- Surging excitement and one-man heroics fuel this powerful action thriller from the director of The Fugitive and Under Siege. Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a fireman whose wife and child are killed in a terrorist bombing and who obsessively tracks the mastermind (Cliff Curtis) behind it, from Los Angeles to Colombia to Washington, DC. The fanatic plans to strike again in Washington?but how? When? Whe
COLLATERAL - Blu-Ray Movie
Collateral offers a change of pace for Tom Cruise as a ruthless contract killer, but that's just one of many reasons to recommend this well-crafted thriller. It's from Michael Mann, after all, and the director's stellar track record with crime thrillers (
Thief,
Manhunter, and especially
Heat) guarantees a rich combination of intelligent plotting, well-drawn characters, and escalating tension, beginning here when icy hit-man Vincent (Cruise) rec! ruits cab driver Max (Jamie Foxx) to drive him through a nocturnal tour of Los Angeles, during which he will execute five people in a 10-hour spree. While Stuart Beattie's screenplay deftly combines intimate character study with raw bursts of action (in keeping with Mann's directorial trademark), Foxx does the best work of his career to date (between his excellent performance in
Ali and his title-role showcase in
Ray), and Cruise is fiercely convincing as an ultra-disciplined sociopath. Jada Pinkett-Smith rises above the limitations of a supporting role, and Mann directs with the confidence of a master, turning L.A. into a third major character (much as it was in the Mann-produced TV series
Robbery Homicide Division).
Collateral is a bit slow at first, but as it develops subtle themes of elusive dreams and lives on the edge, it shifts into overdrive and races, with breathtaking precision, toward a nail-biting climax.
--Jeff ShannonVincent ! is a cool calculating contract killer at the top of his game. ! Max is a cabbie with big dreams looking for his next fare. This fateful night max will transport vincent on his next mission - one night 5 stops 5 hits & a perfect getaway. Together they find themselves in a non-stop race against time. Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 08/22/2006 Starring: Tom Cruise Jada Picket Smith Run time: 120 minutes Rating: R
Collateral offers a change of pace for Tom Cruise as a ruthless contract killer, but that's just one of many reasons to recommend this well-crafted thriller. It's from Michael Mann, after all, and the director's stellar track record with crime thrillers (
Thief,
Manhunter, and especially
Heat) guarantees a rich combination of intelligent plotting, well-drawn characters, and escalating tension, beginning here when icy hit-man Vincent (Cruise) recruits cab driver Max (Jamie Foxx) to drive him through a nocturnal tour of Los Angeles, during which he will execute five people in a 10-hour spree. While S! tuart Beattie's screenplay deftly combines intimate character study with raw bursts of action (in keeping with Mann's directorial trademark), Foxx does the best work of his career to date (between his excellent performance in
Ali and his title-role showcase in
Ray), and Cruise is fiercely convincing as an ultra-disciplined sociopath. Jada Pinkett-Smith rises above the limitations of a supporting role, and Mann directs with the confidence of a master, turning L.A. into a third major character (much as it was in the Mann-produced TV series
Robbery Homicide Division).
Collateral is a bit slow at first, but as it develops subtle themes of elusive dreams and lives on the edge, it shifts into overdrive and races, with breathtaking precision, toward a nail-biting climax.
--Jeff ShannonCollateral offers a change of pace for Tom Cruise as a ruthless contract killer, but that's just one of many reasons to recommend this well-crafted thriller.! It's from Michael Mann, after all, and the director's stellar! track r ecord with crime thrillers (
Thief,
Manhunter, and especially
Heat) guarantees a rich combination of intelligent plotting, well-drawn characters, and escalating tension, beginning here when icy hit-man Vincent (Cruise) recruits cab driver Max (Jamie Foxx) to drive him through a nocturnal tour of Los Angeles, during which he will execute five people in a 10-hour spree. While Stuart Beattie's screenplay deftly combines intimate character study with raw bursts of action (in keeping with Mann's directorial trademark), Foxx does the best work of his career to date (between his excellent performance in
Ali and his title-role showcase in
Ray), and Cruise is fiercely convincing as an ultra-disciplined sociopath. Jada Pinkett-Smith rises above the limitations of a supporting role, and Mann directs with the confidence of a master, turning L.A. into a third major character (much as it was in the Mann-produced TV series
Robbery Homicide Division)! .
