Description: Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) is a Wall Street yuppie obsessed with success, status and style, with a stunning fiancé (Reese Witherspoon). He is also a psychotic killer who rapes, murders and dismembers both strangers and acquaintances without provocation or purpose. Based on the controversial novel by Bret Easton Ellis, the film offers a sharp satire to the dark side of yuppie culture in the ‘80s, while setting forth a vision that is both terrifying and chilling.
Amazon.com essential video: The Bret Easton Ellis novel American Psycho, a dark, violent satire of the "me" culture of Ronald Reagan's 1980s, is certainly one of the most controversial books of the '90s, and that notoriety fueled its bestseller status. This smart, savvy adaptation by Mary Harron (I Shot Andy Warhol) may be able to ride the crest of the notoriety; prior to the film's release, Harron fought a ratings battle (ironically, for depictions of sex rather than violence), but at the time the director stated, "We're rescuing [the book] from its own bad reputation." Harron and co-screenwriter Guinevere Turner (Go Fish) overcome many of the objections of Ellis's novel by keeping the most extreme violence offscreen (sometimes just barely), suggesting the reign of terror of yuppie killer Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) with splashes of blood and personal souvenirs. Bale is razor sharp as the blank corporate drone, a preening tiger in designer suits whose speaking voice is part salesman, part self-help guru, and completely artificial. Carrying himself with the poised confidence of a male model, he spends his days in a numbing world of status-symbol one-upmanship and soul-sapping small talk, but breaks out at night with smirking explosions of homicide, accomplished with the fastidious care of a hopeless obsessive. The film's approach to this mayhem is simultaneously shocking and discreet; even Bateman's outrageous naked charge with a chainsaw is most notable for the impossibly polished and gleaming instrument of death. Harron's film is a hilarious, cheerfully insidious hall of mirrors all pointed inward, slowly cracking as the portrait becomes increasingly grotesque and insane. --Sean Axmaker
Amazon.com: The Bret Easton Ellis novel American Psycho, a dark, violent satire of the "me" culture of Ronald Reagan's 1980s, is certainly one of the most controversial books of the '90s, and that notoriety fueled its bestseller status. This smart, savvy adaptation by Mary Harron (I Shot Andy Warhol) may be able to ride the crest of the notoriety; prior to the film's release, Harron fought a ratings battle (ironically, for depictions of sex rather than violence), but at the time the director stated, "We're rescuing [the book] from its own bad reputation." Harron and co-screenwriter Guinevere Turner (Go Fish) overcome many of the objections of Ellis's novel by keeping the most extreme violence offscreen (sometimes just barely), suggesting the reign of terror of yuppie killer Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) with splashes of blood and personal souvenirs. Bale is razor sharp as the blank corporate drone, a preening tiger in designer suits whose speaking voice is part salesman, part self-help guru, and completely artificial. Carrying himself with the poised confidence of a male model, he spends his days in a numbing world of status-symbol one-upmanship and soul-sapping small talk, but breaks out at night with smirking explosions of homicide, accomplished with the fastidious care of a hopeless obsessive. The film's approach to this mayhem is simultaneously shocking and discreet; even Bateman's outrageous naked charge with a chainsaw is most notable for the impossibly polished and gleaming instrument of death. Harron's film is a hilarious, cheerfully insidious hall of mirrors all pointed inward, slowly cracking as the portrait becomes increasingly grotesque and insane. --Sean Axmaker
Great movie, shoddy Blu-ray I won't review the movie itself here except to say that it's great for all the reasons people praised it. If you're looking to buy this Blu-ray, you've probably seen the movie anyway.
This is a very shoddy Blu-ray release. The transfer is ugly. It looks like an upconverted DVD. In fact, if you have an upconvert DVD player with an HDMI cable, I wouldn't even bother replacing your old DVD copy. The blacks are often not black enough, the colors not crisp enough. There is noticeable grain and a lack of clarity we expect from blu-rays.
This is a great movie but it deserves a better blu-ray than this, as it is ordinarily a beautifully shot film.
I gave it three stars, because it is a great movie and for $10, this is a good starter for a budding Blu-ray collection. Just don't expect to get the most out of your HD system with this. Many older films (Deliverance, Face/Off, Batman, others) look much better.
Sean
Loved it *spoiler!!!!!!!* Excellent performance from Christian. He can do crazy very well. My favorite scene in the whole movie is when he's shooting at the cops and he blows up one of the cars... He stops for a moment and stares at his gun and gives it a sort of "What the hell" look. Perfect, awesome... The second American Psyco is pretty hilarious too... good good.
Blu-Ray Picture Quality Review There are 535 reviews for the movie American Psycho. I absolutely love this movie, but this review is NOT for the movie, it's for the blu-ray disc. I actually own the regular DVD as well as the blu-ray. The picture quality on the blu ray has been described from highdefinition to barely watchable. I would give it 2 out of 5 stars. It is a horrible transfer. The color palatte is exaggerated and looks posterized, much like the animation of the movie "A Scanner Darkly". It is definitely NOT high definition. Yes there are grains in the pictures, but that's not what I'm talking about. This transfer is blurry in some views and the color is way off: green ties leap off the screen, skin tone is literally pinkish red. Ironically, my standard definition copy of American Psycho does not suffer from these inaccuracies in coding. Avoid this bluray edition. Wait for a remaster or rerelease of this movie a la Fifth Element Blu Ray.
Wasn't as good the second time around. First time I watched this movie 8 years ago I was high and drinking heavily. I thought the movie was good enough to buy, but after seeing it sober I wish I hadn't bought it. Moral of story is "STAY SOBER" your life is more dull but you make better decisions. AMEN....
A horror classic of the 00's Patrick Bateman is the quintessential yuppie. He is filthy rich, dines in the finest restaurants, compares business cards with his peers, and is the image of perfection. Little does the world know that lurking beneath his outside appearance is a cold blooded serial killer. Bateman preys upon unsuspecting people to deal with his own inner frustrations, and due to his persona is easily able to elude the consequences of his deeds.
More of a dark comedy than a pure horror movie, American Psycho is a fascinating film that chronicles the life of a true sociopath. We witness Bateman as he quickly plummits further down the spiral until even he himself is in conflict over whether he has truly committed these atrocities, or if they are simply in his mind.
American Psycho is a movie that simply must been seen to be appreciated. Even if horror isn't your thing, it's still worth any movie lover's time.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Trevor
