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With Elmore Leonard's acclaimed 1974 novel Rum Punch as his source material, Tarantino mixed it up in his postmodern blender and out popped something that even Leonard admits is the loosest yet most faithful adaptation of any of his works. Smalltime gun runner and dope kingpin Ordell Robbie (Samuel L. Jackson) is one step away from the pen and needs to cut off all the loose ends before he ends up in the slammer. With over $500,000 stashed away in Mexico, he concocts a plan to not only keep the feds at bay but also pay off Jackie Brown, whom he "accidentally" got busted for cocaine possession with intent to distribute. But this is a Tarantino movie, so it is never going to be as easy as it seems. Jackie is crafty, and comes up with her own scam to snag the money and get Ordell busted, complete with double crosses that don't leave anyone unscathed, not the feds, Ordell, his zonked-out accomplices Bridget Fonda and Robert DeNiro, or Jackie herself... and least of all the bail bondsman who falls in love with her, Max Cherry (the Oscar-nominated Robert Forster.)

I know some think Tarantino is God, but Reservoir Dogs was an uninspired rip-off of every other, better 70's crime caper, and I hated Pulp Fiction, a bloody, vulgar, witless exercise in boredom and meanspiritedness. So it is understatement to say that I had little in the way of expectations or even much of a desire to see Jackie Brown, but what a nice surprise. All the Tarantino trademarks are still here - the masturbatory dialogue exchanges that fail to further the narrative, the lengthy exposition, hairpin plot turns, and almost obsessive preoccupation with pop culture and jokey movie references - but this time his juvenile preoccupations have been tempered, even distilled, by a more mature, humanistic approach. What's different is that Jackie Brown has real heart, and in Pam Grier, Tarantino has finally found a character he actually cares about. For once, all the mayhem actually amounts to something.

While I may love Pam Grier the icon, I have not always been that sure of Pam Grier the actress. But in Jackie Brown, she gets the role of a lifetime, and with a loud, ringing declaration of self-confidence delivers a career- defining performance. It's too bad she was overlooked by the Academy in 1997, because she is this movie, and carries it in a way no other actress that year did. She could have easily fallen into pastiche, doing a Tarantino-lite take on Foxy Brown, but instead pulls out a real, three-dimensional woman - black and over forty, no less - and when is the last time you saw that, if ever, in a major Hollywood motion picture? This is really a Tarantino love story, not the campy ode to blaxploitation that many likely expected, and it's too bad that may just have been the film's ultimate undoing at the box office.

Tarantino the screenwriter also has plenty of fun with his supporting cast, and with the success of Pulp Fiction guaranteeing him at least one more shot at the big-time, just about everyone in Hollywood wanted a piece of Jackie Brown. From a zonked-out Bridget Fonda (not too far from the truth, I hear) and Robert DeNiro smoking a bong, Tarantino also managed to pull out the only good performance Michael Keaton has given in over a decade. (Tarantino and Jackson also apparently set the record for the most utterances of the word "nigga" by a single character in a single film, which must be some kind of achievement?) It's too bad Jackie Brown failed to ignite the box office the way Pulp Fiction did, because it's a much richer, more fully realized work. And now that it has been five years since, how about another one, Mr. Tarantino?

Video: How Does The Disc Look?

Making its first-ever appearance on DVD, Jackie Brown really blew me away. I was certainly expecting a good transfer, but not this good. Yes, it's mainly a drama and doesn't feature any explosions, special effects or talking velociraptors, but Jackie Brown has a stylish, vibrant look that comes off smashingly on DVD. From the opening riff on The Graduate, to Tarantino and director of photography Guillermo Navarro's subtle use of color and texture, this transfer delivers that very three-dimensional, film-like appearance of the best DVD transfers.

Presented in matted 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, this newly-minted print is in great shape, generally free of blemishes, dirt and other anomalies. The 70's-ish color palette is rock solid and perfectly saturated, with dead-on fleshtones. Blacks are excellent as is contrast, resulting in very fine detail and sharpness throughout and exceptional shadow delineation even in the darkest interiors. About the only drawback to this transfer is some slight video processing that can cause discernible halos around sharply contrasted objects, but it isn't severe. I also noticed no compression artifacts nor any pixel breakup. This is just about as good as it gets.

Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

By all regards Jackie Brown is a relatively "quiet film," in that there are no big explosions, gun blasts or asteroids to be found. But that doesn't mean its soundtrack has to suck, and this certainly doesn't. For its DVD debut, Buena Vista has sported for both Dolby and DTS 5.1 surround tracks, and both exhibit a dynamic, full-bodied sound that's sure to please. The surrounds are used intelligently and actively to convey the atmosphere and the occasional strong discrete effect. The dialogue is the real star here, and balanced perfectly with the score and the effects. The songs sound great (Tarantino sure knows how to pick 'em) and the punchy .1 LFE gives both tracks real kick.

So, are there any improvements with the DTS track? Just slightly. After properly level matching, I noticed that imaging sounded a bit better with the discrete effects somewhat fuller and more real. Overall dynamic range also sounds a bit more pleasing and rich, but separation among the front channels is about the same. Bass is just a bit more pumped up, especially with the score, but nothing extraordinary. Either way you go, these are fine mixes all the way.

