Ocean’s Trilogy
Directed by Steven Soderbergh.
Starring George Clooney, Matt Damon, Andy García, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Casey Affleck, Scott Caan, Elliott Gould, Bernie Mac, Carl Reiner, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Don Cheadle, Vincent Cassel, Eddie Jemison, Qin Shaobo, Ellen Barkin, and Al Pacino.
SYNOPSIS:
The Ocean’s Trilogy, consisting of Ocean’s Eleven, Ocean’s Twelve, and Ocean’s Thirteen, arrives on 4K Ultra HD in one edition. (You can also find them as separate SteelBooks.) They’ve been remastered, and codes for digital copies are included too, along with most of the extras that were previously available. Highly recommended for fans of the films.
I’ve never liked Las Vegas. I’ve been there a few times for work, during which trips I’ve mostly focused on my job and hanging out in my hotel room, although I have spent some time wandering the Strip. Like New York City’s Times Square, the Las Vegas Strip is the kind of place I don’t mind experiencing a few times, just so I can say I’ve been there, but I’m not interested in hanging out a lot at either location.
When it comes to movies centered around Las Vegas, though, I’m happy to grab a seat at the table. There’s something about the high-rolling, frenetic atmosphere of the casinos that’s perfect for certain kinds of personalities (just not mine).
Personalities like George Clooney’s character Danny Ocean, who leads a motley crew of con men and thieves through a series of cons and heists in Ocean’s Eleven, Ocean’s Twelve, and Ocean’s Thirteen, also known as the Ocean’s Trilogy. He plays a role first undertaken by Frank Sinatra in the original 1960 movie, Ocean’s 11.
With Steven Soderbergh at the helm of all three movies, we’re in for a fun ride in Vegas, as well as Amsterdam in the first sequel. The first one is great, while the two sequels are a bit lackluster (more on that below), but the cast, production design, cinematography, and editing make all three very watchable.
While all three films are set in the era in which they were made, they have a very 70s feel to them, between the bass-heavy music and the use of split-screen here and there. The cinematography also has a 70s look to it, which I assume was intentional.
This new edition consists only of 4K Ultra HD platters, along with a code for digital copies of the films, so you might want to hold onto past Blu-ray editions if that format is important to you. My understanding is that all three movies have been remastered in 4K, which is important for films taking place in Las Vegas, where there are tons of bright colors that need to pop on the screen (and pop they do, although, yes, the more dour color schemes of Amsterdam in Ocean’s Twelve are a departure).
The bonus features are covered below. I haven’t owned any of these films on home video before, so I don’t know if everything from past editions was ported over, which might be another reason to hold onto the old Blu-rays. I’m not aware of any new extras being commissioned for this release.
Ocean’s Eleven (2001)
The first movie opens with Danny Ocean being released from prison. It quickly launches into the “getting the band back together” trope as Danny meets up with his old friend Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt), who’s been teaching Topher Grace (playing himself) and other Hollywood actors how to play poker.
Danny convinces Rusty to get back into the heist game and the two of them secure the backing of wealthy businessman Reuben Tishkoff (Elliott Gould) for a high-stakes mission to rob three casinos owned by Reuben’s arch-nemesis, Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia).
There’s an added wrinkle in the fact that Terry is in a relationship with Danny’s ex-wife, Tess (Julia Roberts), but that’s not going to throw a wrench in the works, will it? Of course it will, because the fun of a movie like this is watching a guy like Danny Ocean try to succeed at two missions at once, even when his compatriots are unsure of his motivation for their shared goal.
Danny and Rusty then get together a crew of guys they’ve worked with before: veteran con man Saul Bloom (Carl Reiner), who thinks he’s too old for this shit but changes his mind; sneaky casino dealer Frank Catton (Bernie Mac); explosives whiz Basher Tarr (Don Cheadle); tech guy Livingston Dell (Eddie Jemison); pickpocket Linus Caldwell (Matt Damon); acrobat Yen (Qin Shaobo); and auto mechanic brothers Virgil (Case Affleck) and Turk (Scott Caan).
I’m sure that people who are knowledgeable of how casinos operate can find plenty of holes in the group’s scheme, but it’s a lot of fun watching the characters pull off the theft with panache to spare. I last saw this movie 20+ years ago, so I had forgotten enough about it that the final twist was a surprise.
The extras on this disc lead off with a pair of commentary tracks, one with Soderbergh and screenwriter Ted Griffin and the other featuring Matt Damon, Andy Garcia, and Brad Pitt. Both are worthwhile listens, although the latter is a bit looser while the former is more technical. The rest of the bonus features include:
• Are You In or Out?: The Making of Ocean’s Eleven (28 minutes): Hailing from 2013, this is a breezy featurette that covers the highlights, with comments from many cast and crew members.
• Pros and Cons: Inside Ocean’s Outfit (13 minutes): Crime novelist Gary Phillips joins Soderbergh and members of the cast for a look at Danny Ocean’s crew.
