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 Director
:Andrew Davis
Starring
: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Elias Koteas, Cliff Curtis, Francesca
Neri, John Leguizamo, Jsu Garcia.
Picture
1.85:1 Anamorphic, DD 5.1, Single Side, Dual-Layer, Snap
Case
Running
Time : 108 mins
See
this is you liked : Commando, Raw Deal, The Peacemaker.
The
story:
What
would you do if you lost everything?
Firefighter
Gordon "Gordy" Brewer (Arnold Schwarzenegger)
is plunged into the complex and dangerous world of international
terrorism after he loses his wife and child in a bombing
credited to Claudio "The Wolf" Perrini (Cliff
Curtis). Frustrated with the official investigation and
haunted by the thought that the man responsible for murdering
his family might never be brought to justice, Brewer takes
matters into his own hands and tracks his quarry to Colombia.
The summary:
In
the wake of the events of September 11th, this was one of
a number of major film releases postponed until the studios
could figure out just how to proceed with marketing and
release. What was once marketed as another Arnold Schwarzenegger
action fest, underwent a makeover and became a patriotic
call to arms. The film remains a big action fest. The third
in a line of Scharzenegger comeback movies that are just
not up to the quality of the classic "Arnies".
Before
you get ready for some Arnie bashing I would like to admit
that I am a big admirer of his work. His box office might
was untouchable during the eighties and early nineties and
sadly he seems to have been rejected by the same fans that
once loved him. He is rapidly becoming a dinosaur from a
different era and his career is in imminent danger of following
Sylvester Stallones. You get the feeling that he hopes to
rejuvenate his career with the upcoming Terminator 3, which
is rapidly being billed as a make or break movie for him.
While
"Collateral Damage" suggests its purpose is to
act as a vessel for a nation's fury, only the simple will
fall for such a transparent marketing trick. It's a savage,
cartoonish thriller that hasn't a brain in for the most
part. That may be the formula for most of Arnies successful
movies but they had something more. They were quirky, gutsy
and always had a string of one liners. They were movies
that didnt need to be taken too seriously and as a result
they were great no brainer fun. Collateral Damage is a plain
old action film, and I would hate for anyone out there to
be deceived into thinking it was something more deeply political
than that. But it is an action movie that tries to take
itself and its star to seriously and essentially fails in
its job of entertaining you. Unfortunately despite this
call for credibility it soon lapses into the cartoon-esque
nature of all action movies. There is one turning point
that sees Arnies character make a transition to would be
vigilante and suddenly being a firefighter makes you an
expert in all things fire related such as using explosives,
building bombs and using weapons. You get the point.
This
could have been so much more if Andrew davis had stuck to
the tried and tested formula for Schwarzenegger movies but
sadly it is relentless in trying to stick to its morals
and make a serious statement rather than giving us good
old fashioned action fodder.
The
DVD is a Warner release and as such has a poor show of extra's.
The sound and picture are both of an acceptable quality
but overall you may be put off by the movie.
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