Customer Reviews

Collision

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"Collision" is a departure from the typical crime film in that the detectives are auto accident investigators, not homicide detectives. Their job is to explain what happened in a 6-vechicle accident on England's A12 freeway that left 5 people dead. If they find any wrongdoing, the cases are turned over to the appropriate departments of the police force. The first senior officer on the scene of the accident that May afternoon is Ann Stallwood (Kate Ashfield). She and her former flame DI John Tolin (Douglas Henshall) work together uneasily to put the pieces of the smash-up together. This turns out to be a lot more intricate and entertaining than I expected.

A mild-mannered piano teacher named Sidney Norris (David Bamber) lost control of his car, causing a car driven on a clandestine errand by Karen Donnelly (Claire Rushbrook) to smash into him. A van bringing furniture from the Netherlands, driven by Daniel Rampton (Dean Lennox Kelly), runs into them and is catapulted over the median, where it is hit by a BMW carrying a young couple en route to the woman's 23rd birthday party, with a police car in pursuit. Then Brian Edwards (Phil Davis), driving his complaining mother-in-law, runs into them, as do wealthy executive Richard Reeves (Paul McGann) and his driver. Then Daniel disappears after the police arrive on the scene.

It's all quite contrived, as the accident is connected to no fewer than 4 crimes. That's a high crimes-per-vehicle ratio, but none of the crimes seem implausible in themselves. Reactions seem realistic. It's not just a bunch of melodramatic backstories. The script by Anthony Horowitz and Michael A. Walker is packed with intrigue but down-to-earth at the same time. Director Marc Evans has the film jumping around in time a lot, starting after the accident and then going back weeks, days, hours, but not in that order. It can be a little confusing, but more is revealed about the accident with every jump. "Collision" is equally dependent upon its structure and character writing to maintain interest, and both are quite competent.

I agree with all the laudatory reviews of this show; it's a complex story, brilliantly told, with lots of twists and surprises.

Having said that, the production of the American DVD leaves a lot to be desired. PBS did a really crappy job.

First of all, this is neither a full-screen nor a wide-screen format, but some kind of bizarro reduced-screen; even using the reformatting capabilities of my tv, I was never able to get the image to fill my tv's screen. Weird.

Also, the DVD faithfully reproduces all the Masterpiece crud that PBS added to its presentation, including the introductions, the "thanks to viewers like you", and the interruption of the conclusion of the show from the credits. Whereas the original had a nice musical segue into the end titles, PBS interrupts that for a commercial for the DVD.

PBS did a real disservice to the show. Just to be clear I rate the show itself five stars; the DVD production ought to be one star, if that.

This British police drama, written and created by Anthony Horowitz, is a superb example of the best of British television drama. Well acted, directed and filmed - we take those things for granted. But the story itself, and its realization, give us more than just another police drama. Centered around a horrific multi-car pile-up on the A12 outside Chelmsford, we see the building up of a picture of several lives, including character, relationships, politics, and intrigue. Even though the scene jumps between locations, people and points in time at an almost alarming rate, it doesn't become too confusing to stay on top of. Rather this increases the tension, making it a spell-binding watch. (It was originally shown over 5 nights in Britain - this would have driven me crazy - I watched it first on PBS in 2 episodes).

Most intriguing of all for me is that this is in some way an essay in complexity, and in particular the idea that the tiniest, most insignificant action in the midst of a highly complex system (humanity in this case) can have huge, unintended and completely unpredictable consequences. For lovers of complexity theory this is a version of the butterfly and the typhoon - in this case initiated by ... well you'll just have to watch the program to find out.

It is a long time since I've enjoyed a television drama this much!

As I began watching the first of the five episodes, I did't think much of this series. I even thought it a bit on the slow side. However, that is more the UK point of view, very understated. What this serves to do is to make it all the more horrifying as we are drawn into a horrific multi auto collision on a UK "interstate" highway. You are almost jolted out of your seat with the collision impacts intruding into the quiet buildup.

The lead detective is also deceptively quiet. He too seems very bland until his entire demeanor can shift in an eyeblink. When he becomes passionate about something or someone, his entire physical being shifts from bland and unnoticeable to arresting and attractive. His blue eyes truly do blaze!

What must be done in this case is to trace every aspect of the collision, including every person. The police department is sued by one of the decedent's fathers so it is especially crucial to get it right. Much to my surprise, I learned that the police had bagged everything on the ground for a considerable perimeter around the collision and to solve just one aspect of the case we see our detective in a room filled with baggies looking for anything incriminating. It is the necessary, tedious part of investigative work. He does indeed solve one of the cases by going through the baggie room.

I highly recommend this series. It is excellent.

"Collision," an excellent British mystery/police procedural television series, was made by ITV, for its independent television stations. It is to be released as a DVD by Public Broadcasting Systems Direct after its recent debut on PBS stations. It consists of approximately 210 minutes, and comes bearing welcome subtitles. It concerns a Friday 5:57 PM rush hour, six-car collision on Great Britain's busy A12 near Chelmsford, Essex, in the vicinity of London, that has left two dead on the scene and two critically wounded, with further deaths to come.

And it's quite unusual for a British mystery, in that the mystery to be investigated will be this major automotive crash, on which Detective Inspector John Tolin (Douglas Henshall --Twice Upon a Yesterday) will be assigned, after a lengthy leave of absence, to work with his former lover, Senior Investigating Officer Ann Stallwood (Kate Ashfield --Shaun of the Dead). It has a large cast, is complex and suspenseful, and, furthermore, is consistently intellectually challenging, relying on none of the lazy plotting you might see in a similarly-themed American TV production. It has also been well filmed, on location, with the typical first-class British production values, and mise en scene, with no stinting on cast, supporting characters, extras, cars, or interiors.

