The Most Preposterous Thriller Of The Century Just Got A Huge Upgrade
Watch it in good faith.
A wounded curator staggers through the Louvre, pursued by an armed assailant. He uses his last moments to leave behind a series of cryptic symbols, anagrams, and numbers near his body and concealed in paintings. With symbologist Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) identified as the prime suspect soon after his name appears among the clues, Langdon and the murdered man’s granddaughter, cryptographer Sophie Neveu (Audrey Tautou), must act quickly to not only find the real murderer and exonerate Langdon, but also unravel a much larger conspiracy linked to the crime.
Based on Dan Brown’s controversial 2003 novel of the same name — one of the best-selling American novels of all time — The Da Vinci Code zips alongside Robert and Sophie as they decipher riddles, chase red herrings, and are betrayed by erstwhile allies. Closing in on them are the police, as well as a secret society intent on ensuring that any proof of a 2,000-year-old secret and subsequent cover-up dies with them. Robert and Sophie’s search unfolds as a modern-day quest for the Holy Grail, but this time around, the cinematic MacGuffin isn’t an object, but a person. They’re looking for the proposed descendant of Jesus Christ, born of his allegedly secret marriage to devotee Mary Magdalene. Intrigued? Baffled? With a new limited-edition 4K UHD Steelbook now out, there’s no better time to unspool The Da Vinci Code’s mysteries.
How Was The Da Vinci Code Received Upon Its Initial Release?
With swift pushback, particularly from the Catholic Church. The film’s incendiary premise, wild speculation about the life of Jesus, and perceived attacks on the church led to it being banned in several countries, including Egypt, Syria, Iran, Lebanon, and Pakistan, boycotted on the grounds of “blasphemy” in others, and released only with disclaimers describing it as a work of fiction in India and Thailand.
Reviews calling The Da Vinci Code “a barely endurable enterprise,” “a deep-dyed disappointment,” and “a stodgy, grim thing,” however, paint a picture of a film far blander than the firestorm of controversy surrounding its release would suggest. When it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival just two days before its official theatrical release, it was met with “shrugs of indifference…and some jeering laughter.”
Despite the critical drubbing, however, the film was a commercial success, grossing $760 million worldwide on a $125-million budget. While it undoubtedly benefited director Ron Howard’s career, becoming his highest-grossing film to date and ushering him to the helm of its two sequels — Angels & Demons (2009) and Inferno (2016) — at least one critic didn’t think it diminished the sheen of Catholicism either. According to Anthony Lane, the film’s “self-evident, spirit-lowering tripe could not [have] conceivably cause[d] a single member of the flock to turn aside from the faith.”
No matter how charming Tom Hanks is.
Why Is The Da Vinci Code Important to See Now?
Well, it is pretty fun. What’s key to enjoying this propulsive thriller is to approach it with the mindset that Hanks himself suggested, after noting people were taking too high-minded a stance for a film that was ultimately “loaded with all sorts of hooey and fun…scavenger-hunt-type nonsense.” The Da Vinci Code is a high-stakes game of puzzle solving, one in which Hanks’ protagonist, at one critical juncture, urgently declares, “I need to get to a library!”
Any expository debates about theology are interspersed with shadowy secret societies, high-speed car chases through Paris, and an albino monk carrying out assassinations. For all its briefly thought-provoking ideas surrounding cover-ups by powerful institutions, atrocities perpetuated in the name of religion, and the kind of belief in a higher power that would push you to murder your fellow men to uphold it, the film’s conspiracy fare is still a far breezier tangled web for those currently grappling with an era dominated by social media disinformation campaigns, explosive redacted files, and endless political machinations.
Watch out for evil monks.
What New Features Does The New 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Have?
Released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment to mark the film’s 20th anniversary, the three-disc limited-edition Steelbook includes both the 148-minute theatrical version of the film and the 174-minute extended cut in 4K with Dolby Vision, English Dolby Atmos, and English 5.1 audio. Other features include:
- Launching a Legacy: A featurette
- The film’s teaser and theatrical trailers
- Director Ron Howard’s commentary on select scenes
- 17 production featurettes
