a real aural treat

Rating: 10/10 (9 November 2007)

there will be plenty of other reviews here on the story, acting etc etc but maybe less on the sound in the movie so i'll focus on that here..
the Coen brothers are well known for paying close attention to detail in their soundtracks. i've always found in the past though that they have a tendency to go over the top with this, and the sound can become a little pretentious
not so here. they don't try to do anything outlandish with the soundtrack but tremendous detail is placed on the effects and atmos in particular.
just about everything sounds wonderful from the dropping of a bag, the uncurling of a wrapper to more 'interesting' sounds like the ricochet of a bullet from a metal bridge and of course the fantastic signature sound of our bad guy.. the nail/air gun. some wonderful atmos in the air duct for example, and even on the polished metal of a blown out door lock. subtle and excellent use of the surrounds is made, and i especially liked how they used this with some of the dialogue
overall i was really impressed. and as you'll likely hear elsewhere, the rest of the film was great too!