’s a glossy piece, but it makes for a mildly interesting primer.
The Bruckheimer area also includes a biography. This text is quite detailed and offers much more information than the average listing; it even discusses a slew of upcoming Bruckheimer vehicles.
Action Overload is an unusual piece. It’s 90 seconds worth of crashes and excitement from the film. Basically, if your attention span is too short to stick with all of Gone, just check this out instead.
The Big Chase examines a number of different segments of the film’s climax through some additional featurettes. This area splits into “L.A. Streets” (five minutes, five seconds), “Naval Yard” (three minutes, 35 seconds), and “The Big Jump” (three minutes, 10 seconds). These pieces are fairly glossy and flashy but they’re interesting and they offer a good look at the technical challenges posed by the story.
0 to 60 provides a general look at the movie. It’s little more than the typical promotional puff piece; I found the four-minute and five-second program to be watchable but unspectacular.
Wild Rides looks at how the actors trained to drive in the film. I thought this was a fun piece because it focused on something unusual and showed how much of the work was done by the actors. Most of the five-minute and 18-second program concentrated on how Cage did his own stunts, but we get reflections from the others as well.
Stars on the Move breaks down into additional featurettes which look at the actors and their roles. We find individual pieces that focus on Nicolas Cage (95 seconds), Giovanni Ribisi (100 seconds), Scott Caan (35 seconds), TJ Cross (55 seconds), William Lee Scott (55 seconds), Robert Duvall (85 seconds), Angelina Jolie (85 seconds), Vinnie Jones (100 seconds), Chi McBride (60 seconds), Delroy Lindo (120 seconds), and Christopher Eccleston (125 seconds). These are superficial but mildly interesting overviews.
Two addition pieces complete the extras. We find the film’s excellent theatrical trailer plus a music video for the Cult’s “Painted On My Heart”. Here this washed-up Eighties band gets to try to pull an Aerosmith with their rendition of a treacly Diane Warren clunker. Shockingly, the video uses the usual song-from-a-movie formula: film clips interspersed with shots of the band as the melodramatically lip-synch. Ugh!
As is typical for DVDs from Buena Vista, Gone opens with ads for some other films. We get a trailer for Dark Water plus promos for the DVDs of National Treasure and The Pacifier.
Gone In Sixty Seconds won’t claim any prizes for originality, but it nonetheless provides a solidly entertaining and exciting experience. The DVD offers generally terrific picture and sound plus some superficial but interesting extras. Fans of glossy, big-budget action films will want to give it a look.
Should those fans who already picked up the prior DVD grab a copy of this one? Probably not. The main difference I found came from the moderately longer cut, but I didn’t think it did anything to improve the original film. Picture quality was slightly improved but not by much. Everything else seems the same, so I see little reason to “upgrade” to the new DVD.
