Collateral Blu-ray delivers stunning video and great audio in this excellent Blu-ray release
Vincent is a cool, calculating contract killer at the top of his game. Max is a cabbie with big dreams and little to
show for it. Now, Max has to transport Vincent on his next job - one night, five stops, five hits and a getaway.
And after this fateful night, neither man will ever be the same again. Tonight everything is changing...
He may not fall into the same grouping in which the Spielbergs, Camerons, Scorseses, and
Tarantinos of the world reside, but Director Michael Mann has made one heck of a name for
himself around the Hollywood landscape and is widely regarded as one of the finest Action/Drama
helmsman around town, his films always exceptionally-crafted, wonderfully acted, and
painstakingly real in feel. Of the three, he's perhaps best known for the attention to detail in his
films, particularly in his ability to make his environments into characters and lend realism to
gunfights that aren't glamorized but instead based on realistic tactics, scenarios, and training. As
was the case in Heat -- the picture
widely regarded as Mann's crowning achievement -- his 2004 Thriller Collateral boasts a
first-class story, fantastic acting, and a sense of realism that's rarely found in Hollywood; the
picture may be escapist entertainment at its core, but Mann ensures through a gritty tone and
plausible scenarios that the film never drifts all that far into fantasy land and maintains a
carefully-executed balance between placing the audience in the middle of a frightful night in Los
Angeles and creating a tense but fun and entertaining atmosphere.
Tom Cruise introduces a new dance move at Club Fever.
It began as just another night in the life of Los Angeles cab driver Max (Jamie Foxx, Law Abiding
Citizen), until he meets the beautiful young prosecutor Annie (Jada Pinkett Smith, Reign Over Me) who
sees in him more than a cab driver and marvels at his politeness and big dreams to one day run
his own upscale limousine service, ultimately extending a hand of friendship and the possibility of
something more at the end of her ride. Max's next fare is Vincent (Tom Cruise, War of the Worlds)
who offers Max several hundred dollars in exchange for taking him to five
stops and, finally, to the airport to catch an early-morning flight. Max begrudgingly accepts the
offer and thinks little else of it -- until a body falls from several stories and on top of his cab during
Vincent's first stop. Max
soon learns that Vincent is a hit man with a list of five targets that he must eliminate before the
sun comes up, beginning a night of violence-ridden terror as the unassuming cabbie is forced to
become part of a deadly game that he's neither mentally nor emotionally fit to handle, all the
while local and federal authorities close in on him and threaten to add yet another layer of danger
to an already blood-soaked night.
Michael Mann's Collateral is a movie that feels as spacious as Los Angeles itself, but also
seems as cramped and tight as a single taxicab. His expert direction consistently makes the
audience feel like a tagalong member alongside Max and Vincent as they traverse the City of
Angels in pursuit of Vincent's targets, and Mann's stunning photography of the city and his ability
to precisely frame the occupants of the cab for both dramatic and realistic effect give
Collateral a unique feel that positively engulfs the audience into the worlds depicted in
the film. What's more, Mann -- with guidance from Stuart Beattie's (G.I. Joe: The Rise of
Cobra) excellent script -- is able to make both characters infinitely relatable, even the
cold, calculated, and deadly Vincent who seems like he could be a nice guy when there's not a hit
list in his briefcase and a .45 in his holster. Mann and Beattie make Vincent a hard-nosed killer
but also give him a semblance of a heart and soul, but it's clear from the get-go which is the
dominant trait and which is the long-since buried attribute that only manages to sneak out for a
shot of decency a few times per night. Nevertheless, it's Foxx's character that becomes the de
facto audience member in the film; an everyman with big dreams but -- at first, anyway --
without the fortitude and wherewithal to handle the situation into which he's thrust, Max
represents the unlikely hero who, while gaining confidence and ability along the way, never
becomes anything more than the sum of what he was before Vincent sat down in the backseat of
his cab.
Though its script is magnificent and its direction smooth, Collateral ultimately works
thanks to a pair of uncanny performances from leads Jamie Foxx and Tom Cruise, each of whom
positively sink into their roles and lend the final push towards realism that makes the movie such
a wonderful experience. Firstly, their performances are reflective of Mann's instance on lending
as much depth and realism to the picture as possible; Tom Cruise, through extensive firearms
training in preparation for the part, demonstrates exceptional pistol-handling and
gunfighting skills throughout the film, while Jamie Foxx manages to capture a wonderful balance
between a frightened everyman and an individual that ultimately chooses to fight for what he
believes, his wonderful performance earning him a much-deserved Best Supporting Actor Oscar
nomination. Beattie's script gives both characters sharp and honest dialogue; Foxx in particular
handles the material marvelously, a scene featuring him thrust into posing as Vincent sees him
turn on a dime between innocent and tough, part of which stems from a survival mechanism,
another from his crash-course in how to cary oneself in Vincent's line of work. Foxx devours the
scene and indeed the entire script, and the result is a movie that sees pitch-perfect chemistry
between its lead characters, even if they're on opposite sides of the cab, the law, and more
importantly, the moral compass.
Collateral earns a wonderful Blu-ray transfer from Paramount. This 1080p,
2.40:1-framed image, comprised of about 85% digital footage (per Michael Mann in one of the
supplemental
features), looks marvelous on Blu-ray. Viewers will indeed note the presence of heavy noise in
many scenes that's resultant from the digital photography, particularly evident in lower-light
shots. Nevertheless, Paramount's Blu-ray boasts an exceptionally strong color palette that
sometimes
takes a slight turn towards a slight green tint, but the many hues -- primarily Max's red and
yellow cab and the numerous neon signs seen throughout Los Angeles -- sparkle against the
darker backdrops. Even Vincent's gray suit and hair are meticulously rendered, and the result is
an image that's consistently vibrant even through the nighttime shoot. Fine detail is
breathtakingly meticulous as well in some places, but a bit mushy and soft in others; most every
close-up scene fares well in revealing pores in faces, lines in
clothing, or the textures of various surfaces inside Max's cab even through the thick bouts of
noise, but it's in the film's better-lit locales
-- the interior of a hospital or under the bright lights of a gas station -- that details truly sparkle
and the Blu-ray boasts a practically faultless image that's made of some of the finer detailing and
depth to be found on any disc. Flesh tones are generally neutral but reflective of the various
lighting conditions, and blacks are mostly stable and true though several scenes seem to waver
between a detail-aborbing shade and a slightly washed-out look. Though there's an obvious
digital sheen to much of the movie, it nevertheless looks splendid, and Paramount's Blu-ray
release of Collateral has faithfully and meticulously preserved Michael Mann's vision for
the movie.
Collateral's Blu-ray features a steady, sometimes intense, and always wonderfully
pristine DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack. Though not the most powerful, prodigious, or
immersive listen,
Collateral boasts strong clarity and a fine support structure that makes it a rather
seamless listen. Listeners will note pleasant ambience throughout the film, whether the
hustle-and-bustle of a busy airport in one of the movie's opening scenes or the general din of Los
Angeles
streets that's defined by honking horns, squeaking brakes, and other sounds of the big city.
Never overpowering but nicely inserted so as to create a fairly strong atmosphere, the surround
channels work predominantly as a support structure for the film rather than as a source of a
deluge of discrete information. Nevertheless, the back channels do enjoy several spurts of more
intense action, particularly during the "Club Fever" sequence as heard in chapter 16 as dance
beats, the general din of the club, and a pulsating low
end spill from every speaker and effectively place the listener on the floor. Smoother Jazz sounds
from a posh L.A. night
club or the various pieces of James Newton Howard's (I Am Legend) fine
score are all delivered with impeccable clarity in every scene and through the entire range.
Additionally, the film features several spurts of gunfire with each shot ringing out with a powerful
authority, whether heard outdoors in the "is that my briefcase, homey?" scene or later in the
aforementioned "Club Fever" shootout; each shot features a potent low end and a sharp thud,
not to mention a good sense of echoing through the streets in the exterior shots. Rounded out
by seamless dialogue reproduction, Collateral's DTS soundtrack delivers a fine listening
experience.
Paramount's Blu-ray release of Collateral delivers a fine selection of bonus materials, the
collection headlined by a commentary track with Director Michael Mann. Mann delivers a quality
track, speaking on the his attraction to the project, its structure, character traits, shooting
locations, the advantages of employing digital photography for the movie, differences between
the script
and the
final film, L.A.'s ethnic communities, scene construction, the thematic elements of the
picture,
Tom Cruise's combat training, and plenty more. He sometimes describes the on-screen action,
but
does so as a means of reinforcing ideas or better describing the hows and whys behind a scene
rather than as an excuse to fill airtime.
Mann delivers a strong track that never becomes superfluous or dull; fans of the
film,
the filmmaker, and the world of filmmaking will enjoy this track immensely. City of Night:
The Making of 'Collateral' (480p, 40:59) is an extended piece that looks heavily at the
elements found in the story, the construction of the characters and the importance of building
them up even through backgrounds that aren't necessarily evident in the film, Cruise's
hardcore training for the role and how it helped better the film, Jamie Foxx's acting and
driving training, the lengths the additional cast went to to lend realism to their secondary roles,
shooting digitally, shooting locations, stunts, the score, and even the color
scheme of the
taxi. There's a wealth of information to be found here, and City of Night proves a
well-above-average making-of piece that fans will enjoy.
Next up are several smaller features. Special Delivery (480p, 1:09) takes an interesting
and all-too-brief look at a task Cruise undertook to prepare for the role. Shooting on
Location: Annie's Office (480p, 2:34) takes a closer look at the construction of one of the
film's crucial sequences and, again, the advantages of shooting Collateral digitally. Next
is Tom Cruise & Jamie Foxx Rehearse (480p, 4:13), a short piece that showcases the
two lead actors rehearsing several scenes, intercut with the final corresponding scene from the
film. Visual Effects: MTA Train (480p, 2:27) examines the implementation of special
effects into the film's finale. Rounding out this collection of extras is a deleted scene with Michael
Mann commentary (480p, 1:57) and the film's teaser (1080p, 2:11) and theatrical (1080p,
2:18) trailers.
Not exactly an "exciting" movie but one that's certainly hard-hitting, thoughtful, wonderfully
constructed, splendidly acted, and boasting a strong sense of realism, Collateral proves a
high quality
entry into the Michael Mann canon and one of the better films in Actor Tom Cruise's long career.
For Jamie Foxx, it's another in a growing string of exceptional performances by an actor that
doesn't
seem to get quite the recognition he deserves but can always be counted on for a first-class
performance no matter what the part calls for. Collateral is ultimately an anti-buddy
movie
that juxtaposes thought processes, ways of life, and moral compasses, but also suggests that
man
is capable of turning to the opposite end of the spectrum when need be, whether that means
getting ugly when the going gets tough or buying flowers for a sickly woman in the hospital.
Mann captures this dichotomy
superbly and blends it into both the cramped interior of a taxi and the vast world of Los Angeles
where,
Vincent so simply states, "nobody notices" anything that's happening around them, good, bad, or
otherwise. What is worth noticing is Paramount's superb Blu-ray release of Collateral.
Boasting a wonderful 1080p transfer that's at times inherently messy but nevertheless strongly
detailed
and colored, a quality lossless soundtrack, and a nice selection of extras, Collateral is a
catalogue title that's a worthy addition to any Blu-ray library. Highly recommended.
Paramount Home Entertainment has announced that it will release the Dreamworks SKG production 'Collateral' on Blu-ray on March 30. This stylized crime/thriller 2004 movie, directed by Michael Mann, stars Tom Cruise as a contract killer and Jamie Foxx as the cab ...
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