I remember dragging my ex-girlfriend to see this movie in the theatre on Valentine’s Day back in 2003.  She was very surprised as she had always known me to be very anti-Ben Affleck.  With the exception of Good Will Hunting I have never been a fan of his wooden characters he portrayed or that grin he always seems to proudly display.  Maybe it is just me?  I was going to pass on this movie completely until two reasons persuaded me not to.  The first was the awesome music soundtrack.  I remember having a copy of this CD a month before the movie even came out.  It was then that I discovered the amazing lungs of Evanescence’s Amy Lee.  There are a total of two Evanescence songs playing during two key emotional moments in the movie.  The second was a referral from a friend who lives out-of-state who basically encouraged me to put my dislike for Ben Affleck aside and check this movie out for what it was… a comic book superhero movie. Sometimes I just need a little encouragement.  With that being the case I trotted out into the harsh winter month of February and found myself enjoying a pretty decent superhero movie on par with the likes of the new Spider-Man franchise at the time.

The film stars Ben Affleck as Matt Murdock, a blind attorney by day and a masked vigilante by night.  Jennifer Garner plays Matt’s love interest, Elektra Natchios, affectionately known as just Elektra to the majority of us with her spandex outfits and swirling sais.  Colin Farrell plays the assassin Bullseye who never misses his targets.  Michael Clarke Duncan plays the crime lord Kingpin.  I remember reading about his character when this movie came out back in 2003 and how much weight he gained just for this role.  Last but not least is a fellow that needs no introductions.  Jon Favreau plays Matt Murdock’s best friend and legal partner, Foggy.  You might remember Jon from his most recent success of 2008′s “Ironman” and his portrayal of Happy Hogan in that movie.

The movie takes place solely in Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan, New York.  The movie starts out, like most superhero movies, with a terrible accident.  Without giving too much of the plot away young Matt Murdock becomes blinded as a result of a radioactive accident.  This accident basically heightened his remaining senses giving him a radar-like-sense which allowed him to visually perceive his surroundings through the use of sound.  Shortly after the accident his father is brutally killed and young Matt vows to seek justice any which way he can.  There is the usual set of montages that show how he learned to use all his new powers, jump the rooftops over the streets of Hell’s Kitchen, and ultimately triumph over his dreadful handicap.  This brings us up to the present day where Matt Murdock and his partner Foggy are fighting for the justice of their poor clients who are barely able to pay them for their work.  This depresses Foggy who is always seen wanting to better himself by getting in with representing the Kingpin and his rich clients while Matt has other plans of his own.  Little does Foggy know that his blind legal partner is actually the masked vigilante Daredevil jumping around from rooftop to rooftop fighting crime at night.  Basically, when the legal system fails, and lets face it…it often does…Matt takes justice into his own hands by the use of his masked alter-ego.  Really, it was not until I sat down a few weeks back to watch this newly re-mastered blu-ray did I remember how violent and dark this movie really is…much like that of The Dark Knight.

To sum things up, fate basically brings Matt and Elektra’s characters together one sunny morning in a local diner. They have a sparring session in the park which results in a blossoming loving relationship thereafter.  That is until the Kingpin intervenes.  You see Elektra’s father, well how should I put it, he wants to get out of the crime business but like all mobs, once you are in, you are in for life.  The Kingpin hires an assassin by the name of Bullseye.  A lot of people don’t care for the way Colin Farrell portrayed Bullseye but I for one laughed my butt off at his antics and mannerisms.  Bullseye was hired to kill off Elektra’s father… hopefully in front of her.  Elektra’s mother was killed right in front of her as a young child so this is just one of the many back stories they utilize to show just how similar Matt and Elektra really are.  Things go astray when, I say this laughingly, Bullseye misses for the first time (you will see Bullseye’s humorous antics upon viewing this movie) and Daredevil is framed in the eyes of Elektra as her father’s killer.  Eventually Elektra takes her vengeance out on Daredevil not knowing this whole time that it really is Matt Murdock.  But before things can get patched back up between the two lovers Bullseye intervenes once more killing Elektra and feeding Daredevil’s appetite for vengeance.  How do you kill a man that has no fear?  You do so by putting the fear in him.  At least this is what Bullseye thought.  The remainder of the movie revolves around Bullseye’s attempt at killing Daredevil and Daredevil’s quest to bring down the evil Kingpin once and for all.

Fox has brought the Director’s Cut of Daredevil to the Blu-ray format.  This version adds exactly 30 minutes to original movie’s 103 minute runtime.  Having never seen the Director’s Cut before I immediately noticed little things here and there that were not in the original theatrical version.  The Director’s Cut mainly consists of flashbacks and a subplot involving Matt Murdock defending a murder suspect played by actor/rapper Coolio.  Unfortunately, there is no seamless branching on this Blu-ray release like there was for Spider-Man 2.  You only get to view the Director’s Cut, not the Theatrical version.  This is not a big deal to myself but for the diehard fans of the movie I can see where they may feel cheated or disappointed by this.  I guess if I was nitpicking then my only complaint would be dwelling on how the heck does Daredevil jump from building to building like he is Spider-Man?  I guess that is the only thing that really bothers me in this film.  Other than that I am a fan.

