Talk
about a movie with bad timing. COLLATERAL DAMAGE ($27) was in the
can and scheduled for a fall 2001 release when September 11th happened.
With a plot that involved a terrorist attack on American soil, the Arnold
Schwarzenegger starrer had its theatrical release delayed into 2002. However,
when COLLATERAL DAMAGE finally arrived in theaters, I don’t think
anyone was capable of judging the movie on its own merits. COLLATERAL
DAMAGE is a solid action outing that finds Schwarzenegger back in
form and displaying a bit more maturity as an actor. The plot requires
more emotional depth than any of Schwarzenegger’s film roles and the actor
shows he is capable of more than firing a gun, flexing his muscles and
delivering a funny comeback.
In
COLLATERAL DAMAGE, Schwarzenegger portrays heroic firefighter Gordon
Brewer, who loses his wife and young son in a terrorist bombing incident
outside a Los Angeles office building. A Columbian guerilla leader nicknamed
"El Lobo" takes responsibility for the attack after having fled
back to his homeland. Although, the U.S. government has been running quasi-military
operations in Columbia to curtail the drug trade, CIA Agent Peter Brandt
(Elias Koteas), informs Brewer that for political reasons, it is unlikely
that he will see justice for his dead wife and son. For that reason, Brewer
decides to take matters into his own hands and travels down to Columbia
to Kill "El Lobo" himself. However, unlike the super action
heroes that Schwarzenegger usually plays, Brewer is an ordinary guy who
is driven by grief and relying on luck to carry out his mission to avenge
his wife and son. Of course, COLLATERAL DAMAGE does supply plenty
of action, suspense and a couple of surprises, making the film an entertaining
entry for the action movie/political thriller genres. The cast of COLLATERAL
DAMAGE also features Francesca Neri, Cliff Curtis, Miguel Sandoval,
Harry J. Lennix, John Leguizamo, and John Turturro.
Warner
Home Video has made COLLATERAL DAMAGE available on DVD in a 1.78:1
wide screen presentation that features the anamorphic enhancement for
16:9 displays. This really is a great looking transfer, which is no surprise,
considering that this is a brand new, big budget action movie just coming
off theatrical release. The image on the DVD is incredibly sharp and well
defined, with even the most miniscule details coming out in the well-lit
cinematography. Colors are quite vibrant and flesh tones are wholly natural
throughout the presentation. There are absolutely no sign of chroma noise
or smearing to mar the fine color reproduction. Blacks are completely
pure, whites are wholly stable and contrast is usually smooth, with a
few harsher moments thrown in for effect. Shadow detail is uniformly excellent
thanks to the sensitivity of the film stock and the first rate lighting
work of cinematographer Adam Greenberg. Dual layer authoring keeps digital
compression artifacts very well concealed.
The
Dolby Digital 5.1 channel soundtrack is another knockout! This is an aggressive
action movie mix with plenty of surround usage, as well as cohesive panning
of sound effects throughout the entire soundstage. There is plenty of
gunfire, explosions and screeching tires, as well as good ambient recreations
of the film’s jungle environments and interiors. Dialogue reproduction
is crisp and clean, with excellent intelligibility- even with all the
actors’ accents. The bass channel is deep and forcefully percussive, which
enhances all the gunplay, explosions and the music. Speaking of the music,
Graeme Revell’s unobtrusive score is rendered with excellent clarity and
fidelity. A French 5.1 channel soundtrack is also encoded onto the DVD,
as are English, French and Spanish subtites.
Music
underscores the basic interactive menus, which provide access to the standard
scene selection and set up features as well as the DVD’s supplemental
materials. Director Andrew Davis, who discusses the making of the film
in great detail, provides an enjoyable running audio commentary. A fifteen-minute
"making of" featurette that includes interviews with the director
and stars is also included on the DVD. While somewhat "fluffy,"
the program does have its serious side with its acknowledgement of the
September 11th tragedy. Delving a little bit deeper into this area is
The Hero In A New Era, an eight-minute program in which
director Davis and Schwarzenegger discuss COLLATERAL DAMAGE in
relation to terrorism and the events of September 11th. Roughly eight
minutes of deleted scenes are provided on the DVD; they are interesting
to see once, but they didn’t add anything significant to the story and
were obviously cut for pacing. A theatrical trailer, plus cast & crew
filmographies close out the supplements. COLLATERAL DAMAGE also
has a DVD-ROM section, which is comprise of web links and the theatrical
web site.
COLLATERAL
DAMAGE provides solid action entertainment and a bit of a stretch
for Arnold Schwarzenegger’s acting abilities. Warner Home Video’s presentation
of COLLATERAL DAMAGE looks and sounds fantastic, making this disc
a must have for anyone looking to feed their home theater system something
along the lines of a new demo caliber DVD.
