Product Details

• Actors: Kevin Bacon, Josh Brolin
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English, French
• Subtitles: English, French
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: January 2, 2001
• Run Time: 112 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (248 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00003CXKA
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #51,071 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Hollow Man (Special Edition)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars So close... and yet, so far., January 21, 2001

By 

Reverend S. Michael Wilson (Cliffwood, NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hollow Man (Special Edition) (DVD)

The two obvious flaws with Hollow Man are the character development and the last half-hour. Major flaws indeed, but flaws that could have easily been repaired. One could easily blame Verhoeven himself, but close inspection of the film reveals several glimmers of potential insight that give one the hope that this is merely another example of High-Budget Hollywood Hijinx. This is one of the films that I long to see the original script for, to see how much on-screen was films execs utilizing their standard High-Budget sci-fi Special-Effects Extravaganza Formula (I find it hard to believe that screenwriters across the country are all convinced that what their big finale really needs is yet another big explosion).

The movie starts with a glimmer of hope, but the ending devolves into yet another Aliens wanna-be (`My God, we're locked in here with the monster/creature/alien/madman/senator, and there is nowhere to run, therefore we must track down and defeat our slippery foe!') where the cast you've failed to gain any real affection for is slaughtered one by one in unique and interesting ways. It is the ultimate insult, that H. G. Wells' classic sci-fi tale of man's inherent evil has been reborn as an expensive hack & slash horror film. I have nothing against hack & slash, mind you. But there is a time and a place for everything, and this was neither the time nor the place. Not that I'm arguing against the film's depictions of violence, despite that fact that the film degenerates to the point where characters are actually throwing bags of plasma around the room in a cheap attempt to get as much blood as possible without too much MPAA approved violence. On the contrary, the films opening scene alone had a brutality and vividness to it that gave rise to my expectations (which were soon to be dashed against the rocks of a cheesy Hollywood ending). It effectively depicted the danger and foreboding of an unseen aggressor, like an extreme case of "Fearing the Unknown".

I've also found people who complained, not that the film was violent, but that it was vulgar. Yes, it seems that Kevin Bacon makes up for his lack of nudity in Stir Of Echoes (The Rev Rates It 8) by showing as much Bacon Behind as possible. In fact, voyeurism becomes (or should have become) a major theme of the film, and not just through the aspect of an invisible man spying unawares. The parallel to the `Peeping Tom' aspect is the growing concern with the other scientists with not only seeing the invisible scientist, but constantly monitoring him as well.

As for main character, in this case he is weak because he leaves little room for dramatic development. Sebastian Caine's descent into madness isn't as much a plummet as it is a hop from the curb. The head scientist is an egomaniacal, manipulative, frustrated workaholic. Gee, lets give the power of invisibility and see if it corrupts him. Instead of giving the film yet another form of Instant Evil (just add unlimited power, and watch your Chia Villain grow!), so much more could have been said about man's nature by corrupting the soul of someone you wouldn't expect to turn on his fellow man. The double-meaning title of the film itself pointed in the proper direction, yet failed to follow. Hollow Man not only referred to the eerie sight of seeing through the eye holes of a mask to the back of the head, or of clothing encompassing nothing as if a hollow shell. It also referred to Sebastian Caine, a `Hollow Man' containing nothing within but shallow desires and relentless hunger for power. While there are moments where this is eluded too, the film goes off on other little diatribes that detract from this, losing its real strength by trying to appear more involved than it allowed itself to be.

In the end Hollow Man became a Hollow Film. It starts off showing the promise of a truly inventive film with a brain as well as a soul, and winds up as nothing more than another schlock sci-fi/thriller effects extravaganza with nothing to say but `Boo' and `Kablam'! And that, dear viewer, is the true horror.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Lame story, Great effects, April 29, 2003

By 

Craig Clarke "Living After Midnight: Hard and... (New England) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Hollow Man (Special Edition) (DVD)

Director Paul Verhoeven (Showgirls, Starship Troopers, Basic Instinct) puts out another stinker, this time a sexually explicit (although tamer than usual for Verhoeven) look at the Invisible Man genre.

Kevin Bacon stars as Sebastian Caine (with that name you know we're in for it), a research scientist working on an invisibility potion for the military. After a (just barely) successful experiment on an ape, he (against the cries of partners Elisabeth Shue and Josh Brolin) decides to take the next step and inject himself with the serum. The plan is to bring him back in three days, but after the rejuvenation serum fails, he is stuck invisible for over a week.

At this point, Hollow Man veers from mediocre effects thriller to sexually deviant mediocre effects thriller. Caine begins exhibiting the behavior of a teenage boy on the loose, with violent consequences. Bacon does manage to breathe some life into the character, especially at the beginning, but Shue and Brolin are nothing close to believable in their roles.

On the plus side, the special effects are marvelous, particularly with "minor" ones like the latex mask Caine wears to give his face some visible form. You can see through the eyeholes to the back of the mask. Actually, all the "invisibility" effects were stunning, but you can't expect effects to carry a film with a weak storyline. Hollow Man might be good for a late night TV viewing, but I wouldn't suggest paying money for it.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Dumb Hollowood, Verhoeven Style, April 14, 2006

By 

CharlieD "Insufferable Know-it-all" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hollow Man (Special Edition) (DVD)

HG Wells must be rolling over in his grave. This is yet one more example of clever CGI and a talented crew being wasted on a really lousy script and lazy execution. Gary Scott Thompson (I) and Andrew W. Marlowe are credited for the incredibly poor story and penning. It is mystifying to me how even Marlowe and Thompson, whom we can thank for the awful End of Days and K-911, would be able to screw up the enduring fable of the Invisible Man. For all I know, these two might be capable of intelligent writing, but somehow, somewhere, the Hollywood Bonehead Machine gained a firm grip on this film and turned it stupid. Really stupid.

The classic story of the Invisible Man involves a driven scientist who devises a method to make himself invisible. He tries out the treatment on himself, but there are two problems: 1) Invisibility makes him violently psychotic, and 2) he can't change back.

Besides being a wonderful horror story, it is also rich metaphor for impermanence of self. When I first heard about the making of this film, I thought of how the title Hollow Man promised the exploration of this subject. I imagined reasonably complex characters and at least a nod to the timeless theme of humankind's struggle between id and ego. Instead, what I saw was a combined rip-off of low-rent slasher/Satan flicks, with startling CGI taking top billing over the storyline. The brutal and graphic killings do not energize the movie; they simply tire the audience. The `surprises' are so overused that none of it is surprising, and I am so done with cartoonish, implausible action scenes that I almost needed an antiemetic during this flick. Anyone out there ever survived a flash-fire in an elevator shaft? These characters survive, since the flames are only licking their feet, have no heat, and apparently produce breathable oxygen. This kind of super-action works as camp -- which Verhoeven is very good at (see RoboCop) -- but not as good science fiction, which is what this story deserves to be treated as. The old and boring slasher plot contrivances range from `We're hunting an invisible, psychotic monster, so let's spit up,' to `Gosh, he looks dead so it's probably safe to turn our backs!' C'mon, guys, Halloween was 22 years old when this film was released. This stuff is just not smart anymore. I am embarrassed for Paul Verhoeven and the cast. They are much, much better than this tripe.