Oceans 13

By: The Dweeb

November 2007

DVD Features Video: 2.40:1 Audio:Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital 2.0, FRENCH: Dolby Digital 5.1 SPANISH: Dolby Digital 5.1 Additional Scenes Vegas: An Opulent Illusion – Las Vegas’ Influential Design Sense Jerry Weintraub Walk and Talk: The Producer Takes Us on a Casino Tour Theatrical release: 6/08/2007 DVD released on 11/13/2007 by Warner Bros Running time of 122 minutes Starring: Matt Damon, Al Pacino, Carl Reiner, Andy Garcia, Elliott Gould, Ellen Barkin, Casey Affleck, George Clooney, Brad Pitt ,Don Cheadle, Scott Caan, Bernie Mac, Eddie Jemison, Shaobo Qin Director: Steven Soderbergh Plot: Danny Ocean again runs the game. No one gets hurt, except double-crossing Vegas kingpin Willy Bank (Al Pacino). Ocean’s crew will hit him where it hurts: in his wallet. On opening night of Bank’s posh new casino The Bank, every card turn and dice roll will come up a winner for bettors. And they’ll hit him in his pride, ensuring the hotel doesn’t receive a coveted Five Diamond Award. That’s just the start of the flimflams.

So, the boys are back in town as they say. The third installment of the star studded finds our uber cool grafter gang back in Vegas for another elaborate rip off. Of course, like a lot of third installments the writers want to go home again and play in familiar territory. Oceans 13 is a lot like Oceans 11, the setup is basically the same but it goes down the path of the more insanely elaborate. At its heart it stays on the revenge theme, but this time it is not about a woman. It is about the white hot rivalry of casino owners trying to stake a claim on the Vegas strip.

So, how do you top the first film? That is always the hard part, you have to overcome the expectations that are already in place. The scam gets bigger, more complex and frankly tips off the reality scale. First, they somehow are able to replace or rig every gaming machine and table in the casino by opening day. On top of that, they manage to drill a tunnel using the original rig that dug the Chunnel and when that breaks they get the French one in there in record time and no one seems to notice this! Ah well, that’s the fun part of watching movies. Please check your brain at the door.

Almost all the characters are back, with the addition of a few others it seemed like it was getting bogged down with almost too many. The editors are now forced to choose which set of characters the movie will focus more on, and I felt some of them did not get enough attention. We saw less of Pitt and Clooney and more of Damon this time around for example. There is just way too much going on to keep track of, it warrants a second viewing to catch up.

But the same witty banter that permeates all the films remains intact, making it a pleasure to watch. The addition of Al Pacino playing hard ass casino owner Willie Bank as the bad guy is the finishing touch to the casting. Since the whole film has a lot of inside jokes and is tongue in cheek to begin with, his caricature portrayal of his nutty self is fitting. The character interactions are what make these films so popular in the first place I think, that and a lot of folks enjoy a good caper movie.

The single disc DVD package for the film is fairly decent on the technical end. The picture is the same as the original, with high color saturation and this washed out look. Perfect for showing off the glitz that is Vegas. The extras unfortunately are lacking. The only semi interesting feature is a lengthy look at how Casinos are designed with taking your money in mind. Well duh we all know that. It is worth a look though. Deleted scenes and a set tour are the other two options on there. You aren’t missing much. Apparently all the good stuff is on the Hi Def versions of this film. Boo! Not fair Warners!

Reviewer’s Opinion: RENT IT!!