Even as a visual aid, The Da Vinci Code is a deep-dyed disappointment. Paris by night never looked murkier.
The Da Vinci Code (2006)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:40
Fresh:4
Rotten:36
Average Rating:4.2/10
Consensus: What makes Dan Brown's novel a best seller is evidently not present in this dull and bloated movie adaptation of The Da Vinci Code.
Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for disturbing images, violence, some nudity, thematic material, brief drug references and sexual content
Runtime: 2 hrs 54 mins
Genre: Action/Adventure
Theatrical Release:May 19, 2006 Wide
Box Office: $217,536,138
Synopsis: Dan Brown's best-selling book THE DA VINCI CODE gets adapted for the big screen thanks to director Ron Howard (CINDERELLA MAN), who helms this big budget production. Veteran actor Tom Hanks stars... Dan Brown's best-selling book THE DA VINCI CODE gets adapted for the big screen thanks to director Ron Howard (CINDERELLA MAN), who helms this big budget production. Veteran actor Tom Hanks stars as professor Robert Langdon, whose Parisian lecture tour on feminine symbolism gets disrupted when he's implicated in a murder at the Louvre. Co-starring with Hanks is Audrey Tautou (AMELIE), the French police analyst who comes to Langdon's aid and who may hold the key to some of the mysteries. The cast is fleshed out by Jean Reno as a hangdog French detective who thinks he can trick Langdon into a confession; Paul Bettany as Silas, the murderous monk; Alfred Molina as an evil Catholic cardinal; and Ian McKellen, who steals the movie in the second act as a crotchety old authority on the Holy Grail. During the course of the film, all sorts of riddles, keys, clues, and enigmas are thrown in our hero's path, along with bullets, knives, and devious betrayals. Cinematographer Salvatore Toltino shoots in a dark and somber style, with lots of detailed flashbacks to grim scenes from ancient Rome, the Crusades, and the witch hunts of the Middle Ages. Tautou looks gorgeous in the perpetual dim light, as does the ancient French and British architecture. With so many centuries of hidden knowledge, cults, sects, and Christianity-shattering secrets involved, this may have been confusing to those not acquainted with the book, but Howard and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman ingeniously weave the myriad layers into a true thrill ride. Ultimately, THE DA VINCI CODE is a thoughtful action film, with a refreshingly clear-eyed approach to world history that may scandalize the close-minded, but is sure to enlighten those open to new ideas. [More]
Starring: Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou, Ian McKellen, Alfred Molina
Starring: Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou, Ian McKellen, Alfred Molina, Jean Reno, Paul Bettany, Jürgen Prochnow
Director: Ron Howard
Director: Ron Howard
Screenwriter: Akiva Goldsman
Producer: John Calley, Brian Grazer
Composer: Hans Zimmer
Studio: Columbia Pictures
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Release:
Apr 28, 2009
Blu-ray Disc Features:
- 2-Disc Set
- Anamorphic Widescreen - 2.40
Audio:
- Dolby True HD 5.1 - English
- Dubbed - French, Canadian
- Subtitles - English SDH, French
Interactive Features:
BDLive:
- 1. BD Live Enabled
Disc 1:
Additional Release Material:
- Audio Commentary: NEW Select Scenes Commentary Ron Howard, Director
Disc 2:
Additional Release Material:
Featurette:
- 1. Include First Day On The Set with Ron Howard
- 2. A Discussion With Dan Brown
- 3. A Portrait of Langdon
- 4. Who Is Sophie Neveu?
- 5. Unusual Suspects
- 6. Magical Places
- 7. Close-up on Mona Lisa
- 8. The Filmmakers' Journey
- 9. The Codes of The Da Vinci Code
- 10. The Music of The Da Vinci Code
- 11. Book To Screen
- 12. The Da Vinci Props
- 13. The Da Vinci Sets
- 14. Re-creating Works of Art
- 15. The Visual Effects World of The Da Vinci Code
- 16. Scoring The Da Vinci Code
- 17. La Partie Francaise Du Da Vinci Code
Interactive Features:
- Unlocking the Code Interactive Picture-In-Picture (I-PIP)
Reviews for The Da Vinci Code
If only it were allowed to be merely a cheesy romp, an Indy Jones movie with more sophisticated stereotypes and far less humor. But apparently this is no mere pop novel-turned-high-hat megaplex product.
What's wrong with The Da Vinci Code can be summed up in one word: everything!
I won’t go so far as to recommend it, and I can’t imagine ever wanting to see it again.
The Catholic Church has nothing to fear from this film. It is not just tripe. It is self-evident, spirit-lowering tripe that could not conceivably cause a single member of the flock to turn aside from the faith.
One could classify The Da Vinci Code as diverting, but it has sidestepped greatness by a wide margin.
The Da Vinci Code the movie suffers the sin of being afraid to make the same kind of mischief with its sacred text -- Brown's book -- that the author did with a certain other blockbusting bestseller.
Absent is the pure guilty joy of sequential puzzle-solving; instead of participating in the hunt, we're shoved off to the side as a couple of crashing boors do it for us.
Like a two-bit philosopher working the wrong side of the stone, Howard has managed to turn gold into lead.
On film, The Da Vinci Code is not so much a fascinating puzzle as a prolonged slog through material that resists the screen.
In a marketplace rife with guides for idiots, dummies and the rest of us, this movie stands as the novel's priciest CliffsNotes.
As a film derived from a book, The Da Vinci Code isn't a fiasco on the order of The Bonfire of the Vanities nor is it a triumph a la The Lord of the Rings. Instead, it's an acceptable but uninspired simulacrum.
The most controversial thriller of the year turns out to be about as exciting as watching your parents play Sudoku.
... it's a thriller with a lot of explaining to do, which it does, endlessly, while we wait for an actual movie to break out.
If there’s anything to be learned from this dud, it’s that when you decide to adapt an explosive property like The Da Vinci Code, playing it safe isn't safe ...
The movie doesn't have the pulp excitement that the author's gimmicky storytelling generated. In fact, it often has no excitement at all.
Ron Howard and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman struggle mightily to cram as much as possible of Dan Brown's labyrinthine thriller into a 2-hour-28-minute running time, resulting in a movie both overstuffed and underwhelming.
Rather than being intriguingly provocative, the whole thing comes off as just a rather clumsy provocation.
Latest News for The Da Vinci Code
April 21, 2009:
Columbia Awaits Third Da Vinci Code Installment ![]()
Even as it gears up to promote the next installment in its "Da Vinci Code" franchise, "Angels and Demons," Columbia Pictures is making preparations for an adaptation of the next... More...
February 04, 2009:
Exclusive: Inside Pinewood/Shepperton - A Photo Tour
Every year, the BAFTA film awards present a trophy for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema. Introduced in 1978, the award recognises an organisation or a person's career... More...
October 03, 2008:
Further Reading: Marion Cotillard and Forest Whittaker in Abel Ferrara's Mary
As the NFT in London prepares a Juliette Binoche season, Kim looks at Abel Ferrara's Mary which also stars Marion Cotillard and Forest Whittaker. More...
April 24, 2008:
Angels & Demons Lands Female Lead ![]()
Ayelet Zurer has been cast opposite Tom Hanks in the Da Vinci Code prequel, Angels & Demons. More...
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