• The Style of Steal (11 minutes): Most people love a great con man, especially when he’s stealing from the rich, and this is an overview of how that’s the essence of Ocean’s Eleven’s appeal.
• The Look of the Con (9.5 minutes): You know how some people just exude style? The ones who are impeccably dressed, even if they’re just hanging around the house? Yeah, that’s never been me, but that kind of fashion sense just permeates all three Ocean’s movies, so here’s a look at that.
• Original Ocean’s, Original Cool (14 minutes): This is a look at the original Ocean’s 11 movie, which featured the so-called Rat Pack group of actors who were big in their day.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Ocean’s Twelve (2004)
Sure, it makes sense that the sequel would be called Ocean’s Twelve, rather than Ocean’s Eleven II, but Danny does add one more to his crew in the form of Julia Roberts’ character, Tess. I don’t think I’m revealing a major spoiler when I say that she and Danny are back together, thanks to what went down in the last film, and they’re trying to lie low and enjoy each other.
That doesn’t last long, however, because Terry Benedict tracks them down, along with the rest of the group, and demands his stolen money back, plus interest. He gives them two weeks to come up with the cash, which seems overly generous for a ruthless guy, but we learn later in the movie why he makes that decision.
The crew heads to Amsterdam, where they hope a small job will lead to some larger ones. That also happens to be where Isabel Lahiri (Catherine Zeta-Jones), Rusty’s ex-girlfriend, is investigating some thefts on behalf of Europol, which is, of course, going to cause the kinds of complications that Danny faced in the first film.
Tess is initially left behind, but she ends up joining the crew because they need her help with a plan to steal the Imperial Coronation Fabergé Egg — rival thief François Toulour (Vincent Cassel) has promised to pay off their debt to Terry Benedict if they’re able to outwit him in the crime. That leads to an amusing sequence where Tess has to pretend to be Julia Roberts as part of their scheme, but Bruce Willis, playing himself, sees her and almost ruins everything.
My biggest issue with this movie is the quick willingness with which Danny and his crew decide that their only option is to try to raise the money they owe Terry Benedict. You’d think that a group of guys who are masters of the con would figure out a way to make him think he’s been paid back when he hasn’t, or come up with some other way to appease him. (Toulor’s motivations didn’t make a lot of sense either.)
That said, Ocean’s Twelve is still a fun ride, and I know it has its fans, so, as always, I hope people enjoy what they want to watch. If this movie works for you, that’s fine. The bonus features are sparser this time, but they lead off with a solid commentary track featuring Soderbergh and screenwriter George Nolfi.
Also included is Ready, Jet Set, Go: The Making of Ocean’s Twelve, a 25-minute featurette that has the usual participants, joined this time by Nolfi and Zeta-Jones. You also get 28 minutes of deleted scenes and the 13-minute HBO First Look: Twelve is the New Eleven.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Ocean’s Thirteen (2007)
The final outing for Danny Ocean’s crew surpasses the second film but doesn’t quite reach the heights of the first one. This time, Terry Benedict joins as their ally (but is he really?) in their scheme to rip off Willy Bank (Al Pacino), who has screwed over their buddy Reuben Tishkoff during construction of a new hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip.
With Reuben bedridden after a heart attack, Danny and his team concoct a two-pronged plan: deny The Bank, as the new hotel and casino is known, a prestigious Five Diamond Award that Willy’s other hotels have won, and rig the games of chance so they pay out enough winnings to make it insolvent. Along the way, they add the goal of stealing Willy’s precious diamond necklaces and replacing them with fakes.
Their scheme becomes cartoonishly preposterous when they acquire an enormous drilling machine that was used to bore the Channel Tunnel, so they can mimic an earthquake and knock out Willy’s new state-of-the-art computer systems long enough to keep the rigging unnoticed. I’m sure anyone with enough money could do something like that underground in a major city.
I realize that Ocean’s crew always has some pretty crazy plans, but this one was a bridge too far for me. It didn’t ring true, which diminished the film in my eyes, but, as with the previous one, if it works for you, great.
This time, the extras lead off with a commentary track featuring Soderbergh and the two screenwriters, Brian Koppelman and David Levin, who worked with him. It’s another solid discussion of the movie. The rest of the bonus features include:
• Third’s a Charm: The Making of Ocean’s Thirteen (29.75 minutes): Koppelman and Levin join Pacino and Ellen Barkin as newcomers to the Ocean’s mythos as the cast and crew look back on the final movie in the trilogy.
• Ahab with a Piggyback: The Means & Machines of Ocean’s (9 minutes): A look at the various kinds of technology used in the movies.
• Jerry Weintraub Walk and Talk (2.5 minutes): The producer takes the viewer on a quick tour of the set.
• Masters of the Heist (44 minutes): How realistic are Ocean’s crew’s schemes? This featurette digs into four famous cons and heists.
Four deleted scenes round out the platter.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Brad Cook
