Disc Details
Special Features:	Full-screen and widescreen anamorphic formats. Chapter selection. Audio commentary track by director Bryan Singer and writer Christopher McQuarrie. Audio commentary track by composer/film editor John Ottman. Deleted scenes with introduction by film editor John Ottman. Gag reel with introduction by director Singer. Featurette: "Pursuing the Suspects" Featurette: "Keyser Soze, Lie or Legend" Featurette: "Doing Time With the Suspects." Featurette: "Heisting Cannes" Trailers and TV spots. Easter Egg.
Video Format:	Anamorphic Widescreen (2.35:1)and Full Frame Pan and Scan [DS-RSDL]
Languages:	English (Dolby Digital 5.1) French (Dolby Digital 2.0)
Subtitles:	English, Spanish, French.
Captions:	Yes
Casing:	1-Disc Keep Case

Dean Keaton (Gabriel Byrne) is a former cop gone bad. Keaton is trying to go straight. His main squeeze is a sexy, high-powered attorney, Eddie Finneran (Suzy Amis). Hockney (Kevin Pollak) is a fearless thief. His runty stature hides steely nerves and a cunning criminal mind. McManus (Stephen Baldwin) is a crazy, wild-eyed thief. He is partnered with Fenster (Benicio Del Toro), a mush-mouthed, but equally capable thief. Finally there is "Verbal" Kint (Kevin Spacey). Verbal is the only one of the five who seems out of place at the line-up. Verbal is a con man who uses his cerebral palsy to hide his keen mind. The five men ultimately decide to get even with the cops for the rousting. They plan a crime. One crime will lead to another, and yet another.

This is a movie in which the less said, the better. The opening scene reveals that just about everyone involved is dead. How and why they got that way is the thrill of this movie experience. I looked the movie up in the Leonard Maltin book to get the running time and was shocked to see he only gave the movie 2 1/2 stars. He says the final revelation negates everything that went before. I would be embarrassed to make that assessment, because it would mean I was to dull to understand what had happened. Far from negating everything that went before, the ending affirms the story. Nothing is as it seems.

Picture Quality: 10/10
From the night-time climax on the dock in LA, to the harshly lit line-up in New York, to the daylight Taxi robbery, this movie is full of powerful images. To realize just how good this picture is, check out the scene in which the camera slowly zooms in to a pile of crates and ropes on the pier as Keyser Soze commits the pivotal murder in the film. The refuge on the pier is lit up by the exploding oil drums on the boat. Bright reds, yellows and browns flicker under the flame's light. All else is black shadows. Great delineation of colors.

Sound Quality: 10/10
There are so many clues in this film. Many of them are aural. You lose nothing on this track. The surround sound is excellent. A primo job by MGM.

Menu: 10/10
Very good design. Great use of images and sounds from the movie. Nice combination of still frames and animated images on the menus. Easy to navigate.

Extra Features: 10/10
Where to start. There are two commentary tracks. The first is by the young writer and director of the film. Their collaboration was the perfect synthesis of talent that made this movie work. The second commentary track is by the composer and film editor John Ottman. There are several key scenes which it turns out were the result of Mr. Ottman solving a problem in the editing room that the writer and director couldn't solve. All three men are very humble about the contributions of others. After listening to these tracks you understand why the film turned out so good.

There are four featurettes. I am happy to report that these featurettes aren't little 5 minute glorified previews. Three of them are 25 to 30 minute segments which cover a section of the filmmaking process. "Rounding Up the Usual Suspects" covers the casting of the film. There are interviews with all of the principle cast and crew. "Doing Time With the Suspects" covers the filming and the development of each character's particular traits. The Benicio Del Toro character, Fenster was a role that no one wanted. On the page it was a bland guy, who said nothing and got killed. Del Toro reveals that he realized his character had nothing important to say, plotwise, so he decided to go over the top in his portrayal. So what if no one could understand him, he isn't saying anything anyway! He steals every scene he is in. "Keyser Soze: Lie of Legend" deals with each actor's impression of just who Keyser is. It is very cool. The "Heisting Cannes" featurette is a compilation of home movies filmed by Kevin Pollak’s wife at the festival.

The deleted scenes are OK. John Ottman reveals why they were cut. All of the cuts were the correct decisions. There are no new revelations in the five scenes. The "Gag Reel" isn't bloopers. It is a short film made up of scenes from the film and cut together for bawdy effect. Director Singer says he didn't include all of it on the DVD because it was to vulgar. I think that statement was made tongue in cheek because the Gag Reel is vulgar and funny as hell.

There are two trailers and eight TV spots. I could only find one Easter Egg. It was a compilation of clues that solve the mystery.

The Final Word:
April 2, 2002. That is the day to mark on your calendar so you can round up your own "Usual Suspects."

Rusty White