Snake Eyes (1998)

Ricky Santoro is a flash corrupt cop who has a cushy life of kickbacks, a beautiful wife and even a mistress. When he attends a big prize fight during a hurricane he suspects nothing unusual, even managing to collect some betting money from a "friend".

Kevin Dunne is a protection officer, and old friend of Ricky, who is watching over the visiting government official. When the secretary of defence is assassinated, Santoro is determined to solve the crime and help his old friend. However, the deeper he digs the more he realises that his cosy lifestyle is at stake.

This is most definitely a visual film with a bright picture with vibrant colours with no sign of artifacting. The multi-angled, slow motion camera work is stunning. The first ten minutes of the film consists of one unbroken shot following Rick Santoro up and down stairs, into rooms and finally to his ring side seat. There's also some clever flashbacks of the unfolding events from the perspective of each character. If you are a film lover then this is worth the price of the disc alone.

The sound is equally impressive and a clever master stroke by director Brian DePalma. The hurricane enveloping the boxing arena keeps the rears occupied as the wind and rain lashes around the soundstage. You could almost be at the boxing match as the crowd in the arena surrounds you, it is awesome!

The lack of storyline does detract from the quality of the disc. As the conspiracy unravels the plot seems to get blown away in the storm as it becomes messy with a poor ending. The lack of extras is also a great disappointment. A commentary from Brian DePalma would have been fabulous.