Film Review: ENEMY OF THE STATE (1998)

Director: Tony Scott
Writer: David Marconi
Running time: 126 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 15

Genre: Action/Drama/Thriller
UK Release date: 26^th December 1998

Watched on DVD Sunday 26^th August 2012.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

After the untimely death of director Tony Scott this week I thought it would be nice to have a look at a few of his films. I started with this one because I have always found it entertaining and there are some great ideas used to link the action together. I will explain more after this very brief summary.

When labour lawyer Robert Clayton Dean is passed a disc that shows the assassination of a US Congressman his whole life changes. In order to cover up his involvement, one Thomas Brian Reynolds uses the resources of the NSA to track Robert in the hope of recovering the recording. This effects his family and friends, including Rachel Banks, who Dean was using as a liaison between him and a private detective who calls himself Brill. When things go wrong, Dean makes direct contact with Brill, who turns out to be former NSA employee, Edward Lyle. He tells Dean how to avoid detection; but they are closing in and Dean has had enough; it’s time to turn the tables. I will leave it there or the NSA will be bugging me (still).

A very slick production with some great touches; I particularly like the way street cameras and satellite images are used to link certain scenes. A very clever use of the available technology. I know it may have been a little advanced for its day, but its well within the realms of possibility today. As far as performances go, well Will Smith did a decent job as Robert Clayton Dean; the usual wise-cracks, but also some nice acting in-between. Gene Hackman did an excellent job (as ever) as Edward Lyle, as did Jon Voight as the cool calculating bad guy, Thomas Brian Reynolds. Honourable mentions must go to; Lisa Bonet as Rachel Banks, Regina King as Robert’s wife, Carla Dean, Jake Busey and Scott Caan as the heavies Krug and Jones, Gabriel Byrne as Brill and Jack Black as Fiedler.

Quite an enthralling and captivating film. It does take a bit of time to get going but once it does it keeps the pace pretty well until the end. If I have one criticism, it’s that it’s far too long. I enjoy a complex plot as much as the next guy, but this one did take a long time to tie all the various threads together. Over all a film with some very nice touches and some decent performances but I guess it’s one you can’t watch too many times. Even so, worth a look if you either haven’t seen it, or haven’t seen it for a while.

SteelMonster’s verdict: RECOMMENDED.

My score: 7.5/10

IMDb Score: 7.2/10 (based on 109,067 votes at the time of going to press).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0120660/

MetaScore: 67/100: (Based on 22 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 71/100 (based on 83 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 76/100 ‘Liked it’ (based on 346,391 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/enemy_of_the_state/

If you’re crazy enough… You can find me on Facebook at:
http://facebook.com/andy.steel3

FAVOURITE QUOTES:
WARNING: STRONG LANGUAGE
Zavitz: Fuck a duck.

Robert Clayton Dean: Actually, I believe the term "shyster" is reserved for attorneys of the Jewish persuasion. I believe the proper term for me is "eggplant".

Robert Clayton Dean: Why are they after me?
Brill: You have something they want.
Robert Clayton Dean: I don't have anything.
Brill: Maybe you do and you don't know it.

Krug: [while ransacking the Dean home] Ooh, nice blender!
[takes Robert's blender]

[the NSA team is watching satellite footage of a conversation between Dean and Brill on a rooftop]
Hicks: Can you get a feature scan and pattern matching on him?
Van: No, he's smart, he never looks up.
Jones: Why does he have to look up?
Fiedler: The satellite is 155 miles above the Earth. It can only look straight down.
Jones: That's a bit limited, isn't it?
Van: [Sarcastically] Well, maybe you should design a better one.
Jones: Maybe I will idiot.

Robert Clayton Dean: What the hell is happening?
Brill: I blew up the building.
Robert Clayton Dean: Why?
Brill: Because you made a phone call.

[last lines]
Larry King: How do we draw the line - draw the line between protection of national security, obviously the government's need to obtain intelligence data, and the protection of civil liberties, particularly the sanctity of my home? You've got no right to come into my home!

LINKS:
(Note: All were working at the time of going to press)
Trailer:

Film Review: UNSTOPPABLE (2010)

Director: Tony Scott
Running time: 95 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 12A

Genre: Action/Thriller
UK Release date: 24^th November 2010

Watched on Sky+ Saturday 12^th November 2011.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

I remember there was quite a lot of debate about this one when it came out but it managed to evade my attention until now. Much of the debate centred around the fact that this was just another Tony Scott action thriller. Well, in that respect they were correct, a Tony Scott action thriller is what it is. To be fair though, it doesn’t pretend to be anything else. Scott is very practiced at the action thriller and he does do it rather well so I guess the debate could have centred around when Scott was going to make a comedy or something like that instead. I will give you my take on it after this very brief summary

A freight train carrying a very hazardous cargo manages to escape the clutches of its’ driver and heads off down the track at full power with no brakes. I won’t bore you with the details of how this happened, but rest assured it’s a series of very unfortunate events and quite a chunk of incompetence. The train yard supervisor, Connie, sets the wheels in motion to retrieve the train but it’s too late, it’s headed for a populated area with seemingly no means of stopping it. Meanwhile, rookie conductor Will and his veteran driver Frank are moving freight in the opposite direction. Can they avoid this out-of-control train and what’s more, is there any way they can stop it before it meets with disaster? Well, you can probably guess the Spoiler Police are standing right behind me right now with pick-axe handles just waiting for me to type the wrong words. Fear for my safety ensures I will say no more on the matter.

