Customer Reviews

Stealth [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(32)
3 star:		(43)
2 star:		(25)
1 star:		(25)

 

 

Stealth is one of those summer action flicks that has leave-your-brain-at-the-door written all over it. It's really a simple and mindless fun action movie that delivers on the premise of ultra hi-tech weapons (mainly all the futuristic warplanes) piloted by great looking people and lots and lots of explosion. Rob Cohen directs from a script by W.D. Richter that is point for point something that Michael Bay has made a living on. Rob Cohen is not a rookie when it comes to mindless, action fun since he's also directed Fast and the Furious and xXx. He knows what the teenage and young male demographic likes and caters to them. This mans that Stealth is not something that will receive much critical acclaim but then its not made to be.

The plot written by W.D. Richter is simple enough. Trio of hotshot pilots (played by Josh Lucas, Jessica Biel and Jamie Foxx) tests new futuristic warplanes for the Navy with all the requisite action movie repartee. They're soon joined by a fourth wingman who is actually a flying computer with a HAL9000 complex and even sounds like HAL but with a penchant for hard rock music. They're all commanded by a commander (Sam Sheppard) whose agenda may not be as altruistic and honorable as the military requires from all its officers. The HAL9000 wanna-be gets all haywired and all hell breaks loose. That pretty much sums up the basic plot of the movie. Just add gratuitous destruction and explosion with music seemingly lifted from any number of Michael Bay movies then stir the pot. I swear I thought I heard a few soundtrack pieces from The Rock and Pearl Harbor in Stealth.

There's really not much to say about the acting in the movie other than its pedestrian and good enough for the type of film Cohen and company were making. They weren't trying to remake Citizen Kane and with half of the dialogue faux-military speak there wasn't much to quibble about. Even all the scenes where the actors need to emote comes off as just tacked on. Stealth is all about great looking CGI planes dogfighting against each other with lots and lots of explosions. And I must say that whatever amount they spent on creating the look of those Talon prototype fighters and the EDI-UCAV was well worth it. They look great and realistic. The physics involved with all the maneuvers performed might not follow any current laws but it sure does make for great action sequences. I felt like I was watching a live-action version of the great anime Macross Plus and the Playstation game Ace Combat.

Stealth was not a film to write home and the Academy voters about, but it does deliver in what it set out to do. Stealth was suppose to deliver beautiful people flying hi-tech planes and pretending to be hotshot military pilots. They sure did good enough in that respect. stealth also delivered on the explosion quota that such mindless, action flicks are required to have to qualify as one. Stealth might not be the Academy-Award material or even a great action movie, but it has enough to make it a fun movie for however long it lasted.

Even though i thought the visuals and and special effects were dazzling but the story was alittle to limp

obviously aimed for a younger crowd

laking a tight story that left you wanting more
and giving little in the development of the stars or the story
making it seem like a mix maash of all the other popular vet fighter movies such as top gun , fire fox, etc.

if your looking for a no-brainer fun action movie
this is your movie

if your looking for a top gun you will leave feeling
dissapointed

hopefully this is helpfull

Let me start by saying, the plot is very unoriginal. It's the future, the U.S. builds a "smart" jet that goes haywire, in this case (and in many others) because the machine evolves (which I will get back to later), and the humans are stuck trying to get the machine to behave again. *yawn*. That's not special. Who hasn't seen a movie like that?

I really wasn't expecting much when I rented this. Just one of those rainy afternoon time-fillers. Well, I was right, it was very average. As I have already said, this plot has been overused. The actors give a fairly good performance, but I felt that Josh Lucas and Jamie Foxx were out of place. They do a good job acting the part, I just don't think they were the right actors for this film. On the other hand, I couldn't think of any actress who would fit this movie better than Jessica Biel.

Now about machines evolving... It will NEVER happen. Machines do not adapt like living things. And even if they did, it would take more than a few hours for the "evolvation" to happen. So if you're wondering "is this movie realistic?", the answer is no. I can't say the whole movie is unrealistic, because it did say it took place sometime in the near future, but I can say that the whole concept of the jet evolving, and towards the end actually feeling emotion, is stupid.

BOTTOM LINE: You will only enjoy this movie if you can grasp the concept of machines evolving, and if you aren't one of those people that is constantly asking themselves "could that really happen?". You may also want to get your earmuffs out when the jet talks, because its voice does not sound like what a killing machine's voice should sound like.

Anyone who liked the movie I Robot should check this out, both movies are very similar.

I liked this film quite a bit. It's nothing mind-blowingly original, but as an adventure film with a slight sci-fi twist, it's pretty good. Just don't expect what the advertising campaign prepared you for. It's their job to lie to you, and I suppose, in their defense, that this would be a tricky film to market in a thirty second commercial.

To begin with, Jamie Foxx is not the star. He's only a supporting character. A major one, but still just secondary. And EDI, the evil robot superjet, isn't actually evil as much as confused. This is not a man versus machine film. In fact, two-thirds of the way through it changes focus completely, becoming a rescue story.

I don't want to give away too much more than that, but I will say that EDI's character is surprisingly deep and sympathetic. The other characters all have nice story arcs as well. So if you have two hours to kill and want to see a good movie that barrels along to a satisfying ending, you could do a lot worse.

Also, Josh Lucas does an excellent job with his starring role. I just thought I'd mention that since he got completely dropped from any mention in the advertising.

