Snatch (Blu-ray)

(Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, 12.1.2009)

Call it overrated, but in 1998 Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels established a confident new talent with all kinds of post-Tarantino promise. Sadly, Guy Ritchie’s now better known for his failed marriage to Madonna than his past triumphs as a filmmaker (this Christmas’ pretty awful-looking Sherlock Holmes revamp might change that... stay tuned). I’ll be the first to admit that Lock, Stock once made for very impressive viewing for my then-slightly uninformed cineaste eyes and Ritchie’s follow-up, Snatch, initially played like a crowd-pleasing gimmick with higher-concept thrills and tacked-on Brad Pittsploitation. It felt like a watered-down rehash and, as a major fan of Ritchie’s debut effort, a bit of a gyp.

A decade later, Snatch has actually aged for the better. After countless rip-offs devoid of wit or charm (including even Ritchie’s recent efforts, Revolver and the slightly-more-watchable RocknRolla), Snatch is a pretty fun trip to revisit on high-def. Sure, its hyper-stylization is often primitive by today’s standards, as is some of the stilted dialogue and the convoluted narrative devices, but its go-for-broke shamelessness is endearing in ways that crap like Smokin’ Aces could never hope to be. Ritchie’s early work is definitely all style and no substance, but it’s amusingly excessive, cheeky filmmaking on all fronts -- and who wants to slap him on the wrist for that?

Okay, my newfound acclaim should probably be taken with a grain of salt considering that Ritchie’s career trajectory hasn’t exactly been stellar (though he maintains an inexplicable cult following). Jason Statham is even harder to tolerate than nearly a decade ago (“Zee Germans” wasn’t funny then and it’s even less funny now), but A-listers Brad Pitt and Benicio Del Toro are more hilariously credible than ever. All and all, Snatch remains a mixed bag, but a very enjoyable one.

Aside from batshit crazy editing and zany camerawork, the film has always appeared rather dull, with de-saturated colors and an ugly green hue. The BD captures this look faithfully, but with much greater clarity. This is a solid upgrade over standard-def that fans should appreciate. Audio has also been boosted to crisp 5.1 DTS-HD and that’s a good thing because soundtracks are one of Ritchie’s strong suits.

Thankfully, most of the extras from the original two-disc set have been ported over to Blu. We get a chatty commentary with Ritchie and producer Matthew Vaughn, a handful of deleted scenes with optional commentary, a worthwhile making-of, storyboard comparisons and a photo gallery.

A somewhat cutting-edge addition to this release is the Sony-exclusive “movieIQ,” which allows online-enabled BD viewers to get updated production and historical info seamlessly as they watch the flick. It’s nothing spesh, but why the hell not? Another semi-nifty exclusive is “The Snatch Cutting Room,” where kids at home can edit their own clips and music from the film then show off their crude editing skills to their virtual pals.

So yeah, Snatch is what it is: a breezy, low brow romp more than a considerable addition to the crime genre. It’s fun, sorta forgettable and, like most of cinema’s not-entirely-guilty-pleasures, worth a second spin in high-def. -- Neil Karassik