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Features: HD DVD, Widescreen, Dolby Digital (5.1), English, Spanish, French Subtitled
It's the high-stakes, high-risk world of the drug trade as seen through a well-blended mix of interrelated stories: a Mexican policeman (Benicio Del Toro) finds himself and his partner caught in an often deadly web of corruption; a pair of DEA agents (Don Cheadle and Luis Guzman) work undercover in a sordid and dangerous part of San Diego; a wealthy drug baron living in upscale, suburban America is arrested and learns how quickly his unknowing and pampered wife (Catherine Zeta-Jones) takes over his business; and the U.S. President's new drug czar (Michael Douglas) must deal with his increasingly drug-addicted teenage daughter.
"A blistering, thought-provoking modern masterpiece." CNN
"...explosive entertainment, with the tension and volatility of its subject matter...Fast-paced and urgent..." Edward Guthmann, San Francisco Chronicle
"Dazzling." Entertainment Weekly
"...breathtakingly stylish, wonderfuly acted." New York Post
Editor's Note
Steven Soderbergh followed up his critical and commercial smash ERIN BROCKOVICH with this wildly exhilarating exploration of the complex, multilayered international drug problem. The film tells three seemingly disparate stories that loosely intersect and overlap, unfurling at a frantic, relentless pace. In the first, a well-intentioned Mexican police officer, Javier Rodriguez Rodriguez (Benicio Del Toro), comes face-to-face with the hypocrisy and hopelessness of his situation after he learns that his superior, General Salazar (Tomas Milian), isn't the law-abiding officer he claims to be. In the second, Robert Wakefield (Michael Douglas), a conservative Supreme Court judge from Ohio, takes a position as the president's new drug czar. What he doesn't realize is that his teenage daughter, Caroline (Erika Christensen), is falling prey to the dangerous narcotics that he has been hired to eradicate. In the third section, federal agents Montel Gordon (Don Cheadle) and Ray Castro (Luis Guzmn) are baby-sitting Eduardo Ruiz (Miguel Ferrer), a drug smuggler who is about to testify against the wealthy Carlos Ayala (Steven Bauer). When Ayala's pregnant wife, Helena (Catherine Zeta-Jones), learns of her husband's illegal activities, she takes her family's future into her own hands. Soderbergh's bold decision to photograph the film using three strikingly different visual schemes adds even greater punch to TRAFFIC, which stands firmly as one of 2000's most stirring motion picture events.
| Features | Audio: English Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 Surround Sound, Dolby Digital Plus Stereo | | Featurette: Inside Traffic | | Interactive Menus | | Photo Gallery | | Scene Selection | | Subtitles: English, French, Spanish | | This Is An HD-DVD Made For HD-DVD Format Players Which Produce Higher Quality Picture & Sound | | Trailers & TV Spots |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Universal |
| Release Date: 9/12/2006 |
| Running Time: 148 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 2000 | | Catalog ID: 31285 | | UPC: 00025193128522 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: Spanish | | Available Audio Tracks: English, French Dubbed, Spanish | | Available Subtitles: English, French, Spanish | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Widescreen 1.85:1 |
| Cast & Crew
| Awards |
Winner (2001) | | | Golden Globe, Benicio Del Toro, Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture | | | Golden Globe, Stephen Gaghan, Best Screenplay | | | MTV Award, Erika Christensen, Breakthrough Female Performance | | | Oscar, Benicio Del Toro, Best Actor in a Supporting Role | | | Oscar, Steven Soderbergh, Best Director | | | Oscar, Stephen Gaghan, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published | | | Oscar, Stephen Murrione, Best Editing | |
Nominee (2001) | | | Oscar, Edward Zwick, et. al., Best Picture | |
Winner (2001) | | | Screen Actors Guild, Benicio Del Toro, Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role | | | Screen Actors Guild, Michael Douglas, et. al., Outstanding Performance by the Cast of a Theatrical Motion Picture |
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| | Professional Reviews | New York Times
"Steven Soderbergh's great, despairing squall of a film [infuses] epic cinematic form with jittery new rhythms and a fresh, acid-washed palette....The performances, by an ensemble from which not a false note issues, have the clarity and force of pithy instrumental solos insistently piercing through a dense cacaphony..." 12/27/2000 pp.E1-E12USA Today
"...[A] consistently credible drama..." -- 3 out of 4 stars 12/27/2000 p.4D Entertainment Weekly
Ranked #3 in Entertainment Weekly's "Owen Gleiberman's BEST MOVIES OF 2000" 12/22/2000 pp.106-17 Total Film
"...Multi-layered plotting and plenty of pleasing technical flourishes....Douglas is superb..." -- 4 out of 5 stars 02/01/2001 p.88 Sight and Sound
"...Its vigorous, unjaded rush of imagery and story makes for an exciting visual experience..." 02/01/2001 p.53-4 Box Office
"...Soderbergh deftly weaves together four stories depicting the causes and effects of the illegal drug trade..." 02/01/2001 p.66 Premiere
"...The whole thing feels remarkably fresh, vibrant and new....The movie is adult, intelligent, sweeping yet intimate, nail-bitingly suspenseful, buoyed by an impeccable, uniformly powerhouse cast, and it provides a real perspective on a real issue..." 02/01/2001 p.18 Hollywood Reporter
"...A mosaic of heightened reality....A picture fascinating in its complexit....The technical contributions are adroit and stylish..." 12/12/2000 p.26 Los Angeles Times
"...Complex and ambitious....Yet another indication of how accomplished a filmmaker Steven Soderbergh has become..." 12/27/2001 p.F1 ReelViews 9 of 10
Unlike most ensemble movies, Traffic does not bring all of the characters together for a dramatic finale that ties the disparate plot threads together. In fact, for the most part, the different stories do not criss-cross, and, when an intersection occurs, it's an ephemeral one. The purpose of the movie is not to show how the characters interact or to illustrate some obscure point about fate and chance...The narrative pallet of Traffic is rich, tightly woven, and consistently involving, with characters that are as well developed as their necessarily limited screen time allows. In many ways, Traffic is not meant to be a complete story, although it has a beginning and an end. Instead, it offers a glimpse into the world of drug trafficking, giving a sense of the vast scope of the battles that must be waged for any war against drugs to be winnable. Without ever preaching, Traffic shows the folly of believing that facile slogans like "Just say no" mean anything when faced with the kind of real-life situations underlying every drug deal. - James Berardinelli
Reel.com 10 of 10
The cinematography and film editing are exceptional, even breathtaking at times. Relying on single takes and two cameras for many shots, as well as a mix of movie stars, lesser-known actors, and "real" people, Soderbergh creates the sense that viewers are watching raw footage throughout. It helps, of course, that the actors deliver career-making performances. There are no easy answers when it comes to the war on drugs, and Soderbergh stays clear of the whitewash. All facets of the drug industry are represented, with multiple protagonists and antagonists -- and none-too-popular characters mouthing part-true monologues the average person may not want to hear. The filming was just as complex. We learn from Soderbergh (in his commentary with screenwriter Gaghan) that Traffic is based on a collage of influences, including All the President's Men, The Battle of Algiers, Z, The French Connection, and Sorcerer. The result is nothing less than riveting cinema that packs both an emotional and an intellectual wallop. - James Plath
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