Customer Reviews

Collateral [VHS]

5 star:		(172)
4 star:		(153)
3 star:		(58)
2 star:		(21)
1 star:		(35)

 

 

Director Michael Mann does what he does best with "Collateral", a well-written (by Stuart Beattie), entertaining thriller that knows just when to be intense and when to be mellow. "Collateral" takes place overnight in Los Angeles. Max (Jamie Foxx), a veteran cab driver who dreams of owning a limousine service, picks up Vincent (Tom Cruise), a slick, talkative fare who offers him $600 for a night's work: 5 stops and get him to the airport by 6 a.m. Sounds good, but when a bloody corpse lands on his windshield, Max comes to the abrupt realization that Vincent is an assassin. He becomes an unwilling accomplice in a murder spree, as Vincent attempts to fulfill his professional obligations and Max tries to walk the line between thwarting a killer and saving himself.

Much of "Collateral" is distinctly mellow in tone. Low-key conversations play out over the classical music in Max's cab. This makes the bursts of action more intense and surprising. No one could call "Collateral" realistic, but the attention to detail in the characters' speech makes it seem so. I have to admire Tom Cruise for embracing villain roles at this point in his career, where other stars have shunned them or insisted on watered-down scripts. Cruise has nothing to lose by playing unlikable characters, and they will among his most memorable work. Vincent's self-possession lends him great presence and charm, while his moral bankruptcy makes him revolting. Cruise is perfect for the role. Jamie Foxx plays the film's "everyman" who rises to the occasion when circumstances demand it. He's stressed, put-upon, and trapped, and he acts it. Jada Pinkett Smith does a nice job in a supporting role as a prosecutor, Annie, who takes a ride in Max's cab, as does Mark Ruffalo as Police Detective Fanning, who suspects trouble in Max's cab after one of his informants is murdered. Great cast, great dialogue, and perfect pacing make "Collateral" an engaging, character-driven thriller that almost everyone will enjoy.

From my point of view, the premise seemed to be very repetitive and potentially boring, but that all changed on August 12, when I went to see this on a rainy day. Don't get me wrong - the plot does involve five murders by hitman Tom Cruise, playing Vincent, who is driven around by Jamie Foxx, playing Max, but there is a lot more to it than that.

The dialogue is outstanding. Foxx, brilliantly cast, is funny at times, but he doesn't come off as trying too hard to be funny, which is what Will Smith is often guilty of. Cruise, playing a villain for once, shows his dark side and turns in a more than convincing performance. This movie, like other Michael Mann movies, relies on good dialogue. There are extended scenes of just talking, but they are so well-written that you don't even notice. A lesser director would have deleted scenes in favor of the more action-packed ones. Now, there is a lot of action and violence, but it never really gets carried away, and it never is without a point. Vincent tries to convince Max that what he is doing isn't all bad, even though it is murder. This is crucial because it shows the character development.

Also of note, the scenery and cinematography of South Central Los Angeles is beautiful. The more violent scenes are incredibly real, on the same level of being real that Saving Private Ryan was on. It may have just been because I was in a theater, but the gunshots sounded real, and the way Tom Cruise handled himself as a marksman made him look like a real hitman. That's something that you can't train for. You either have it or you don't.

And, there were cops in this movie that were chasing after the cab, but only for a very brief part of the movie, so that it didn't end up being like another one of those cat and mouse movies that I grow quite tired of. Yet, at the same time, there still are lot of thrilling action sequences. This truly is one of the best movies that I ever saw.

**Warning: Spoilers ahead**

This movie surprised me. I mean it REALLY surprised me. I didn't know what to expect from this movie. Collateral shows Tom Cruise in what I believe is his first `bad guy' role and Jamie Foxx in one of his few non-comedy roles. But with its tight writing and direction, and great performances by all actors involved, Collateral is without a doubt one of the best movies of this summer, and the surprise sleeper hit of the year.

The story of Collateral revolves around an assassin named Vincent (played by Cruise) who commandeers a taxi operated by Max (played by Foxx). Vincent forces Max at gunpoint to assist him in assassinating five individuals on his hit list. However, this seemingly simple premise belies an incredibly strong story. If you want non-stop balls-to-walls action, and/or have no patience for movies that `have a lot of talking' then look somewhere else. While there are several scenes of gunplay, the core of this movie deals with the interaction between Vincent and Max.