It appears that a quiet, little-known piano teacher, Sidney Norris (David Bamber) initially loses control of his car. Thereafter, personal assistant (P.A.). Karen Donnelly (Claire Rushbrook), on a secretive errand, smashes into him. Next up, Daniel Rampton (Dean Lennox Kelly)in a van bringing furniture from the Netherlands, runs into them and jumps the median. Whereupon Rampton is hit by a handsome young black couple in a silver BMW, speeding en route to the woman's 23rd birthday party, with a police car in hot pursuit. Then Brian Edwards (Phil Davis), who is driving his difficult mother-in-law (Sylvia Syms --Born to Win) in his SUV, on another somewhat shadowy errand, runs into them, as does wealthy executive Richard Reeves (Paul McGann), in his chauffeur-driven limousine. Finally, after the police arrive on the scene, Rampton flees it.

You would think this production must bear some relation to the 2007 American Oscar Winner Crash . But, aside from the fact that both center on fatal, multi-car crashes near major cities - "Crash" is set near Los Angeles--the resemblance is surprisingly little. Perhaps most obviously, while many of the large British cast come bearing familiar faces, the British TV production boasts no real stars, whereas the large cast of the American theatrical movie "Crash" is star-laden. The largest difference, however, must be in the reputed preachy, cliché-ridden nature of Paul Haggis's American film, which I have avoided seeing, versus the many-layered, cool intellectual risk-taking of the British series, as created by that brilliant scriptwriter Anthony Horowitz (Foyle's War: Series 1-5 - From Dunkirk to VE-Day).

Originally shown on BBC TV in the Masterpiece Contemporary series, this elaborate police drama combines intrigue, romance, and international crime. When a multi-vehicle collision occurs on a dual-lane highway just outside of London, two experienced police officers (Henshall & Ashfield) are assigned to find out the cause of the accident and identify the victims involved.

Although it quickly becomes obvious that the 2 officers had been involved romantically in the past, they manage to work collaboratively on the investigation. The circumstances of their past relationship gradually unfolds as a separate subplot that adds to the intrigue of the overall investigation.

While the "spotlight" focuses on Henshall & Ashfield as they piece together evidence from the crash site and pursue leads that emerge from their investigation, the various victims of the highway pile-up have intriguing stories of their own. Their stories intensify the overall suspenseful plot, and, through a series of flashbacks, the viewer discovers more & more abt each person's life & circumstances.

Highly recommended.

I have only seen the first half so far, but like the best of Anthony Horowitz's other scripts the characters are memorable and seem very realistic. Anyone who has watched much UK telly over the past decade will likely recognize almost every actor in a major role here. It is a fine production all around.

Though I wasn't very taken with the flashback style structure during the first part, I get the hang of it by the time the "event" was shown.

This drama was intended to be shown in 5 parts over 5 nights, as it was shown in the UK (though it's premier airing was in 2 parts in Australia.) I am curious to know how it will be presented on this PBS disc.

I cannot figure out why a remarkably well produced drama/mystery is allowed this horrible fate! Bottom line - watch this show on PBS but DO NOT buy the DVD b/c it is perhaps formatted in the worst way possible. For $24.99 on amazon it is expensive for the VERY CRAPPY DVD transfer. Just to clarify - excellent drama (5 stars) and I caught the last bit of episode 1 on TV (PBS) - looked great - not hi-res but just fine to view - crisp, clear images/ filming. I ran out to our local DVD rental place, rather than buying it on Amazon and discovered, to my horror (and relief that I had not bought it), they had used a not too bright individual to create the DVD. Instead of worrying about censoring the word ***k I think time and money would have been better spent getting the transfer to DVD right.

Aside from the censoring that goes along with the DVD, which I think is flat out stupid I am hard pressed to believe this is a 2009 production that was transferred to DVD. When watching on a Hi-def screen played through an HDMI connection it shows up like a ~32" picture surrounded by black borders. So, I think what happened is they decided to down res the PAL (UK format) to NTSC and then for whatever reason a blu-ray player upreses it in the truly bizarre format. I simply cannot recommend buying or watching THE DVD VERSION despite being a brilliantly written and filmed production. A real shame! Get the original version from amazon.uk else see it on TV where PBS for whatever reason has the format right.

A mystery? A thriller? A character study? A romance? Collision is all that and more. It is a storyline that will intrigue and surprise while constantly making one think through the events and trying to come to a probable conclusion. Can you figure out, why the collision? What's the connection? This story is skillfully written and acted draws you in immediately and never lets you go. It is typical British in many ways, but up-to-date with the feeling that it is right from the headlines. This film is worth the time, energy and price and one that you will enjoy viewing many times.

This Movie is A Great piece of UK Production

Everything about it is Extremely HQ from the Out door Scenes, The Crash/Accident is very close to real

The Cast is Great

If you are a fan of BBC America you will see a slew of familiar faces

Douglas Henshall IMO is England's David Duchovny his acting is so Layered He has such a "Sadness"/Haunted thing going on with him!

Kate Ashfield is also Perfectly Cast even though the Front of the Cover doesn't do her justice at all (She's very Beautiful and can act much better then most of the A List "Hot Chick" American Actress.

The story starts out Slow But, picks up and gets very Deep, Compelling and thought provoking

For Die Hard Fans of BBC's Being Human both Lenora Crichlow (Annie) and Dean Lennox Kelly (Tully) are secondary characters.

One Major Thing That makes this dvd Flawed is the Fact that PBS Released it Censored!?!?!?!

But, yet on the back of the Case it Reads *Not Rated*

I really enjoyed the Film But, the fact it's Censored drives me Crazy

Cut DVD 8.5/10

Film itself is very good 9/10

Wish BBC would Re-Release this Miniseries UNCUT under there BBC America Umbrella