Departed by Matt Damon

Absolutely fantastic from the beginning to the end, big stars definitely make for a good, exciting, keep you guessing film. Watched so much rubbish lately. Highly recommend, cannot say which star in this was outstanding because they all were!

This 151 min crime, drama, adventure REGION B/2 DVD is one of the best films I have seen for quite a while. For a gangster/undercover film it seemed to have everything, a good story line, action, suspense, drama and more twists and turns than the Swiss Alps road system. The film did include bad language, violence and the odd adult scene but in my opinion was part and parcel of the film. The DVD is a two disc set with disc one the main feature and disc two the bonus feature that includes - additional scenes with introductions by Martin Scorsese - Stranger than fiction: The story of the Boston Mob: The real life gangster behind Jack Nicholson's character - Crossing criminal cultures: How little Italy's crime and violence influence Scorsese's work - Theatrical trailer.Rookie cop Billy Castigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) grew up in crime. That makes him the perfect mole, the man on the inside of the mob run by boss Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson). It's his job to win Costello's trust and help his detective handlers (Mark Wahlberg and Martin Sheen) bring Costello down. Meanwhile SIU officer Colin Sullivan (Matt Daman) has everyone's trust. No one suspects he's Costello's mole.

I found the beginning of this film a little muddled and it took me about twenty minutes to work out that it was about a police agent infiltrating the criminals and a criminal infiltrating the police, and who the good guys were and who the bad guys were. Once I'd got my bearings, it was entertainment at its best with awesome acting from one of the best casts since the Godfather. Whilst it's invidious to single anyone out, my favourite was Jack Nicholson who managed to change his facial expression with almost every word - at times he bordered on self-parody yet he always managed to convey menace. Leonardo diCaprio's portrayal of a cop under stress was flawless.The ending of the film was somewhat nihilistic, but there was never going to be a happy ending. I loved the final screenshot of a rat running along a parapet - it summed up the whole film in a matter of seconds. Pure genius.

Master director Martin Scorsese returns to familiar gangland territory, and the results are? Well obviously bloody good. A remake of Hong Kong's 'Internal Affairs', 2006's 'The Departed' is probably the jewel in his 21st century crown. The story follows the Boston police department and their attempts to both infiltrate the Irish mob, and to root out a malevolent informer within their own ranks. Leonardo DiCaprio was now firmly established as the director's number one guy, and his edgy, paranoid performance here shows exactly why. Jack Nicholson is cool as mob boss 'Frank Costello', and the perfect choice for the role. The actors presence just makes the movie feel all the more special. High quality cinema indeed.

I don't enjoy gangster movies normally, but the game of cat and mouse in this Scorsese film is very well played.All actors put in an outstanding performance and as always Jack Nickolson is a very scary baddie - his Boston accent is hit and miss (Leonardo di Caprio does a much better job at it) and I loved seeing all the Boston outtakes. The special features disk is worth watching too.

This is one of my all time favourite films. The plot is great, the cast is perfect, and the result is a captivating story of deception, intrigues and greed, along with a fair bit of macho BS. It might not be a classic as such but it is definitely a film that can be watched again and again without getting boring.

A better Scorsese film, but I can't make my mind up about DiCaprio or not, some-times he's goodishother not so. It's a story (if your my age) you have seen before done loads of times. There's not a lotthat is new to the film but length and Scorsese's film making, and quite good acting.

One of my favourite films updated for the latest physical media. If you don't own it I'd recommend a viewing.Blu-ray brings little to the film however as the quality is little better than my old DVD. Only certain scenes in the film show a greater picture sharpness.