Collateral is a bit slow at first, but as it develops subtle themes of elusive dreams and lives on the edge, it shifts into overdrive and races, with breathtaking precision, toward a nail-biting climax.
--Jeff ShannonStudio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 06/07/2011 Run time: 351 minutesARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER DELIVERS A NAIL-BITING EXCITEMENT AND BOLD ONE-MAN HEROICS AS A LOS ANGELES FIREMAN WHO SEEKS REVENGE AFTER HIS WIFE AND SON ARE KILLED IN A TERRORIST BOMBING. SCHWARZENEGGER TRACKS THE MAN RESPONSIBLE FROM COLOMBIA TOWASHINGTON, D.C. IN A RACE TO STOP HIM BEFORE HE STRIKES AGAIN.Arnold Schwarzenegger's loyal fans get what they want in this routine but rousing revenge thriller, which pits the aging action star against a Colombian guerrilla terrorist. Schwarzenegger plays a Los Angeles fireman who witnesses the killing of his wife and young son, caused by the terrorist's bombing in a crowded L.A. pavilion. Despite intense scrutiny by FBI and CIA offici! als, Arnie infiltrates the terrorist's remote jungle compound,! enlists the aid of the villain's seemingly trustworthy wife (Francesca Neri), and plots to foil another bombing in Washington, D.C. Director Andrew Davis (
The Fugitive) maintains adequate plausibility even when Schwarzenegger's survival grows absurdly unlikely, and lively roles for John Turturro and John Leguizamo add welcomed spice to the movie's impressive display of military ordnance. Despite its formulaic plot and Arnold's advancing seniority,
Collateral Damage still manages to pack an entertaining punch.
--Jeff Shannon Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 11/15/2011
Collateral Collateral offers a change of pace for Tom Cruise as a ruthless contract killer, but that's just one of many reasons to recommend this well-crafted thriller. It's from Michael Mann, after all, and the director's stellar track record with crime thrillers (
Thief,
Manhunter, and especially
Heat) guar! antees a rich combination of intelligent plotting, well-drawn characters, and escalating tension, beginning here when icy hit-man Vincent (Cruise) recruits cab driver Max (Jamie Foxx) to drive him through a nocturnal tour of Los Angeles, during which he will execute five people in a 10-hour spree. While Stuart Beattie's screenplay deftly combines intimate character study with raw bursts of action (in keeping with Mann's directorial trademark), Foxx does the best work of his career to date (between his excellent performance in
Ali and his title-role showcase in
Ray), and Cruise is fiercely convincing as an ultra-disciplined sociopath. Jada Pinkett-Smith rises above the limitations of a supporting role, and Mann directs with the confidence of a master, turning L.A. into a third major character (much as it was in the Mann-produced TV series
Robbery Homicide Division).
Collateral is a bit slow at first, but as it develops subtle th! emes of elusive dreams and lives on the edge, it shifts into ! overdriv e and races, with breathtaking precision, toward a nail-biting climax.
--Jeff ShannonDays of Thunder
With
Days of Thunder, director Tony Scott tried to do for the Indy 500 what he did for the U.S. Air Force with
Top Gun. But without
Top Gun's go-go soundtrack and visual feats, Scott merely ends up with a Tom Cruise vehicle that's out of gas.
Cruise plays (what else?) a cocky, upstart stock-car racer who faces down ruthless racing opponents. Nicole Kidman, Robert Duvall, Cary Elwes, and Randy Quaid do the laps around this movie's tiresome track with Cruise, while director Scott attempts to propel the action along with his trademark visceral, gritty but glamorous visual style.
Days of Thunder is notable, however, as a turning point in Cruise's then one-dimensional career. After this film--having tired even his most devoted fans by playing a bartender, an air f! orce pilot, and a stock-car driver--Cruise was forced to take on real character parts. --Ethan Brown
Minority Report
Set in the chillingly possible future of 2054, Steven Spielberg's
Minority Report is arguably the most intelligently provocative sci-fi thriller since
Blade Runner. Like Ridley Scott's "future noir" classic, Spielberg's gritty vision was freely adapted from a story by Philip K. Dick, with its central premise of "Precrime" law enforcement, totally reliant on three isolated human "precogs" capable (due to drug-related mutation) of envisioning murders before they're committed. As Precrime's confident captain, Tom Cruise preempts these killings like a true action hero, only to run for his life when he is himself implicated in one of the precogs' visions. Inspired by the brainstorming of expert futurists, Spielberg packs this paranoid chase with potential conspirators (Max V! on Sydow, Colin Farrell), domestic tragedy, and a heartbreaki! ng preco g pawn (Samantha Morton), while Cruise's performance gains depth and substance with each passing scene. Making judicious use of astonishing special effects,
Minority Report brilliantly extrapolates a future that's utterly convincing, and too close for comfort.
