The Departed was amazing!

[Fletcher Kasmer]

i just saw the departed last night and me and my two roomates left the theatre in that kind of buzzed/overwhelmed feeling that a good movie can give you. it was definately a movie where everything came together...an amazing story that was both intricate and had a really good rhythm to it, as well as really good acting, characters and the directing and look of the film were dead on. i can only think of one weak aspect of the story, but i was so engrossed by everything else that it wasn't distracting
wow

[Keith Loh]

Good recommendation.

I really thought the original film "Infernal Affairs" was stellar.

[Nate Schmidt]

The Departed was killer. Scorsese delivers another brilliant film, not quite as good as Goodfellas but one of the best in the last little while.

[Eric Brown]

Hands down my favorite picture of the year (so far) and my now favorite Scorsese picture.

[Yasser Kassana]

No doubt, better than the original and one of scorceses best.

[Marco Leavitt]

I liked it quite a lot, but perhaps it got built up too much or something. I was expecting a movie on par with "Goodfellas," and it ain't. It has to be one of the most cynical movies I've ever seen, and that's a good thing.

[Emre Safak]

I thought it was pretty average. I like the lighting in the beginning on Nicholson's character, though. He was in the car mechanic shop talking to a boy, but he was largely in the shade. Dark enough to suggest that he was a bad character, but subtle enough to appear coincidental (indeed, I bet most people did not notice it).

[Keith Loh]

I saw it and thought it kept most of the clever bits about the original and provided a lot of depth. A very solid film that gave enough room for the actors to project themselves yet kept things going at a very tight pace so I didn't notice how broadly it spread itself. The acting, casting was top notch and Nicholson filled out the role rather than it filling him. Lovers of the original might be a bit peeved at the ending but I thought it was just fine - "Infernal Affairs" is not spoiled by it and Scorsese knew enough to keep most of what was good about it. He made it his own film, made the story work in its setting, and took advantage of the original content.

[Robert Kirkpatrick]

Just some random thoughts. Different enough from the original to be good. I can't really compare the two in terms of which is better. I liked the original a lot, but it was slicker. The Scorcese one is grittier, bloodier, and with "snazzier" lines. I found the Matt Damon character in the original to be more sympathetic than the one in the Scorcese movie. In the original, I wanted them both to succeed, which upped the suspense for me. The only person I was routing for in the new version was Leonardo.

[Kin Kwan]

...:::Spoilers:::...

I thought the original Infernal Affairs was a lot better. There were a lot of details that Scorsese changed from IA (Infernal Affairs) that did not improve The Departed. Also, the character development was lacking in The Departed and some of it seemed unrealistic to me.

First of all, in the original, the relationship between Martin Sheen's character (Queenan) and Leonardo's character (Billy) were a lot closer. In IA, Queenan and Billy were almost like friends. This made Queenan's death a lot more dramatic and tragic. In The Departed, they almost had no relationship, besides the fact that Billy works for him. Mark Wahlberg's character (Dignam) was unnecessary. To me, he just seemed like a madman who cussed everyone out. Funny guy at times, but not really needed. I felt he was more of a distraction with his bad temper than an addition to the overall story. But I guess he was important because of the ending, but IA's ending was a lot better, IMHO. Like what Robert Kirkpatrick said, I thought Matt Damon's character (Sullivan) had more depth in IA. Towards the middle/end of the original film, you get a sense that Sullivan wanted to keep his "good guy role," which created conflict with Billy, because he wants to know who the real bad guy is so that Queenan wouldn’t die in vain. I thought that Jack Nicholson did a good job as the bad guy (Costello), even though he was very different from IA. I didn't like the fact that almost everyone who worked at the police station were acting like junior high kids, very hot tempered and cussed everyone out for their own amusement. They seemed very irrational, unprofessional, and angry-because-they're-underpaid cops to me. Even Vera Farmiga's character lost it when she was "counseling" Billy, and she was supposed to be a psychiatrist! The acting just seemed unbelievable at some parts, IMHO.

