DVD After being paralysed in the line of duty, brilliant homicide detective Lincoln Rhyme must track a sadistic serial killer from his bed, relying on rookie cop Amelia Donaghy to be his eyes and ears in the field.
Details
Lincoln Rhyme was once New York's top homicide investigator - until a tragic accident during a crime scene investigation leaves him paralysed from the neck down. Now confined to a hospital bed and reliant on machines to keep him alive, Rhyme has lost both his career and his will to continue. That is, until a brutal serial killer begins leaving intricately staged crime scenes across the city.
Enter Amelia Donaghy, a patrol officer with sharp instincts who stumbles upon one of the killer's victims. Recognising her potential, Rhyme recruits her as his surrogate on the streets. Through radio instructions and forensic guidance, she becomes his eyes, ears and hands, collecting microscopic clues while he pieces together the larger puzzle.
The killer leaves cryptic evidence at each scene - fragments of bone, pages from obscure books, symbolic artefacts - forcing Rhyme to decode the meaning before the next victim is claimed. The snowy New York setting adds an extra layer of bleakness, and the confined nature of Rhyme's situation creates a constant sense of claustrophobia and urgency.
Denzel Washington delivers a controlled, intelligent performance, conveying frustration, arrogance and vulnerability without ever overplaying the physical limitations of the role. Angelina Jolie holds her own as the determined Amelia, giving the film its emotional counterbalance. Their chemistry is what keeps the procedural elements engaging.
Picture & Sound
The picture quality is striking, with a consistently high bit-rate and strong detail throughout. The cold, wintry palette is handled well, and darker interiors maintain clarity without excessive grain. It is a solid transfer that does justice to the film's sombre tone.
Audio is where this disc really shines. The Dolby Digital track is impressive, making effective use of the surround channels to enhance atmospheric sounds - distant traffic, wind, industrial ambience. However, switch to the DTS track and things step up dramatically. The separation is cleaner, the low-end response more powerful, and the overall soundstage noticeably wider. In a direct comparison, DTS easily outperforms Dolby here. If you needed an excuse to upgrade your system for DTS capability, this might well be it.
Remarkably, despite including both Dolby and DTS soundtracks, the disc still finds room for a respectable selection of extras, along with DVD-ROM enhancements - even if those largely consist of web links.
Overall
An intelligent and well-paced thriller, The Bone Collector stands comfortably among the darker crime films of the late 1990s. Comparisons to Se7en are inevitable, and while it may not quite reach that film's oppressive brilliance, it certainly competes in tone and structure.
The final reveal follows familiar genre conventions, and the slow-motion climax is perhaps a touch predictable - but then again, aren't most thrillers? What matters is that the journey is tense, engaging and technically impressive on DVD.
Special features
- Spotlight on Location
- Commentary with Director Phillip Noyce
- Production Notes
- Cast and Filmmakers Notes
- Theatrical Trailer
- Universal Showcase
- DVD-ROM enhanced
