Snatch Blu-ray delivers great video and audio in this excellent Blu-ray release
When a dizzying robbery takes place in the Orthodox Jewish diamond district, a flawless 86-
carat gem, the size of an infant's fist, is lifted in the snatch. Taking it to London, the
diamond's thief and courier, Franky Four Fingers arrives in the city as a stopover en route to
New York to deliver the huge diamond to his bigwig crime boss, Avi. But because Franky can't
resist temptation and London is a town with its share of illegal trade, a small crowd of
miscreants and malefactors eventually ends up chasing each other and the whereabouts of the
diamond. These include: Doug the Head, a jeweler who pretends he's Jewish because it's good
for business; Boris the Blade, a Russian gangster with a deserved reputation for being
impossible to kill; Bullet Tooth Tony, a legendary hard guy and Brick Top, perhaps the scariest
of the lot.
Snatch is shorthand for "convoluted plot, unintelligible dialects, quirky styling,
superficially gratifying, and wildly entertaining filmmaking." Indeed, Guy Ritchie's 2000 follow-up to
the fan-favorite Lock, Stock and Two Smoking
Barrels follows a familiar formula, delivering a picture that's not exactly coherent but not
particularly difficult to follow on a base level. Fortunately, there's little to Snatch beyond
the surface, making it easy to digest despite the many obstacles that keep it from being more
readily accessible in a traditional narrative style. Snatch interconnects two major plot lines,
neither of which are of any moral, spiritual, emotional, or otherwise philosophically important
structure or value; instead, the film cares only about the visceral aspects of the violent, corrupt, and
complex world it weaves, a world where anything goes, a tone that's reflected in Ritchie's haphazard
and highly kinetic but wonderfully effective visual approach to the material.
Definitely not a replica.
Snatch follows two stories that interconnect by film's end: that of a stolen diamond
and a series of fixed boxing matches gone awry. The former begins with the theft of a flawless
and particularly large 86-carat gem by the skilled Frankie "Four Fingers" (Benicio del Toro, The Way of the
Gun), and he and the diamond become the object of desire by a broad spectrum of
sleazy and unscrupulous individuals: American Avi Denovitz (Dennis Farina), hit man Bullet Tooth
Tony (Vinne Jones), Doug the Head (Mike Reid), Boris the Blade (Rade Šerbedžija), and assorted
low-level goons. Meanwhile, illegal boxing promoter Brick Top (Alan Ford) has a rigged fight lined
up, but when his underling Turkish (Jason Statham, Crank) sends Tommy
(Stephen Graham) and boxer Gorgeous George (Adam Fogerty) to secure him a new camper from
a group of "pikeys," George is severely injured in a fight with Mickey O'Neil (Brad Pitt,
The Curious Case of Benjamin
Button), leaving Turkish and Tommy with no choice but to ask Mickey to enter the ring
as George's replacement.
No matter the ins-and-puts of the plot; Snatch is more about the experience than the
story, more about understanding the hows rather than the whys. Few films can succeed on style
alone, and Snatch seems to go out of its way to prove itself the exception to that rule.
Though its narrative isn't impossible to follow, it's moderately difficult for a myriad of reasons:
borderline unintelligible accents, a plethora of main characters, varied motivations,
interconnecting stories and fates, and a highly-charged and unorthodox visual style. All told,
Snatch seems the epitome of a film destined to collapse under its own weight and
convoluted collection of elements, but Director Guy Ritchie handles the entire spectrum of
cinematic no-nos with tongue seemingly planted in-cheek, lending to the film a none-too-serious
tone despite its dark and violent elements surrounding England's seediest Criminal underbellies
and enterprises. Indeed, Snatch -- and Ritchie's other films -- is of its own personal
style,
a genre of its own, a film that can only be imitated but not duplicated, for few films enjoy such a
mind-bendingly unique approach as this.
Snatch is a product of style, and as such, elements other than story prove more valuable
to the experience, and the movie benefits greatly from its collection of talent found on either side
of the camera. Guy Ritchie's direction is fluid, an organic ensemble of elements that give the film
a life of its own, and it's complimented by a frenetic and terribly loud soundtrack that jumps into
the mix and injects an additional jolt of energy into the experience. Together, the film's look and
sound define the high energy concept, and both help in equal parts to energize a picture that
otherwise suffers from the aforementioned issues that would seem to spell certain doom for a
picture that dared take itself even the least bit more serious than Snatch. On the other
side of the lens, Snatch's entire cast turn in memorable performances within the context
of the film. The accents are thick but the dialogue is witty, and each character seems fully
immersed in the film's helter-skelter style. Brad Pitt is particularly engaging as the "pikey" fighter
Mickey O'Neil who encapsulates the entire experience, speaking with a particularly thick accent
that even the other characters in the film have a hard time discerning, but he also makes for the
most complex character that suffers greatly but also reaps a particularly handsome reward.