As for cinematography, I agree with Emre Safak that the lighting for Costello was superb in the beginning, but the rest was just average. Since some of the scenes were straight from IA, it can't be helped that I compare the two different styles. Ultimately, I thought IA's cinematography was better. The shots in IA were subtle and artistic. It did a good job capturing the tension in each scene, and even though a lot of parallel editing were used (more than The Departed), the shots did not distract one another. The cinematography in The Departed wasn't bad, but it wasn't anything special either. The soundtrack was decent, I liked IA's better. IA's soundtrack actually adds to each scene and the movie as a whole. There are many scenes in IA where it's all music and shot driven, no dialogue or sound effects. Personally, I really liked that in the sense that it's more artistic, and it allows the viewer to reflect on what's going on between all the suspense and tension. There's a scene in The Departed where the background music would just come and go, abruptly. I think it was when Costello was going to check on his drugs while being tailed by Sullivan. The music would just come on and then cut off. It got annoying after 2 or 3 times. Now that I think about it, there's nothing audio-wise that really stuck out to me in The Departed, besides that annoyance I mentioned earlier.

Since I liked Infernal Affairs a lot, I was very interested when I heard there was a remake. With a famous director, a stellar cast, and raving reviews from critics, I was expecting a lot. Unfortunately, I regret to say that a lot of my expectations were not met. If I hadn't seen the original, The Departed would've been a fine movie, but after seeing how good Infernal Affairs was, The Departed leaves much to be desired for. There are a lot more dislikes that I have with The Departed (like the use of texting rather than Morse code), but I would turn this into an essay if I kept writing. As my two cents, I like the original wayyy better and I highly recommend it.

[Tunde Anjorin]

Kin you took the words right out of my mouth!! Well said brother!! Well said!!

[Adam Bray]

How can you even compare it to Internal Affairs and say one is better than the other? You're trying to compare two different projects put together by two different people who have two different ideas.

That's like comparing little Suzie's crayon picture of a tree, to little John's picture of a tree. Then telling Suzie her tree picture sucks and that John's is better because his tree has a squirel in it.

Both John's tree and Suzie's tree are good. Just different.

[Adam Bray]

Originally Posted by Kin Kwan

...:::Spoilers:::...

There are a lot more dislikes that I have with The Departed (like the use of texting rather than Morse code).

So you're saying you were dissapointed in the movie, because Matt Damon was not walking around with a Morse Code keypad in his pocket in the year 2006? Gimme a break.

[Kin Kwan]

Originally Posted by Adam Bray

How can you even compare it to Internal Affairs and say one is better than the other?"

Of course I can. Both movie uses the same idea as the base of its story. Each one went a different route with it, and I liked the route that IA took better.

Originally Posted by Adam Bray

That's like comparing little Suzie's crayon picture of a tree, to little John's picture of a tree. Then telling Suzie her tree picture sucks and that John's is better because his tree has a squirel in it.

Both John's tree and Suzie's tree are good. Just different.

In your example, you noted that both trees were "different" but equally "good." What I was saying in my previous post is that I noted there were differences between The Departed and Infernal Affairs, but they were *not* equally good. Like I said in the comment above, I liked the route that IA took better. And that's just my opinion.

Originally Posted by Adam Bray

So you're saying you were dissapointed in the movie, because Matt Damon was not walking around with a Morse Code keypad in his pocket in the year 2006? Gimme a break.

I never said the character from IA carried a Morse Code Keypad around with him. If you've even seen the original movie, then you would have known.

Haha you used "Little John" as your example...

[Lisa Shofner]

Just saw The Departed last night. Very very good, and very loud. ;-)

Such a long movie, but as it was nearing the end I found myself not wanting it to end. I knew that someone would have to die and I was rooting for all three main characters.

This will definately go on my shelf of favorites.

I'm going to keep my eye open and grab the original film if I see it on DVD somewhere.