It is true that, like in most movies, Collateral's most interesting character is the villain. Cruise's portrayal of the character is amazing. As Vincent, Cruise delivers his lines with such ease and confidence, that it's more than worthy of Oscar consideration. Vincent is a person who his incredibly calm considering the profession that he's in. He is also extremely resourceful, as shown when he pretends to be a lawyer telling off Max's boss when he (the boss) wants to take any damages done to the taxi out of Max's paycheck. Vincent also always has something sarcastic (and often funny) say to Max when he begins to criticize what Vincent has done. After Vincent kills of the first person on his list, Max asks why he would kill his victim after only just meeting him. To that, Vincent replies, `What? I should only kill people after I get to know them?'. Vincent then asks Max whether he heard about Rwanda. He goes on to tell Max thousands of people died yet `Did you join Amnesty International, Oxfam, Save the Whales, Greenpeace, or something? No. I off one fat Angelino and you throw a hissy fit.'

Max himself is also an interesting character, and is surprisingly well-played by Jamie Foxx. He tells people who get in his cab about his intentions to own a limo service and drive around famous people, yet at the same time he projects a sense that this is more of a dream than a real plan, and you feel sorry for him. His character is also one that continuously changes throughout the movie. After the first killing, Max gets scared and has no idea how to deal with Vincent. But as soon as he sees an opening, Max jumps on the opportunity to destroy Vincent's suitcase with his work inside. And when Max has to confront a powerful drug lord while posing as Vincent, he has to force himself to become as cool and collected as Vincent himself.

An interesting thing to note about this movie is, just like Michael Man's other movie Heat, Collateral likes to use a lot of the wide shots of the background. In Heat this was used to good effect to give that movie a more `epic' experience. In Collateral, this wide shot technique is used to give the viewer to stronger `feel' for the city of Los Angeles, as a bustling, busy, and warm (in terms of temperature) metropolis.

If Cruise and Foxx continue to make performances like that in Collateral, I wouldn't be surprised if one day they get an academy award. Hell it's entirely possible for them to get nominated for their roles in this movie. With so many special effect blockbusters out there this summer, Collateral bucks the trend by providing a movie that focuses on strong characters and dialogue, and a few unexpected twists, rather than relying on huge explosions. Collateral is one of the MUST SEE movies of this summer, so don't deprive yourself by not checking it out.

I give Collateral a rock-solid 8 out of 10!

This movie has it all. Great acting, superb camera work, terrific directing, great storyline .... Hey, the list goes on and on. This is one of the few thrillers to enjoy again and again. There's always something new to discover, even when you know the story by heart. Buy it!

Movie - 4.5

I'd only seen this movie once some odd years ago when it first came out on DVD. My mother had rented it, but my attention span and train of thought were so much different than it is now and I never really got into it. Since then, I've developed a greater appreciation for film-making in the way a movie is produced, who's cast in the roles, and especially the way it's written. After sitting down a few months ago to finally watch the entirety of Heat, I discovered the gritty magic of one Michael Mann for the first time. Needless to say, he strikes another excellent effort in Collateral. Unlike Heat with its extensive run time and extremely fleshed-out characters, Collateral is surprisingly spectacular in that it manages to achieve almost the same effect, but with a shorter, more truncated time frame. From the get-go we're thrown into the "world" known as Los Angeles where disconnect and sprawl are the very fabric of this bustling, yet sad city, in which we meet Max (Jamie Foxx), who unknowingly will have his life changed forever within the next few hours. Enter Vincent (Tom Cruise), who does the changing in cold, calculated, and stylized fashion. Spoilers aside, this is a movie that illustrates many a good point about life in general. L.A. represents the void that is our lives, Max is the everyman who just can't over the hump in that void, and Vincent symbolizes aspiration, change, and adaptation to counteract it all. The script, acting, and screenplay are amazing, thanks in huge part to the chemistry and acting abilities of Cruise, Foxx, Pinkett Smith, and even Ruffalo. It's a film that shows how even the most polar opposite of personalities can somehow come together through all the crap in the world, if not for one night, and create something that will stay with them for the rest of their lives and break them out of a rut.