An alternate French 2.0 Dolby surround track is also included, along with English captions, Spanish subtitles and true English Closed Captions.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

Okay, so it took five years, but as Quentin Tarantino himself says on his amusing introduction on disc one, it should be worth the wait. In fact, Tarantino introduces many of the included supplements, and this two- disc set is obviously infused with great care and affection. From the sleek packaging and attention to detail - even the enclosed full-color booklet has an index - this is a one of the more slickly produced and presented DVDs I've seen in a while.

Although most of the extras are on disc two, pop in disc one and you'll find even more goodies. Aside from the cool, clever menus (did you expect less from Tarantino?) and his director introduction, there are some ROM features (see below), soundtrack chapter listings, and the Fact Track, which isn't even properly listed as a DVD-Video feature on the packaging. There don't seem to be any credits included as to who wrote it, but it's great fun, moving at a very quick clip and loaded with tons of factoids and tidbits on every aspect of the production. Locations, casting, changes made in the screenwriting process and Quentin trivia are all yours to be had. And since Tarantino opted not to record an actual audio commentary, this is a pretty good substitute.

On to disc two, let's start with Jackie Brown: How It Went Down. Sure, it's a groovy 46-minute peek at "what went down," but is still the disc's only real disappointment, as the majority of the material seems culled from promotional and EPK interviews taken during the time of the film's production, plus a few new ones thrown in for good measure. Everyone's here, from Tarantino and producer Lawrence Bender to Elmore Leonard, assorted crew and the main cast including Grier, Jackson, Keaton, Michael Bowen, Robert Forster and a bored Robert DeNiro. This hodgepodge approach is almost as fast-paced as Tarantino on a roll, and does have a few nice touches, like the clever use of split screen and an upbeat score. But while it's all kinda fun, it's also far too self-congratulatory and lacking in the kind of perspective and reflection that marks the best retrospective documentaries.

Somewhat making up for the dated doc is A Look Back at Jackie Brown, a quite lengthy 54-minute chat with a more low-key, slowed-down Tarantino. Sure, it's rather dry, but we get some very candid, detailed thoughts on just about every aspect of the movie, from over 30 minutes on the cast alone to the varied reactions to the film post-Pulp Fiction. Alas, since this is all shot single camera with no editing aside from fades between questions, it's probably going to be tough going except for the most diehard fans, and next to the How It Went Down doc, this chat lacks form. Still, it's the next best thing to an audio commentary, so it is certainly a must-watch for Tarantino disciples.

Picked up off of the cutting room floor is a 24-minute collection of alternate and deleted scenes, including 3 cut sequences, an extended version of "Jackie and Sheronda," an alternate musical number and a very funny alternate opening. All are presented in only fair-looking non-anamorphic widescreen, and Tarantino provides a brief intro. There is no optional commentary. Even more fun is Chicks Who Like Guns, the complete 5-minute "infomercial" within the film that's really funny. As Tarantino notes in his intro, this is an extra that is one of the most-requested by fans, so here it is.

When it comes to still galleries, it doesn't get any more comprehensive than this. Just about every last piece of anything related to Jackie Brown can be found here, with over 200 stills divided into 8 different categories: "Posters," "Production Stills," "Behind-the-Scenes Stills," "Location Scouting," "Production Design Sketches and Logos," and "Memorabilia." We even get more non-Jackie Brown Pam Grier and Robert Forster movie posters and soundtrack covers, and 10 full- length print reviews and 8 feature articles from The Village Voice, New Yorker, Rolling Stone, Los Angeles Times, Entertainment Weekly, The All-American Skin Game, and more. Whew!

Rounding it out are tons of promo items, including 3 theatrical teasers (no trailers are included), 8 TV spots, Pam Grier radio spots, more trailers for Grier and Forster flicks, and we even get a 5-minute excerpt from Siskel & Ebert At the Movies praising Jackie Brown (two thumbs up!). Most obnoxious of all is Jackie Brown on MTV, featuring a contest promo with Grier and Tarantino, and the annoying 15-minute (sans commercials and those endless lead-ins) "MTV Live" special, featuring inane VJs asking even more inane questions, and Carson Daly trying to snuggle up to a stoned Bridget Fonda. Priceless.

Last but not least is a very nice double-sided foldout with poster reproductions, and a 16-page collectible booklet with "A Letter From Elmore Leonard" and "A Letter from Peter Bogdanovich" essays, Kevin Thomas's Los Angeles Times review, filmographies for Grier, Forster and Tarantino, and DVD feature details. Very nice.

DVD-ROM Exclusives: What do you get when you pop the disc in your PC?

Mr. Tarantino and Miramax have gone all out, even serving up a very nice selection of ROM extras that for once go beyond the usual lame gimmicks and gags. First up is a Script Viewer that is probably the most fancy I've yet seen. It contains the entire shooting script with direct scene access, fancy flash animation, and you can even print it out, too. The Enhanced Playback Track is the DVD-Video's Fact Track on steroids, with an expanded window that gives even more detailed factoids (that no longer obscure the main video window), the ability to "factoid search" throughout the whole film, and enlarge to full screen if desired. Perhaps inevitably, we do get the usual trivia game, Stash the Cash, but at least it is kinda fun and sports a nice and easy to use interface.

Rounding it out are reprints of the same filmographies, reviews and articles that appeared on the DVD-Video portion of the disc, although they are much easier to read, and you can also print them out. Last but not least is the usual weblink to the Buena Vista Home Entertainment "Video Vault" for Jackie Brown.

Parting Thoughts