Snatch also enjoys wonderful performances from a combination of name stars (Jason
Statham, Benicio del Toro) and plenty of character actors at the top of their craft (Dennis Farina,
Alan Ford).
This Blu-ray release of Snatch delivers a technically proficient 1080p, 1.85:1-framed
transfer that's not particularly appealing from a visual perspective but does seem to remain true
to the film's intended appearance. The most prevailing aspect of the image is the muted color
palette, the film seemingly taking on strong hints of greens, grays, and browns with brighter
hues somewhat diminished in presence. As a result, Snatch is a particularly bland, dim,
dreary picture that won't become the latest showroom floor demonstration disc, but it does seem
to retain the filmmakers' original intent, which proves vastly more important than pure visual eye
candy. As a result of the dulled color palette and generally overcast, gloomy tone, fine detail
never immediately comes to the forefront, but the transfer reveals a good deal of visual niceties
in context. Wrinkles and seams in clothing; facial characteristics; textures as seen on exterior
building façades and streets; and general grime, wear, and tear on some of the more run-down
objects and locales scattered about the movie are nicely presented and fit in well with the film's
overreaching visual tone. Black levels are sufficiently reproduced and flesh tones are reflective of
the picture's naturally dour appearance. Rounded out by a pleasantly subtle layer of film
grain, Sony's Blu-ray transfer of Snatch leaves little to be desired within the confines of
Guy Ritchie's intended look for the film.
Snatch arrives on Blu-ray with a sound DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack. This
presentation is highlighted by a loud yet concise and enthralling musical presentation; clear and
precise throughout the entire range, the film's soundtrack blares from the speakers during many
high-energy scenes but does so with strong precision that accentuates the film and excites the
aural
senses. In addition, the track delivers a rather hefty low-end extension as part of the musical
accompaniment, and several sound effects -- booming shots from Bullet Tooth Tony's .50-caliber
Desert Eagle handgun for example -- enjoy a good supportive rumble. The track also features
solid
ambience and a few decent directional effects; the interior of a getaway van after the opening
diamond heist is accompanied by various sounds of rattling and rolling as the vehicle lumbers
down
the road, and the climactic boxing sequence delivers something of a surreal experience as the
fight -- and accompanying sound effects -- moves about the listening area in seamless
conjunction
with the on-screen imagery. Snatch isn't a particularly booming or full-on sonic assault
picture, but the track helps energize the movie and this DTS offering does all that's asked
of
it. Rounded out by strong dialogue reproduction that captures every deliberately hard-to-decipher
syllable with ease, Snatch makes for another solid soundtrack effort from Sony.
Snatch debuts on Blu-ray with several bonus features. First up is a commentary track
with
Writer/Director Guy Ritchie and Producer Matthew Vaughn. A surprisingly dry affair, the track
plays
out in stark contrast to the high energy of Snatch. It's a procedural track that covers a
spectrum of technical aspects with some good insights into the acting, story, editing, and other
surrounding pieces of the Snatch experience. The 'Snatch' Cutting Room is an
interactive feature that allows users to cobble together their own series of scenes from the film;
users can edit scenes, add music, title their creation, and share it with the world via the disc's
BD-Live page. Revolving around a game of chess between Jason Statham and Guy Ritchie,
Making 'Snatch' (480p, 24:42) is a decent piece that features plenty of
behind-the-scenes snippets and interview clips with the cast as they discuss numerous aspects of
the
film. The set also features six deleted scenes (480p) with optional Ritchie/Vaughn commentary;
storyboard comparisons (480p) for three scenes: Introduction of Characters, Avi
Goes to London, and The Big Fight; a Video Photo Gallery (480p, 5:16); three TV
spots (480p, 0:32 each); and the film's teaser (480p, 0:53) and theatrical (1080p, 2:02) trailers.
Also included is BD-Live and MovieIQ functionality.
With every cockeyed element coming together for a
somewhat indecipherable but altogether entertaining film with plenty of replay value,
Snatch is not only a creature of its own definition but a film unique in most every regard,
a wonderful change of pace in a sea of mediocrity and copycat pictures. Director Guy Ritchie lends
to the film just the right pace and tone to allow it to overcome a plethora of otherwise
damaging elements, and the ensemble cast to a man delivers a collection of extraordinary
performances. Sony's
Blu-ray release of this modern classic does the film justice. Boasting a strong video transfer within
the confines of the film's intentionally muted tone, a solid lossless soundtrack, and a few good
extras, Snatch comes strongly recommended.
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