Talk
about a movie with bad timing. COLLATERAL DAMAGE ($27) was in the
can and scheduled for a fall 2001 release when September 11th happened.
With a plot that involved a terrorist attack on American soil, the Arnold
Schwarzenegger starrer had its theatrical release delayed into 2002. However,
when COLLATERAL DAMAGE finally arrived in theaters, I don’t think
anyone was capable of judging the movie on its own merits. COLLATERAL
DAMAGE is a solid action outing that finds Schwarzenegger back in
form and displaying a bit more maturity as an actor. The plot requires
more emotional depth than any of Schwarzenegger’s film roles and the actor
shows he is capable of more than firing a gun, flexing his muscles and
delivering a funny comeback.
In
COLLATERAL DAMAGE, Schwarzenegger portrays heroic firefighter Gordon
Brewer, who loses his wife and young son in a terrorist bombing incident
outside a Los Angeles office building. A Columbian guerilla leader nicknamed
"El Lobo" takes responsibility for the attack after having fled
back to his homeland. Although, the U.S. government has been running quasi-military
operations in Columbia to curtail the drug trade, CIA Agent Peter Brandt
(Elias Koteas), informs Brewer that for political reasons, it is unlikely
that he will see justice for his dead wife and son. For that reason, Brewer
decides to take matters into his own hands and travels down to Columbia
to Kill "El Lobo" himself. However, unlike the super action
heroes that Schwarzenegger usually plays, Brewer is an ordinary guy who
is driven by grief and relying on luck to carry out his mission to avenge
his wife and son. Of course, COLLATERAL DAMAGE does supply plenty
of action, suspense and a couple of surprises, making the film an entertaining
entry for the action movie/political thriller genres. The cast of COLLATERAL
DAMAGE also features Francesca Neri, Cliff Curtis, Miguel Sandoval,
Harry J. Lennix, John Leguizamo, and John Turturro.
Warner
Home Video has made COLLATERAL DAMAGE available on DVD in a 1.78:1
wide screen presentation that features the anamorphic enhancement for
16:9 displays. This really is a great looking transfer, which is no surprise,
considering that this is a brand new, big budget action movie just coming
off theatrical release. The image on the DVD is incredibly sharp and well
defined, with even the most miniscule details coming out in the well-lit
cinematography. Colors are quite vibrant and flesh tones are wholly natural
throughout the presentation. There are absolutely no sign of chroma noise
or smearing to mar the fine color reproduction. Blacks are completely
pure, whites are wholly stable and contrast is usually smooth, with a
few harsher moments thrown in for effect. Shadow detail is uniformly excellent
thanks to the sensitivity of the film stock and the first rate lighting
work of cinematographer Adam Greenberg. Dual layer authoring keeps digital
compression artifacts very well concealed.
The
Dolby Digital 5.1 channel soundtrack is another knockout! This is an aggressive
action movie mix with plenty of surround usage, as well as cohesive panning
of sound effects throughout the entire soundstage. There is plenty of
gunfire, explosions and screeching tires, as well as good ambient recreations
of the film’s jungle environments and interiors. Dialogue reproduction
is crisp and clean, with excellent intelligibility- even with all the
actors’ accents. The bass channel is deep and forcefully percussive, which
enhances all the gunplay, explosions and the music. Speaking of the music,
Graeme Revell’s unobtrusive score is rendered with excellent clarity and
fidelity. A French 5.1 channel soundtrack is also encoded onto the DVD,
as are English, French and Spanish subtites.
Music
underscores the basic interactive menus, which provide access to the standard
scene selection and set up features as well as the DVD’s supplemental
materials. Director Andrew Davis, who discusses the making of the film
in great detail, provides an enjoyable running audio commentary. A fifteen-minute
"making of" featurette that includes interviews with the director
and stars is also included on the DVD. While somewhat "fluffy,"
the program does have its serious side with its acknowledgement of the
September 11th tragedy. Delving a little bit deeper into this area is
The Hero In A New Era, an eight-minute program in which
director Davis and Schwarzenegger discuss COLLATERAL DAMAGE in
relation to terrorism and the events of September 11th. Roughly eight
minutes of deleted scenes are provided on the DVD; they are interesting
to see once, but they didn’t add anything significant to the story and
were obviously cut for pacing. A theatrical trailer, plus cast & crew
filmographies close out the supplements. COLLATERAL DAMAGE also
has a DVD-ROM section, which is comprise of web links and the theatrical
web site.
COLLATERAL
DAMAGE provides solid action entertainment and a bit of a stretch
for Arnold Schwarzenegger’s acting abilities. Warner Home Video’s presentation
of COLLATERAL DAMAGE looks and sounds fantastic, making this disc
a must have for anyone looking to feed their home theater system something
along the lines of a new demo caliber DVD.
