Shiner

This anamorphic print looks good. The colours and blacks are great, but, as this is a relatively new film, that should be expected. The sound, too, is top notch, with the crowd noise at the boxing bout suitably authentic. The dialogue is clear and the subtitles, while possibly a little on the small side, follow the script well and are clearly throughout. The opening animated menus are good too, neatly overlayed by Grabowsky's haunting score.

As a Making Of featurette, this is definitely one of the better examples. There is a refreshing lack of "luvviness" going on, so that while the actors are respectful about one another's work, they concentrate more on talking about the motivations behind the movie, which is rewarding for the viewer. Some of the intercut "shooting of" scenes are particularly entertaining, such as footage of the ex-boxers heading to the bout in the car, as Caine points out, "Only ex-fighters look like ex-fighters".

The Making of is so interesting, in fact, that you wish there was more of it than just 20 minutes. A few deleted scenes would have been great, or perhaps a bit more footage of the sparring between Matthew Marsden and Derrick Harmon.

The trailer is much the same as any other in the modern world - i.e. not to be watched before the film, or you'll feel you've seen it already. Ultimately, this DVD has some punch, but it ain't a knock-out.