It’s all very well made with some spectacular action sequences and beautifully realised visuals throughout. All the performances were decent although nobody was really stretched. Honourable mentions go to; Denzel Washington as Frank, Chris Pine as Will, Rosario Dawson as Connie, Ethan Suplee as Dewey, Kevin Dunn as Galvin, Kevin Corrigan as Inspector Werner and Lew Temple as Ned.

As I’ve already said, it’s a very well made film with plenty of action and some great thrills. The trouble is, I’ve seen it all before. If it was the first action thriller I’d ever seen I’m sure I would have been enthralled, but sadly it wasn’t. I found it a little too predictable, although I did find myself rooting for our hero (or heroes… no clues) at the end. There are subplots about corporate responsibility and the back stories of Will and Frank fill in a bit, but I never really cared that much for the characters and the sense of threat to the town in the path of this runaway train wasn’t really conveyed very well. We did get a sense of the power of the train, but the real threat was supposed to be the cargo and that avenue was never really explored to any extent. Over all though, a very well made film that is great to look at but doesn’t really hold the audience in the way a film like this should. Having said that, it’s worth a viewing… just the one though.

My score: 6.7/10

IMDb Score: 6.8/10 (based on 49,694 votes at the time of going to press).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0477080/

If you’re crazy enough… You can find me on Facebook at:
http://facebook.com/andy.steel3

FAVOURITE QUOTES:
Frank: This ain't training. In training they just give you an F. Out here you get killed.

Oscar Galvin: Did I or did I not tell you to get 1206 off the main?
Connie: I asked them nicely.

Inspector Werner: [Watching the red lights on the map] So, red means...
Bunny: 777 blew through a signal. Everything in red means trouble on the mainline.
Inspector Werner: That a lot of red!

Oscar Galvin: Maybe you didn't hear what I just said, Colson. I will fire you!
Frank: Well, that's too bad. I was just starting to like this job.

LINKS:
Trailer:

Film Review: LIFE IN A DAY (2011)

Director: Kevin Macdonald
Collaborating Director: Natalia Andreadis
Co-Directors: Lisa Cottrell-Bentley, Jane Haubrich, Soma Helmi, Frederic Lumiere, Joseph Michael & Joaquin Montalvan
Executive Producers: Ridley Scott & Tony Scott
Running time: 95 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 12A

Genre: Documentary/Drama
UK Release date: 17^th June 2011

Watched on Sky+ Sunday 6^th November 2011.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

I remember the beginnings of this idea being released into the world. We, the world in general, were asked to film something, anything, on 24^th July 2010 and post it to a special YouTube page. 80,000 clips and films were submitted, totalling 4,500 hours of footage from 192 countries. It fell to director Kevin Macdonald and his team to whittle this down into a 90 minute film. And boy what a film! There are very few documentaries I’ve seen that are better than this. Such a diversity of cultures, subjects and people, it really opened my eyes.

The format basically follows the time arc of the day, from the early hours of the morning right through to the following midnight. There were pieces from a vast array of peoples from all around the globe, some quite touching, some disturbing and some just plain silly. I must warn you that there are one or two scenes that some may find upsetting and there is a little swearing. Quite a variation in picture quality didn’t really detract from what is quite a stunning piece of work. It’s all held together with a beautiful musical soundtrack by Harry Gregson-Williams and Matthew Herbert.

I really enjoyed watching the diversity on show here and I had to keep reminding myself that all these things happened on the same day. For me, the star of the show was the Korean guy who was cycling around the world. He just wanted to reunite North and South Korea and he had such optimism. It’s beautifully put together with various themes running through it. Never boring, no voice-over, just the people of the world telling their own stories… Highly Recommended.

My score: 8.9/10

IMDb Score: 8.1/10 (based on 1,675 votes at the time of going to press).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1687247/

If you’re crazy enough… You can find me on Facebook at:
http://facebook.com/andy.steel3

FAVOURITE QUOTES:
None available.

LINKS:
Official Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Life-In-A-Day-UK-Official/221537331206023?sk=app_106878476015645
Official Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/LifeInADayUK
Official Site: http://movies.nationalgeographic.com/movies/life-in-a-day/
YouTube Channel (You can watch the entire thing here): http://www.youtube.com/user/lifeinaday
Trailer: