Product Details

• Actors: Wesley Snipes, Donald Sutherland, Maury Chaykin, Anne Archer, Marie Matiko
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Subtitles: Spanish
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• VHS Release Date: June 5, 2001
• Run Time: 117 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (65 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000059LGX
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #693,487 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Overlooked and underrated, August 17, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Art of War (DVD)

"The Art of War" was a pleasant surprise when I rented it. Once you get past the admitedly far-fetched premise that the UN has its own covert ops teams, it emerges as a spy movie that remembers how to be a spy movie. Rather than going the James Bond/Mission Impossible route of pitting a super-human spy agaisnt a supervillian, "The Art of War" serves up old-fashioned twists, turns, secrets, lies, betrayals, and assassination attempts.

Another nice thing about this movie is that it seems to understand the nature of post-Cold War politics. Nations now clash with treaties, trade agreements, and capitalist aspirations. By addressing issues such as the WTO, human traficking, and China's emerging status as an economic superpower, I got the distinct impression that the screenwriters actually read the newspaper. Ultimately, the plot doesn't quite hold up, but it's an admirable effort.

Snipes does a great job, never lightening the tone by playing to the cheap seats. By playing it straight he makes the film that much more believable. His fight scenes--including the end shootout feating slow-mo bullet-time--are both thrilling and plausible in a way that "The Matrix's" cgi-enhanced action can't manage.

Finally, the film just *looks* great. Director of Photography Pierre Gill plausibly passes off a lot of Canadian locations as Hong Kong and New York. He gives these cities a glossy sheen, a convincing grittiness, and a neon readiance, depending upon the scene.

All in all, I think if the movie had featured Tom Cruise or Keanu Reeves it would have been much better received. Too bad, since Snipes blows both of them off the screen. This one is definitely worth a look.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Snipes very under-rated actor of our time!!!, January 3, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Art of War (DVD)

What's with the hate? I watched this movie numerous times. I liked it the first time but the movie gets better after you see it a few times because you start to pick things up that you missed. I am big fan of action films and this movie delivers, yes it predictable at times but what movie isn't. I thought the actors did a pretty good job also. The film also ended on a good note makes you feel good especially with the nice musical score the films has. Wish they would of actually made a score soundtrack for the film.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WOW!!..Didn't Know Wesley Made This One!, September 16, 2007

By 

R. Duran "Game-Playin' Mama" (Yankee Stuck In The South) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Art of War (DVD)

I'm watching this movie on tnt channel right now and ....WOW! Crazy-Great Movie!! Wesley is at his BEST with ACTION films. This is a GOTTA Have Dvd for sure!!!