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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Just leave your mind at the door for two hours and enjoy, February 20, 2006
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.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
stealth aiming for the top gum but got pop gun instead, August 5, 2005
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
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
I still can't decide if I liked it or if it was just stupid., April 4, 2006
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.
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