Video - 4.5

With a good 85% of the film being shot in HD, Collateral looks excellent all things considered. Colors aren't too vibrant, and there's a fair amount of noise throughout. But if you take into account that pretty much the whole movie takes place either in the dark or in dimly-lit locales, it's understandable. Black levels are still rich, detail is fine, and the contrast never wavers, even in the darkest of scenes. I was especially impressed with the techniques they used in filming the cab scenes to get all the camera angles. As dark and dim as it really is inside a cab, the clarity is actually quite striking. What few scenes there are with lighting have a gritty sheen to them as well. When you actually put some light on Foxx and Cruise, colors look much better, flesh tones more natural, and details a great deal sharper, particularly in Cruise's stubble and hair texture. Overall, the look of the film itself makes for a very nice transfer. Aesthetically it's not something you could showcase as being reference, but it's a commendable job by Paramount, nonetheless.

Audio - 4.5

The DTS-HD 5.1 track doesn't amount to much in the beginning, as a lot of the movie is dialogue-heavy, at least until Vincent is introduced. Dialogue, by the way, is crisp and clear emanating through the center channel with no traces of dropout or distortion. However when Vincent starts doing his work, the sound field becomes much more thoroughly engaged. General sound effects like walking on the pavement, the taxi doors, radio calls, and background noise are all very buoyant. Music does an adequate job coming from the front sides as well and adds a good deal of sporadic immersion to keep you engrossed. All of these elements are fine and dandy, but it's the wallop of gunshots amongst the chaos that really give the system a workout later on. As far as I'm concerned, the audio for how it's used in the movie is a perfect transfer. As a BD, though, I just wish the side speakers got a little more usage and that LFEs were more frequent.

Extras - 4.0

While the making-of featurette is interesting, the real star of the extras is the exceedingly informative commentary by director Michael Mann. Mann does a stellar job explaining technical terms of how he filmed the movie, fills in some of the information gaps of the characters and their backgrounds, and then delves into the symbolism of their actions and presence. It serves as a great compliment to the narrative of the film itself and really has the ability to raise one's appreciation for the overall work. The making-of featurette elaborates a little on what Mann mentions in the commentary, only with pictures and video. I actually liked the bit with Cruise's training sessions a lot and found it to be a testament to how good of an actor he is (personal issues aside). However, I did find some of the making-of stuff to be a little repetitious of what Mann said already, leaving a little more to be desired. The commentary, though, is a must-listen for fans of the movie.

Overall - 4.5

Collateral is an extremely well-constructed action/drama/thriller. It's a film that offers a good dose of grit and realism through a very charismatic Tom Cruise and equally subtle Jamie Foxx. It's a story that sort of goes against modern conventions with its truncated time frame of a narrative, but regardless, manages to tell a very entertaining story about two seemingly opposite strangers in a "world" where feeling unfulfilled is the norm, and then clashing their ideals into something more worthwhile. Presented by Paramount with near-reference A/V quality and an informative set of extras, Collateral comes highly recommended.

Collateral stars Jamie Foxx as the meek dreamer cabby Max. Tom Cruise stars as a hitman named Victor. When Max gives a free cab ride to a beautiful woman, his next rider turns out to be Victor, the lovable but-oh-so-evil killer for hire. Can Max grow a spine and escape Victor or will he become just another of Victor's victims? I really enjoyed Collateral, despite some initial misgivings after seeing the trailer. Max was an endearing character and a loveable loser. Victor was funny, and despite being a killer had some spot-on advice for Victor. I particularly liked the scene where Max was forced to impersonate Victor at the club.

There were a few minor peeves (such as the rather stupid chase scene at the end), in which the two lead characters failed to elude Victor (Yeah right), and a few scenes just showing them in the cab driving around town doing nothing which could've been edited out.

Overall, a fast fun film sure to please action fans!

Collateral is a thriller/drama in which Max (Foxx), a lonely taxi cab driver, finds himself an accomplice and a victim to Vincent's (Cruise) drug cartel-contracted murders. Max's first fare of the evening, a beautiful Annie (Smith), renders his guard down allowing the next passenger, Vincent, to enter his clean-taxi world. Vincent offers him a cool $600 if he will take him to five stops throughout the course of the night.

When Vincent carries out his first contract of the evening, sending the body smashing into Max's car, Max is so overwhelmed by the reality of what just happened that he could only do exactly what Vincent wants him to do, thus initializing the remaining events of the evening. Max realizes he has to do exactly as Vincent requests when he tries for help and gets two somewhat innocent people killed in the process.

Max, an intelligent man with aspirations of living on a tropical island, quickly gains self-composure and begins to think about the best way to remove himself from this situation. Max bonds with Vincent on some level, and Max even has to portray Vincent to the drug cartel in one scene.

