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Whistle Stopper - Collateral (Two-Disc Special Edition)
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List Price: $12.98
Our Price: $2.63
Your Save: $ 10.35 ( 80% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Dreamworks Video
Starring: Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Jada Pinkett Smith, Mark Ruffalo, Peter Berg
Directed By: Michael Mann
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Paramount
EAN: 9781417010783
Format: AC-3
ISBN: 1417010789
Label: Dreamworks Video
Manufacturer: Dreamworks Video
Number Of Items: 2
Publisher: Dreamworks Video
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2004-12-14
Running Time: 120
Studio: Dreamworks Video
Theatrical Release Date: 2004-08-06
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Opposing Forces Collide on the Streets of L.A.
Comment: Director Michael Mann (Manhunter and Heat) is well known for being a precise and methodical filmmaker. He often focuses on minute but important aspects of both the story and the characters therein, which has earned him the reputation of being an "actor's director". This unique interaction between Mann and his cast is exemplified in the suspense film, Collateral, which features an impressive cast of actors, all of whom give naturalistic and psychologically complex performances. The story, about a cab driver who is forced to drive a hitman around the city of Los Angeles while he assassinates his targets, is quite literally driven by its vividly realized characters. These characters, who are three-dimensional and feel almost familiar, are brought to life by an all-star cast. The cast includes Tom Cruise as Vincent, Jamie Foxx as Max, Jada Pinkett Smith as Annie, and Mark Ruffalo as Detective Fanning. Each member of the cast gives a great performance, especially Jada Pinkett Smith and Mark Ruffalo, who aren't what would be considered the main characters and yet they create memorable personas. But the real scene-stealers are the performances of Foxx and Cruise, whose characters are dynamic despite being polar opposites.
Vincent is a slickly dressed, cold and calculating hitman, who has buried his emotions for years in order to make himself a more efficient killer. Max is an obsessive-compulsive, perfectionist of a cabdriver, who has allowed his lifelong dreams to slip by because he lacks the confidence and the initiative to make them a reality. But on one fateful night, these two strangers' lives will collide and neither will be the same.
When Vincent asks Max if he will drive him around the city while he makes five stops, Max is at first hesitant and unsure... until Vincent offers him $700. But during their first stop, while Vincent is inside of an apartment complex, a body falls from the balcony and comes crashing down onto the roof of Max's cab. It immediately becomes clear that Vincent has killed the man and Max knows that he has now essentially become a hostage. As Max is forced to drive Vincent to his remaining stops while Vincent assassinates his targets, the two share conversations and begin to see each other for who and what they truly are. This has an effect on the both of them, though a different effect. As Max becomes more assertive and confident, Vincent is reintroduced to his more human side. Meanwhile a narcotics detective named Fanning is tracking down Vincent because he knows that someone's responsible for the deaths of certain witnesses for the prosecution of a major drug trafficker named Felix. And it is Felix that has hired Vincent to eliminate these witnesses. It's not long before the FBI becomes involved and they believe that Max is the killer, not Vincent who they don't even know exists.
Soon Max is angered by Vincent's general disregard for life and he is empowered by the realization that he does have some control over what happens to him. When Max discovers that Vincent's final target is a beautiful criminal prosecutor named Annie, who Max had befriended earlier in the evening, Max is forced to race Vincent to save her. Max, the passive cabbie is pitted against Vincent, the sociopathic contract killer. Yet on this night anything can happen.
Collateral gave Michael Mann the unique opportunity of shooting a film in Los Angeles after dark and he delighted in showing audiences a side to the city that they may not have known existed before. Using, predominantly, a Hi Def digital camera, he creates a vision of Los Angeles that is simultaneously stark, oppressive, beautiful, and colorful. Mann also exposes the economic differences and the cultural diversity of L.A., which gives the film a different flavor from other films that have shot there.
Though highly stylized and at times a little predictable, Collateral is one of the best suspense films of the past decade. The reason being that it's rare to have such naturalistic actors playing such believable characters while they are trapped in the most extraordinary of circumstances. This is where Mann excels as a filmmaker, telling stories that are somewhat far-fetched and yet it doesn't matter because as an audience we have a sincere emotional investment in the characters. As we watch Max and Vincent confide in each other, and as we see them both become torn by internal conflict, we can't help but empathize with their plights and wonder, "What would I do in that situation?"
Also recommended:
Léon: The Professional
Nick of Time
Enemy of the State
Panic Room
Changing Lanes
Phone Booth
Man on Fire
Crash
Customer Rating:
Summary: Best Tom Cruise movie ever
Comment: This is probably the best Tom Cruise movie ever!!!
The gunshots sound amazing! This just needs to be released on Blu-ray now!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good
Comment: I watched this movie four times this week already, since it first premiered on DVD (saw it three times at the movie theaters). I have to admit ... I saw "HEAT" eight times at the movie theaters (my personal record), so you can say that I'm "biased" towards Michael Mann's films. His characters are always so REAL, and rich. I never feel like I'm watching stereotypical movie characters. I feel like I'm "peeking in" on someone's life. That's how I felt with Max and Vincent. They seemed so real to me. Most "hit man" roles don't seem real to me, but the character of Vincent did, as played by mega-star Tom Cruise. Jamie Foxx almost stole the movie though with his best performance to date, with the possible exception of "Ray." I loved everything about this movie, and his performance, particularly when he went to meet up with bad guy "Felix." That scene was CLASSIC. This movie gets FIVE STARS in my book. It's one you will want to watch over and over again.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good
Comment: I heard the plot outline and thought to myself this doesn't have the makings for a good movie. Why would a hit man choose a cabbie to drive him around? Why would this be interesting? But, I had similar thoughts before seeing "The Insider" - why would a movie about a corporate whistle blower be interesting. Now, "The Insider", along with "Heat", "The Last of the Mohicans", and "Manhunter" are some of my favorite movies. After seeing Collateral, I surprisingly really didn't have a problem with the issue of why a hit-man would have a cabbie drive him around from hit to hit. But, it didn't live up to other Michael Mann movies that I love. It seemed like a long version of an RHD episode. If you want an entertaining movie, this will suffice. If you want Michael Mann at the top of his form, this isn't it.
Customer Rating:
Summary: It remains superficial gray rather than noir
Comment: This film is not particularly rich as for the content. A professional killer has been hired to eliminate all the witnesses and even the cops and other prosecution personnel in some criminal case. Banal. He does not want to drive his own car and he does not want to hire a car and an accomplice to drive him around. So he comes at night and just hires a taxi and its driver. That makes him difficult to trace. But that creates some problems because the taxi-driver is not really willing to do the job. And then the two are like mutual prisoners or custodians. One cannot work without the other and one cannot escape from the other. Yet the taxi-driver, after a long series of killings, finds the courage to cause an accident which means the arrival of the cops, but that also means the discovery of the first body that had been put in the trunk and the taxi driver's discovery that the next and last target is the woman he had transported just before this embarrassing and invading client. He decides to escape from the cop who is trying to arrest him, and who was alone on his car patrol, and to prevent the killing of the girl. He will even go slightly further. But that's not the main interest of the film. We could have predicted all that from the very start. Then it's only details. The interest is the rhythm and the twists in the fabric of the tale. In fact it is economical in blood and even bullets because it centers on the psychological profile of the taxi-driver and the relation he establishes with his customer. Strangely enough it is more psychological than we could have expected and that saves the film from banality.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines
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Editorial Reviews:
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Vincent 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
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