Sin City Special Edition DVD Release Party

by Mike Guardabascio

Wednesday, December 7th at the Arclight Theater in Los Angeles, California, Buena Vista Home Video gave movie and comic fans alike an early Christmas present. Nearly one week before its release date, hundreds of fans were shown special features from the new Recut, Extended Version of Sin City. After the screening, Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino, and Frank Miller talked about the making of the movie, and fielded questions from the audience.

The special features portion began with a featurette titled “How it Went Down: Convincing Frank Miller to Make the Film.” This short clip described the various assortment of luck, tricks, and downright lies that got Robert Rodriguez the blessing he needed to make Sin City. After that, we were treated to one of Rodriguez’s patented brief film school segments. In fifteen minutes, Rodriguez laid out how he took a scene of the movie from a green screen and two actors, to a polished, stylized piece of film history, giving some great looks at how he managed the mammoth task of creating the Sin City world.

Then came what may end up being the best feature on the set: The Long Take, which is simply 14 minutes of uninterrupted one-camera footage taken while Quentin Tarantino was working with Benicio Del Toro and Clive Owen on the scene he directed. In those 14 minutes, we see a quick fix on a technical problem, a few re-workings of character positions in the car, and, blessedly, footage of Tarantino being Tarantino, creating and controlling chaos in his own manic way. After that, the All Green Screen Version rolled, so that Rodriguez could give the audience a chance to see exactly how little the actors (and the effects guys) had to work with. The film for this feature is sped up by 400% to allow viewers to take in the entire unprocessed film in under ten minutes. I really enjoyed this part, although it’s pretty clear exactly how much work went into finishing the film after about three minutes. Still, a great feature because it lets everyone see what the initial footage from their favorite scene looks like.

All told, the special features provided an incredibly insightful look into the making of the movie. I won’t give away too much else since I’m sure many of you are already planning on buying the set, but I will say that I was shocked at how little interaction the actors had with each other. A single scene might have three different characters in it, played by three actors who never actually met each other during the filming of the movie. It’s amazing that Rodriguez and Miller managed to get such great performances out of actors who would often be filming scenes in a bare green room by themselves, or with a stand-in.

While the special features great, what really made the night special was the discussion and Q&A that followed it. Once the lights came up, Tarantino, Rodriguez, Miller, and makeup effects supervisor Greg Nicotero pulled up chairs and microphones and began talking about their personal experiences making the movie. The chemistry among the four of them, especially between Miller, Rodriguez, and Tarantino, was obvious, and was clearly a large part of what made the movie such a successful experience for each of them. We were regaled with hilarious inside jokes and stories that I pray make it onto the commentary tracks for the movie.

Some of the highlights: Tarantino inventing a new persona for Benicio Del Toro to match his prosthetic makeup job. He dubbed him Enrique Lebeau, a half-French, half-Spaniard who Tarantino plans on working with again, since Lebeau doesn’t make nearly as much as Del Toro does. We also got to hear that one of the original digital mock-ups of what Yellow Bastard would look like was actually an extremely worked over picture of Frank Miller, who was shocked to learn of his new connection to his art. One of the most interesting things that Miller and Rodriguez talked about was their connection to the source material. Fans of both the book and the movie won’t be surprised to learn that the movie was filmed with the graphic novel on hand at all times. In fact, they even referred to scenes being shot for the day by the page and panel number in the book. Strangely, though, it was Rodriguez, and not the initially hesitant Miller, who was most protective about maintaining the exact look and content of the book. There were even times when Miller would suggest changes, and Rodriguez would point to the book and say, “It’s not in here!” Rodriguez told the audience that he “refused to let Frank change Frank’s work.” Rodriguez also claimed that the difficult-to-film scene where Clive Owen was stuck in a tar pit was his way of getting the actor back for taking a few joking shots at Miller’s original art.

After this lengthy discussion between the creators, they opened it up to any members of the audience who wanted to ask questions. At first there were only a few hands in the air, until Rodriguez announced that anyone who had a question called on would be given a free copy of the new DVD set. Instantly, the air became a sea of outstretched hands, all of them begging for an answer to a suddenly vital question, as well as the sweet satisfaction of a free, not-yet-released DVD.

Like all Q&As, there were some boring questions, but the combination of creators onstage made even questions like, “How great is it to be you guys?” suddenly become top-notch entertainment. After Nicotero, Miller, and Rodriguez answered humbly and modestly, Tarantino exploded in typical Tarantino fashion, explaining how great it was to be one of the people on stage, finishing with a, “If you could be us, I’d recommend it!”

Fortunately for us (and for you), there were some pretty cool questions as well. Frank Miller told one audience member that there were going to be more Sin City graphic novels out in the future, and also that he is writing new characters into the film version of A Dame to Kill For. Rodriguez joked that he had to, because there were so many actors they wanted to fit into the movies. Rodriguez also informed another fan that all the preparations are made for Sin City 2 to begin filming, and that at this point, it was up to Miller to finish fleshing out his vision––the day that happens, they’ll get to work. Another fan asked how the look of the next movie would be, and Rodriguez promised it would be the same, except for some potential improvements that would come with the advancement of technology.

I managed to get in a question that I was eager to have answered, and in the process scored a super-sweet DVD set (which, by the way, comes with the first volume of Sin City) in the process. Rodriguez spotted me and requested that “the guy who looks like Kevin Smith” ask the next question. I obliged by asking Frank Miller if his positive experience with Sin City would open him up to the possibility of adapting more of his comics work to the big screen. Miller said that he wasn’t necessarily opposed to such an idea, but suggested that should he adapt more of his work, it would be Rodriguez and his Troublemaker Studios that he would want filming it. Then, after Rodriguez had fielded the last question, a special guest stood up to ask the last last question: Kevin Smith, making a surprise appearance, demanded to see “that guy who looks like me,” and received a free DVD for his efforts. When I talked to him after the show, he told me I should slap Rodriguez (though he referred to him as “that motherfucker”) for making the comparison.

All the creators (including Smith) stuck around for long after the talk ended, signing autographs, shaking hands, and occasionally gasping for air. It was strange that these artists, legends in their respective fields, were such normal people, though clearly that makes sense. Up close, they weren’t huge names on the movie screen, or a genius who created Dark Knight Returns, they were just good friends hanging out. All of them were incredibly nice, and they didn’t let a fan leave unhappy. So, if you run into any of them, tell them thanks from me, and make sure to pick up the Recut, Extended, Unrated version of Sin City on December 13th. I’ve been pouring through it since I got home, and it’s amazing.

Hope you enjoyed the column––wanna tell me something about it or anything else? Email me, day or night, at skio84@charter.net