The movie comes full circle, as the last hit of the night is no other than the luscious Annie, whom Max felt feelings of warmth toward earlier in the evening.

If you are part of the millions who always loved Cruise as the good guy, then you will have overwhelming feelings of confusion to see him portraying this murdering, non-feeling, hit man. Foxx puts on an excellent performance opposite to Cruise, and is a natural in this serious role.

Cab driver Max (expertly played by Jamie Foxx) has been driving a cab for twelve years in Los Angeles, saving up for his dream of creating Island Limousine service. He picks up a fare, Annie (Jada Pinkett-Smith) who is working late for the Prosecuting Attorney's office, preparing for a big trial the next day. When Max gives Annie a speedy ride and pleasant conversation, Annie impulsively hands him her business card.

Max then picks up his next fare, a man named Vincent, who says he is only in town for the night on real estate business. Vincent tells Max he needs to stop at five separate addresses for paper-signings, and winds out hiring Max's cab for the entire evening. But Vincent is not into real estate, he is an assassin. When his first hit of the evening inadvertently falls out of a fourth story window and onto Max's waiting cab, Vincent confesses to Max his real profession and orders him to drive him to the remaining four hits.

When Max asks Vincent what he is, Vincent replies, "I'm Indifferent." Indifferent is a kind word for Vincent, he is a cold and ruthless sociopath, and expert in his field with a reputation for getting the job done. Max is in over his head, stunned and shaken by the brutality that has entered his world, and desperate to find a way out of his situation without really knowing how to achieve such a feat against such a monster.

Get ready for some truly spectacular performances in this tension filled film. Vincent is a new type of role for Cruise, that he carries out with amazing believability and casual elegance. Jamie Foxx outperforms himself as Max, highlighting the superior actor under the hilarious comedian. Jada Pinkett-Smith's role as Annie was fairly small, but stands out because of her excellent performance.

Can Max survive this hellish night? Will Vincent achieve his merciless mission? Is there any rhyme or reason to the selection of his victims? How does Annie tie into Vincent's plans? Just because the plot to this movie can be summed up in a couple of paragraphs does not mean that it is in any way boring or predictable. `Collateral' is a tense thriller, with a tight script, great performances, rapid action bursts, and enough mental friction to keep you on the edge of your seat.

My hat is also off to Michael Mann for his superb directing skills, bringing back memories of Manhunter and Miami Vice as he expertly melds audio to visual, creating that sensory indulgence so unique to Mann's work.
This is an excellent movie whether you are in the mood for action, thrills, or tension. Pick yourself up a copy, it's a buyer. Enjoy!

"Collateral" certainly kept me entertained, even though the last 15 minutes was just an onslaught of implausibilities.

Like all Michael Mann movies, this is mainly an exercise in style, i.e. snappy, eye-catching camera work and atmospherics. Tom Cruise actually does some half-decent acting here for a change, and looks far less flaky than usual with a head full of salt-n-pepper (mostly salt) hair. Of course the real show-stealer is Jamie Foxx, and it was a shame we didn't get to see more of Jada Pinkett Smith, ooh la la what a goddess!

"Collateral" tries to dabble in "carpe diem" existentialism here and there, but by the ending Hollywood has kicked in and it degenerates into yet another predictable save-the-world-and-the-babe formula action flick. The rest of the time it's very competent at what it does.

Lately, Tom Cruise has been getting on everyone's nerves, and it is easy to see why. He's been a little kooky for the past few years and it has been very annoying...however, I have to say that none of that has tarnished the fact that he is a fantastic actor, and this film is proof of that statement...well, this and "Magnolia" of course.

I recently revisited "Collateral" over the weekend, and I have to say that Tom Cruise delivers what I think is an Oscar-worthy performance as a contract killer named Vincent, who gives a New York taxi driver - a superb Jamie Foxx - the ride of his life. You all know the plot by now, so there is no point getting into it here. All that you need to know is that the film boasts some excellent scenery, dialogue, and a pretty cool film score. Michael Mann is at the top of his game here. He manages to inject that "Miami Vice" feel into all of his work, and it just comes off as incredilbly awesome.

The thing that I love about this film is that it doesn't succomb to the conventional "lets blow crap up" attitude of it's genre. It's an intelligent thriller with a considerable amount of character development, and of course, there are times where suspension of disbelief is required, but not to the point where you are rolling your eyes. I usually avoid action films like the plague, but this is the exception as it does more than offer you boom booms and bang bangs.

SEE IT, if you have not already.