The movie was never critically accepted by the mass audiences.  However, there has been some recent talk of a Daredevil sequel (hopefully reboot) involving the likes of Mr. Jason Statham helming the lead role of Daredevil under the visions of the legendary Frank Miller.  I, personally, am very excited about the possibility of this happening… especially being a big fan of Jason and his movies.  If you are a fan of Daredevil I can’t see (no pun intended) how you could not be excited about this.

Video

Daredevil is presented in its original widescreen aspect ratio of 2.35:1 in beautiful 1080P.  Be warned… Daredevil is a dark movie.  This means there is an abundance of grain throughout and colors kind of appear dull at times.  This is to be expected since over half the movie is shot in the shadows.  But don’t let that sway your decision from giving this beautiful transfer a view.  Even though the movie is dark the depth, backgrounds, and details are immaculate.  I often compare dark movies to the Blu-ray release of The Descent and in no way does this ever come close to the distracting grain that plagues the darkness in The Descent.  Outside shots are gorgeous with fine detail prevalent and accurate, natural skin tones.  I often say if I can’t see the actor’s pores then I generally dislike the video transfer.  I promise that you can see every imperfection and pore on Ben Affleck’s skin as well as the other characters.  The fine detail in the wine-colored leather suit of Daredevil’s costume is always visible in this superb transfer from Fox, truly putting the DVD of this to shame.  I knocked it down a star only because the film is so visibly dark throughout that we will never know how good it could have looked had it been a much brighter film.

Audio

I generally like a movie because of its beautiful picture so that is why it surprised me so much when I sat down in my home theatre to view Daredevil and was blown away by the stunning soundtrack.  The film’s DTS-HD 5.1 Master Lossless Audio is easily one of the best movie soundtracks I have ever heard thus far on the Blu-ray format.  If nothing else, the movie has to be appreciated for its audio.  Think about it… Daredevil is a blind superhero who relies on his hearing for his radar-like sight.  So doesn’t it makes sense that the audio and surround sounds have to be over the top, bombastic?  Well ladies and gents I am here to tell you that this soundtrack doesn’t disappoint and I feel sorry for anyone who is listening to this movie through just two speakers.  They are missing out on an experience like none other.  The bass is persistent throughout as well as the rear channels which really never rested at all.  I felt immersed in the action throughout the entire film.  I think this was the first time I must have watched Daredevil in surround sound because I don’t remember it sounding this good.  This movie’s soundtrack is definitely demo worthy in my opinion.  Another pet peeve of mine is low dialogue mixes.  Luckily this was never a problem as the dialogue was well balanced and clear throughout the entire film.  I can easily give this movie’s audio a 5-star rating without any hesitation.

Special Features

This Blu-ray edition contains more than 6 hours of supplemental material.  It is great to see Fox finally giving the fans who invest in Blu-ray their money’s worth but unfortunately every Special Feature, with the exception of the Commentary is in Standard Definition.  This release contains just about every piece of supplemental material that appeared on the original DVD release and the Director’s Cut DVD.  While I am disappointed that none of the Special Features are in High Definition I am a little more disappointed that Fox did not include a seamless branching feature to allow purist’s to watch the Theatrical version.

• Audio Commentary: Writer/Director Mark Steven Johnson and Producer Avi Arad discuss the origin of the project, the shoot, and divulge various pieces of behind-the-scenes information that fans may want to know about.

• Enhanced Viewing Mode: An interactive feature that allows you to access behind-the-scenes documentaries as the movie plays.

• Beyond Hell’s Kitchen: A near hour long documentary on the making of “Daredevil.”

• Men Without Fear: Another near hour long documentary that details the creation of the superhero Daredevil and his origins.

• Daredevil – HBO First Look TV Special: 51 minutes of various production featurettes.  One of the production featurettes is hosted by Jennifer Garner.

• Performance Screen Tests: 5 minutes of screen tests featuring Jennifer Garner and Michael Clark Duncan.

• Music Videos: There are 3 music videos spanning a total of 12 minutes.  The music videos are Evanescence’s “Bring Me To Life,” Fuel’s “Won’t Back Down,” and The Calling’s “For You.”

• Photo Galleries: The usual set of production photographs can be found here.

• Trivia Track: A text based trivia track can be accessed while playing the film.

• Trailers: There are three theatrical previews of the film.

Final Thoughts

I am a fan of the original Theatrical Cut of the movie so the Director’s Cut only enhanced my viewing pleasure.  It would not be a deal breaker for me if only the Theatrical Cut was released on Blu-ray.  I know of many fans who swear that the Director’s Cut is what sold them on the movie after first snubbing the Theatrical version of the film.  Granted there are your usual plot holes and your ridiculous action sequences here and there but I enjoy the movie for what it is… a violent, dark superhero movie that succeeds in keeping me entertained.  The Blu-ray presentation features an excellent video transfer, one of the best audio tracks I ever heard, and an enormous quantity of supplemental materials that will keep the diehard fans very happy until the next hopeful reboot of Daredevil.  With that being said I hesitate to recommend this to everyone because of all the negative press this movie generates but in my opinion, if you are fan, then you are in for a treat.  If not, I would encourage at least a rental so you can give your rear speakers a work out.  Enjoy!