MovieFreak.Com - Pi DVD Review

With the rise in the popularity of independent films has come a batch of directors who make their mark in film history by opposing Hollywood's big budgeted, clichéd, and heartthrob laden piles of shit (cough Jurassic Park 3; cough Pearl Harbor; cough A.I. -- ahem!) with originality, personality, and creative storytelling methods sans big budget special effects.

One of the names among this group of directorial underdogs is Darren Aronofksy. Many people will recognize this name from it's connection with Requiem For a Dream. Not long before this masterpiece, a dark, suspenseful film was being hailed by critics and overlooked by home video audiences. This film was Aronofsky's thriller Pi.

Pi is the story of Max, a brilliant mathematician who has a rigid structure of beliefs: Everything in nature can be represented by an equation. When enough of these equations are put together, patterns will emerge.

Many times, through years and years of study, this theory has proven to be true. But now Max wants to tackle the largest system of numbers known to man, The Stock Market. Battling against hordes of people who want to exploit his intelligence, and against his own mental shortcomings, Max's quest brings him to the brink of insanity.

Aronofsky portrays Max's emotions through his revolutionary directing style which is eminent in all his films.

Filmed in gritty, black and white, many of the shots in the film are hard to decode. The DVD transfer does nothing to rectify this problem. However, the gritty film style is appropriate to the plot, giving the viewer a sense of turmoil and enthrallment.

Shot using low budget sound equipment, the music will sometimes blend with the dialogue, creating a considerable amount of distortion. However, as with the video, the audio fits the film's mood. It doesn't distract the viewer, but once again, the DVD transfer does nothing to improve upon it.

Commentary by Director Darren Aronofsky
This commentary was quite informative, but it fell short in that, Aronofsky had no one to bounce his ideas off of. Also, it helped to inform the viewer of many of the complex ideas and metaphors in the plot the one may have overlooked.
7/10

Commentary by the Actors
A very fun commentary track, obviously recorded well after the completion of the film, has a reminiscent feel to it which also shows that the actors had a great time making the movie. It also shows the considerable amounts of stress one might go through in being an actor in a limited budget/limited time feature.
8/10

Production Notes
Fun Facts with your host Bill Nye!!!! j/k -- Very fun, very standard, but always very welcome in any DVD. Except Runaway Bride.
7/10

Theatrical Trailers
Two of the most enthralling, and creepy trailers ever put together. Never before have any trailers ever used the right devices to pull the viewer in and put them in the right state of mind even for just those 45 seconds
10/10 -- I wish I could give it more!

Behind the Scenes Montage
Quite the awesome behind the scenes...uh...thing. I liked it a lot. You'll like it a lot. Very stylishly done.
9/10

Lost Scenes
Just a few scenes that were pulled out of the movie. Of course, that's what lost scenes are, but alas, you can see/hear Aronofsky's reasoning on removing them. Many of them were either insignificant, or they would just slow down the high intensity of the flick.
7/10

Music Video 'Book of Ants'
Holy Christ!!!!! This video is amazing! Even though it is just a music video, it grabs you, doesn't let go, and forces you to even care about the characters in the movie. The way the video plays out, it compares people metaphorically to ants, which is quite an accurate comparison. Creepy! Cool!
10/10

Unlike our standard "find a disaster then exploit it in crappy pile of shit" movies, Pi is a film that you should truly see again....for the first time.

Movie	9
Video	5
Audio	6
Extras	8
Final (not an average)	8