--Jeff ShannonTop Gun
Jingoism, beefcake, military hardware, and a Giorgio Moroder rock score reign supreme over taste and logic in this Tony Scott film about a maverick trainee pilot (Tom Cruise) who can't follow the rules at a Navy aviation training facility. The dogfight sequences between American and Soviet jets at the end are absolutely mechanical, though audiences loved it at the time. The love story between Cruise's character and that of Kelly McGillis is like flipping through pages of advertising in a glossy magazine. This designer action movie from 1986 would be all the more appalling were it not for the canny casting of good a! ctors in dumb parts. Standouts include Anthony Edwards--who makes a nice impression as Cruise's average-Joe pal--and the relatively unknown Meg Ryan in a small but memorable appearance.
--Tom KeoghWar of the Worlds
Despite super effects, a huge budget, and the cinematic pedigree of alien-happy Steven Spielberg, this take on H.G. Wells's novel is basically a horror film packaged as a sci-fi thrill ride. Instead of a mad slasher, however, Spielberg (along with writers Josh Friedman & David Koepp) utilizes aliens hell-bent on quickly destroying humanity, and the terrifying results that prey upon adult fears, especially in the post-9/11 world. The realistic results could be a new genre, the grim popcorn thriller; often you feel like you're watching Schindler's List more than Spielberg's other thrill-machine movies (Jaws, Jurassic Park). The film centers on Ray Ferrier, a divorced father (Tom Cruise, oh! so comfortable) who witnesses one giant craft destroy his Ne! w Jersey town and soon is on the road with his teen son (Justin Chatwin) and preteen daughter (Dakota Fanning) in tow, trying to keep ahead of the invasion. The film is, of course, impeccably designed and produced by Spielberg's usual crew of A-class talent. The aliens are genuinely scary, even when the film--like the novel--spends a good chunk of time in a basement. Readers of the book (or viewers of the deft 1953 adaptation) will note the variation of whom and how the aliens come to Earth, which poses some logistical problems. The film opens and closes with narration from the novel read by Morgan Freeman, but Spielberg could have adapted Orson Welles's words from the famous Halloween Eve 1938 radio broadcast: "We couldn't soap all your windows and steal all your garden gates by tomorrow night, so we did the best next thing: we annihilated the world." --
Doug Thomas Surging excitement and one-man heroics fuel this powerful action thriller from the director of T! he Fugitive and Under Siege. Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a fireman whose wife and child are killed in a terrorist bombing and who obsessively tracks the mastermind (Cliff Curtis) behind it, from Los Angeles to Colombia to Washington, DC. The fanatic plans to strike again in Washington…but how? When? Where? In the scramble for answers, one thing is clear: Collateral Damage is a ticking time bomb of suspense.Arnold Schwarzenegger's loyal fans get what they want in this routine but rousing revenge thriller, which pits the aging action star against a Colombian guerrilla terrorist. Schwarzenegger plays a Los Angeles fireman who witnesses the killing of his wife and young son, caused by the terrorist's bombing in a crowded L.A. pavilion. Despite intense scrutiny by FBI and CIA officials, Arnie infiltrates the terrorist's remote jungle compound, enlists the aid of the villain's seemingly trustworthy wife (Francesca Neri), and plots to foil another bombing in Washington, D.C. Dir! ector Andrew Davis (
The Fugitive) maintains adequate pl! ausibili ty even when Schwarzenegger's survival grows absurdly unlikely, and lively roles for John Turturro and John Leguizamo add welcomed spice to the movie's impressive display of military ordnance. Despite its formulaic plot and Arnold's advancing seniority,
Collateral Damage still manages to pack an entertaining punch.
--Jeff Shannon 
If you are wondering about the cause of the current market crisis, th! en you haven't been reading enough of Jack Bogle.
