[Spaceman Spiff]

Movie: Tilt - The Complete First Season
Rating: NR
Retailer(s): Amazon.com, various retailers
Price: $39.99
Disc(s): 3
Starring: Michael Madsen, Eddie Cibrian, Chris Bauer, Kristin Lehman, Todd Williams, Kenneth Welsh
Directed By: Brian Koppelman, David Levien
Distributer: Buena Vista Home Video
Member Review By: Spaceman Spiff

Overview

From the writers of Rounders, ESPN brings us Tilt, a fictional look inside the lives of high stakes poker players in Las Vegas. The action takes place in the week leading up to the World Poker Championship at the Colorado Casino. Seymour Annisman (Welsh), the former sports book owner of the Colorado, has returned to Vegas seeking revenge against Don "The Matador" Everest (Madsen), the man responsible for running Seymour out of town years ago. Seymour has recruited a crew of young guns, Eddie (Cibrian), Clark (Williams), and Miami (Lehman) to help him take down Everest. The unlikely trio of young pros also have their own reasons for wanting a piece of The Matador.

Bonus Features

The boxed set really comes through with some excellent bonus features. There are the usual outtakes, deleted scenes, and commentaries. They have also included a Behind the Scenes feature that is the preview show ESPN ran before Tilt started. This is a great place to start for someone who is not familiar with the show. The DVD also includes an alternate ending to the series. It definitely would have put a different spin onto the show with the alternate scene.

Perhaps the greatest of the bonus features is a replay of the Final Table from the 1998 World Series of Poker. It is fun to watch and almost nostalgic to see how poker was televised just seven years ago. There are no cameras to see the players' hole cards, no graphics showing the board cards, and no odds instantly updated. It was a much different world compared to televised poker today.

Reviewer's Comments

Tilt is a nice piece of escape entertainment, but anyone looking for much more is going to be disappointed. Comparisons to Rounders are going to be inevitable, but they are somewhat unfair as they are two different stories only sharing a common thread of poker. Taken for what it is, a serial TV show, Tilt does a decent job compared to some of the other programs that make it to the screen.

The acting is a little hit or miss, but for the most part, the leads are pretty good. As you would expect, Madsen steals the show with his portrayal of The Matador. If you liked Madsen in Reservoir Dogs, you will love him in Tilt. He brings a very hard edge with a twisted sense of humor to the part and really sells The Matador as a player and a person to be feared. Chris Bauer is also excellent as Lee Nickel, an out-of-state cop investigating the disappearance of his brother in the shows main subplot.

Taken for what it was, Tilt was a fun look into the world of high stakes poker. Fans of the series will love the DVD and all of the inside looks that the bonus features provide. The copy of the 1998 World Series Final Table may be enough even to sway non-fans.

This review originally published at www.staticmultimedia.com and can be found directly at http://www.staticmultimedia.com/cont...iew_1119620980