$edu¢ed by Sin City

Sin City went on sale this Tuesday, on DVD. I saw the movie at the theater and instantly fell in love with it, just like I knew I would. Absolutely beautiful film. For those who may not be familiar with the film, it's based on the comic book of the same name, drawn by Frank Miller. Here's a synopsis of the film, courtesy of IMDB: A collection of interweaving stories all based in the corrupt, crime infested hell-hole that is Basin City. Heavily influenced by film-noir, the main story lines concern a hulking brute called Marv (Mickey Rourke), who is seeking the murderer of a beautiful woman who was killed while asleep in bed with him; an ex-photographer called Dwight (Clive Owen) who accidentally kills a hero cop and has to cover it up; and a soon-to-be-retiring policeman called Hartigan (Bruce Willis) who is incarcerated for a crime he didn't commit. All based on the brilliant graphic novels "Sin City", "The Big Fat Kill" and "That Yellow Bastard", written and illustrated by Frank Miller.

The film is beautiful and owning the DVD is a no-brainer, BUT (daaaaamn, that's a big but!) let me let you in on a little something I didn't know before I bought my copy on Tuesday: The company that's releasing the DVD, Dimension Home Video is "double-dipping." In DVD terminology, that means they're releasing one version now, with the intention of re-releasing another "special edition" version later. Like the bastards over at Twentieth Century Fox did recently with Dodgeball. I love my Vince, but I'm not about to be duped into buying the new "special edition/unrated" version. The movie wasn't that great, and besides, it's a matter of principal. So, if you haven't bought your copy of Sin City yet, wait at least until you can find a used copy. I wish I had.

Personally, I'm beyond tired of all these not-so-"special editions" that seem to have flooded the DVD market lately. Initially, a special edition was just that; a special edition. I decided long ago (never to walk in anyone's shadow....heh, just kidding) that I was not going to be suckered into buying multiple copies of any DVD, especially if I already owned the "unspecial" edition. I've got to really love a movie to buy it again, and even then it better be worth my while, not to mention my money.