Largo Winch - Deadly Heir - DVD

Movie: After appearing in six adventure novels by writer Jean van Hamme between 1977 and 1984 and becoming the hero of 16 comic books to date since 1990, following a 33-part TV series and a computer game, "Largo Winch" has now made it to the big screen. While the lavish production has been successful in France in the cinema (a sequel is already planned), the action thriller comes with us unfortunately only on DVD and Blu-Ray in the stores.

This is a pity, because the sometimes spectacularly filmed images of the film on the big screen simply better than on the screen. Still, even in the home theater "Largo Winch" cuts a really good figure. The story is told by the adventurer Largo (Tomer Sisley), the adoptive son of the rich corporate mogul Nerio Winch (Miki Manjlovic). No one in the corporation knows of Largo's existence. When Nerio is killed, Largo emerges from obscurity as the rightful successor. This does not please the top management and Largo is quickly confronted with all kinds of hostility. But that doesn't stop him from trying to find the one responsible for his father's death. And in the process, he stumbles upon a particularly ruthless conspiracy that could soon cost him his life as well...

Exotic locales, fast-paced action, beautiful women, and a cool hero - no wonder "Largo Winch" likes to be compared to James Bond. Even if the French adventurer can't really hold a candle to the British 00 agent, the film undoubtedly plays in the upper league. This is ensured by the great camera work of Denis Rouden, who at the beginning of the 90s in various "Emmanuelle" TV productions limited his talent to the attractive staging of revealing women's bodies. In the meantime Rouden, who has already worked with Jerome Salle on his thriller "Anthony Zimmer", belongs to the first league of French cinematographers, and that is clearly noticeable in many moments here. Great landscape shots, fast-paced action scenes - visually "Largo Winch" is great cinema. And also the music of successful composer Alexandre Desplat, which is in some moments a very obvious bow to the classic Bond scores, provides the flair of a great cinema production.

Together with the good cast and the core very exciting story, these successful aspects then also comfort over some small hangs in the production easily away. "Largo Winch" therefore offers really good entertainment for an enjoyable DVD evening and can be warmly recommended to all friends of international thriller cinema.

Picture + Sound: The picture is clean and pleases with a high level of detail, but at the same time also seems a bit garish, which is quite at the expense of the overall sharpness. Whether the somewhat artificial brightness in some scenes is an intended stylistic device, can not be judged here. On the other hand, it can be clearly judged that the sound was implemented very well. Whether the film music by Alexandre Desplat, the action sequences or the dialogues, everything is harmoniously coordinated. Rich bass and good dynamics also provide a pleasant listening experience!

Extras: The second disc of the double DVD or Blu-Ray has some very interesting extras to offer. It starts with a nearly 50minütigen, very detailed Making of. This shows not only the shooting of some scenes, the preparation for it, the work in Malta and Hong Kong. Rather, the documentary also highlights moments that were not necessarily characterized by harmony within the crew. Thus, the making of spreads the feeling of a certain honesty, which many similar documentaries often lack. The only annoying thing is that the moments in which English was spoken on set are provided with fixed French subtitles, which in turn are subtitled in German (at least optionally) - and that's a bit too much of a good thing. Nevertheless: a very good and worth seeing Making of.

Two further, shorter documentaries deal then again more intensively with the stunts (approx. 25 min.) and the training of the actors (approx. 12 min.). These featurettes are very good additions to the making of and are therefore also recommended. The same goes for the exclusive interview with comic book artist Philippe Francq, who has some interesting things to say about his work and "Largo Winch" in just under 20 minutes. Commercial-heavy interviews with cast and crew (a total of about 25 min.), as well as storyboard/film comparison of some scenes (about 10 min.) round out the bonus material well worth watching.

Conclusion: "Largo Winch" offers very good entertainment in its first cinematic incarnation. The lavish production offers entertaining entertainment in great pictures and appealingly staged action. The technical realization is on a good to very good level and the informative extras can also be seen. All this makes "Largo Winch" for lovers of exciting entertainment absolutely recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp