Based on a graphic novel by Max Allan Collins, Road To Perdition is the story of Michael Sullivan(Tom Hanks), a hitman, who doesn't want his son(played by newcomer Tyler Hoechlin) following in his footsteps. But after discovering what his father does for a living his boss(Paul Newman) doesn't think that he'll be able to keep it a secret so he has Al Capone's right-hand man Frank Nitti hire another hitman(Jude Law) to kill both father and son.
Released by Dreamworks, Road To Perdition is available in seperate fullscreen and widescreen editions and comes with an english 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround audio track, an english 2 channel Dolby Surround audio track and a french 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround audio track. Subtitles are also included in english, french and spanish.
The special features include an audio commentary track by director Sam Mendes, deleted scenes, HBO's The Making Of Road To Perdition featurette, production notes, cast and filmmakers information, a soundtrack spot and a photo gallery.
On his audio commentary track director Sam Mendes spends a great deal of time analyzing the characters and not nearly enough time discussing the making of the film. The time that he does spend discussing the making of the film is mainly spent on the set design and locations used in certain scenes. He also reveals some differences between the film and the graphic novel and makes several comparisons between Road To Perdition and his Academy Award winning film American Beauty.
Out of the eleven deleted scenes that are included only four of them are actually deleted scenes while the other seven scenes are actually extended scenes. And while they don't add anything to the story it would of been nice if some of them, like the extended scene at the diner, would of been left in the film. The scenes also contain optional audio commentary and subtitled commentary tracks by director Sam Mendes.
HBO's The Making Of Road To Perdition(24:57) is a detailed look at the making of the film. It features a lot of behind-the-scenes footage and cast and crew interviews and reveals such interesting information as how the graphic novel was turned into a film, recreating the 1930's, the cinematography, working with screen legend Paul Newman and creating the set design and costume design.
Rounding of the special features are production notes, cast and filmmakers information, a soundtrack spot and a photo gallery.
Road To Perdition is a great film and features another wonderful performance by Tom Hanks. The film has been beautifully reproduced without any visible flaws and should definitely be added to your DVD collection.