Okay I am not going to bother reviewing the content as such, suffice to say that it is a futuristic idea of what the armed forces may look like.
The Blu-Ray version of this movie is definitely one to showcase this format the colour renditioning is superb and PQ is second to none. I would have given this 5 stars but I felt the audio, as is often the case with BD titles, let the production down. Not to say that it was bad but more that it could have been better.

a fun popcorn movie with some memorable scenes,the blue-ray version offers some fine detail in many scenes but bad color in some.black levels are lacking though.a good movie for your ps3 if it's on sale.

The plot goes back to "War Games", "Dr. Strangelove", and before. Technological optimists give way too much firepower to an untested computer, and it glitches. This time, the computer is strapped into a way-cool fighter jet, so it can run and hide when it wants to. Unlike the launch computer in Dr. S, this one is eventually brought under control.

Good parts include lots of things blowing up and good aerial fight scenes. Not-so-good parts balance them out, though. I'll give a movie three impossible things, just to get it going. That quantum computer thing - well, "quantum" means pretty much the same thing a "magic" to most scriptwriters. A best-of-the-best fighter pilot being in the 73rd percentile for G-force tolerance? Not likely, but that's scriptwriter arithmetic for you. A lightning strike creating the monster? Hey, if it's good enough for Dr. Frankenstein, it's good enough for me.

Just too much else was too far over the top, though. Like that "implosion bomb" which, when placed in the basement, takes a building down starting with the top floors. Like that scene that depersonalized the living human beings in that bunker into vague blue blobs that we won't mind seeing blown up. Like, well, like lots of other things. So just sit back and ignore plausibility. It's a fair action movie of the "commodity entertainment" sort. If you have an evening to kill, Eddy is just the robot to kill it for you.

//wiredweird

A trio of the best the US air-force have to offer are selected for a special mission - to fly with an experimental AI stealth jet. A lightning-strike later and the AI goes whacky, breaking loose all hell.

Okay, so this is more Top Gun than 2001 - hammy acting, a cliched script and plot-holes aplenty - but this movie should not be underestimated.

Any seasoned fan of the action genre should have little trouble predicting the plot frame-for-frame for the first hour, and will be quite content - as I was - to ooh and aah at the pretty pictures and flashy effects (not to mention Jessica Biel in a bikini).

But then, all of a sudden, something unexpected happens. There's a plot twist! And rather an interesting one (albeit within the regular themes of what it means to be 'alive', how far are those in power willing to go to further their own ends and finding friends in the most unusual places). The results aren't exactly innovative or thought-provoking, but it's nice that they tried and it certainly justifies the latter hour.

On the technical side of things, the special effects are superb and the action sequences are well choreographed and exciting, with some imaginative exploitation of the completely unrestricted 'camera'. The actors' performances are nothing of merit, but good enough in the context of the movie and there are some pretty stonking tunes on the soundtrack.

All in all, Stealth is very entertaining and well worth a Saturday night in.

First of all, this is a popcorn, get-their-butts-in-the-seats, summer entertainment movie. It's not something worthy of Oscar consideration; nor is it intended to be an "art-house" or serious-minded film. I went into the theater fully expecting to see explosions, loud sound fx, and generic performances from the cast. Yes, Josh Lucas and Jamie Foxx waste their talents. Yes, Jessica Biel is little more than eye candy. Yes, the dialogue is horrible and contrived. However, I was also entertained. The three leads do their best with the clunky dialogue and situations; but don't hang them out to dry for it. They didn't write it, and from interviews and articles I've read, the director, Rob Cohen, put the kibbosh on the actors trying to add depth to their characters. In fact, Cohen apparently told Lucas that to be an action hero, you don't need to think or wonder what's the motivation behind the lines or situations. I think with a better script and direcor, Josh Lucas will become a sought-after leading man in Hollywood. I look forward to seeing him in Glory Road this winter. Overall, I think he does a good job with the material he's given, and I did identify with his character as the lead hero, especially when he goes off to rescue Jessica from behind enemy lines in North Korea. Some people are upset that Jamie Foxx's character is killed off halfway through the movie (sorry for that spolier) but like Goose in Top Gun, one of the buddies has to be sacrificed. Yes, the EDI plane concept is reminiscent of HAL9000 from 2001, although EDI has a "change of heart" after he goes haywire and his creator tries to reprogram him (it?).

If you want a good waste of two hours, go see this movie. Don't go in with grandiose expectations; take the movie at face value and you'll enjoy it. Don't read all of the reviews (even some of those posted here on Amazon) and don't listen to reviewers who've panned it without even seeing it (another review here).

I don't expect a lot from an action movie, but this one had me wishing that I'd brought a book and a flashlight for the first 45 minutes or so, as it started with an action sequence with no point, then pulled out clichè after clichè, until I started laughing at the predictability. That scene showing each of the pilots in their quarters on the carrier was the last straw.

Halfway through, the action did get more interesting, if predictable.

The good:
The special effects, particularly the flying scenes.
The scenery.
The action in the last half of the movie.

The bad:
The lack of any reason to care about the characters.
The stilted dialogue.

And, to use a clichè of my own, the ugly:
All the clichès:
The pilots: a white male, a black male, and a white female--which one will not live through the movie?
The plane even sounded like Hal.
The characters: all 2-dimensional stock figures culled from hundreds of other military action movies.


The verdict:
Rent this one on DVD, and fast-forward through the first half.