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*** Official COLLATERAL Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

Scott Weinberg

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Just got back.

Pretty damn good movie. :emoji_thumbsup:

And this comes from someone who's hot & cold on Michael Mann. (My favorite of his is The Last of the Mohicans...by a long shot.)

The two leads are great, the score is fantastic, the digital approach suits the narrative well, and overall it's a consistently entertaining "grown-up action movie".

It ain't flawless, but I'll definitely be recommending this one.
 

Dominik Droscher

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Good review, I am psyched. Have to wait till September 23th till this opens in German cinemas, though. That is going to be a looooong wait.
 

Robert Crawford

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This thread is now designated the Official Discussion Thread for "Collateral" please, post all comments, links to outside reviews, film and box office discussion items to this thread.

All HTF member film reviews of "Collateral" should be posted to the Official Review Thread.

Thank you for your consideration in this matter.


Crawdaddy
 

ZacharyTait

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I got back from this movie about an hour ago and I'm still blown away. This is the best movie of the year so far. Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx were terrific. I'll be rooting for both to grab Oscar noms next year. Jada Pinkett-Smith, Mark Ruffalo, Bruce McGill, and Peter Berg were good as well. Barry Shabaka Henley's appearance was touching. I hated to see him go.

The music, cinematography, and editing were top notch. Some of the shots just made my jaw drop. I've never seen L.A. quite like this. This is a movie I can just sit there and watch either mute or with the isolated score on.

I loved the brief appearance by Jason Statham at the beginning1 :)

Many critics and other people are complaining about the ending. I didn't have a problem with the ending at all. I can see where those people are coming from, but in my mind, I was so caught up in the movie that I just went with it and believed it every step of the way.

The gunshots were loud! Great sound design.
 

Robert Crawford

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Nobody and I mean nobody, films a large city like Michael Mann. I enjoyed this film very much and I did have a little problem with the ending and the same low battery cell phone trick we've seen in countless films, but I was able to overlook that minor grip.






Crawdaddy
 

Patrick Sun

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Well, the end where Max is calling Annie, it had that "Rear Window" feel to it.

I thought it was weird in a few early scenes where it looked like the video was shot at 30 fps (one scene was when Vincent pops Max and slugs him against the taxi). It sort of pulled me out of the film for just through few instances of the faster fps clips.
 

Ryan FB

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Honestly going by the trailers I'd seen I had low expectations for this, both on the front of developing actual characters and whether being shot digital would get on my nerves. The movie shot down both worries and excelled. Mann mixes digital and film pretty effectively, and the mostly digital process adds a gritty realism and a unique style. Another thing that surprised me was the realistic portrayal of firearms, it really "sold" Cruise's character to me as someone who knew what he was doing. The pacing and character development was also very well done, with Mann taking it slow and presenting the scenery beautifully, but able to switch gears seamlessly and create tension for the action scenes.
 

Michael Reuben

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It was interesting to read the following comments from Peter Apruzzese in the review thread:

I saw Collateral with digital projection and encountered no such problems. I wonder whether this will be like Attack of the Clones, where a number of people (including Roger Ebert) reported a qualitative difference between seeing it digitally and seeing it on film. If so, this may be the single biggest drawback of digital acquisition at this stage of the game, where digital projection facilities are still pretty rare. Which is a shame, because, like many of Mann's films, this one is filled with visual flourishes that are a treat in themselves and that will probably never look as good on a small screen.

M.
 

Peter Apruzzese

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Michael,

I was about to quote myself to bring that part of the film into the discussion! :)

Which Manhattan theatre is using DLP for it? It might be worth it for me to venture in and check it out to compare the two. I loved the photography, but on a 48-foot wide screen, a lot of it didn't hold up at all. I noticed very few artifacts during the film - some ringing, some odd flares, a couple of jaggies - but nothing serious except for the very flat look of many of the cab interiors. Some of the helicopter shots looked gorgeous - as did the scene in the jazz club, so whatever faults I was picking out are specific to something he was doing photographically. Frankly, I was so caught up in the film that I didn't care about it until it was over.
 

Peter Apruzzese

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I seem to remember HEAT having many overheard and long-distance shots that were as sharp as a tack.
 

teapot2001

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I missed Heat in the theaters so I can't compare. For the most part, I was impressed with how good the movie looks. There were only two problems I noticed: the Jaime Fox CGI look and one shot of Tom Cruise's face that looked awfully gritty.

~T
 

Peter Apruzzese

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Thanks for the list, Michael. I'll try to get in and see it at the AMC - the best of the DLP's I've seen so far.
 

Nick C.

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Had a great and thrilling time with the film, Cruise was sharp and totally believable playing the baddie

...albeit during some of Max's transformations from meek cabby to proactive hero, I felt the narrative was quite forced. Although the last transformation worked well (breaking loose from the policeman's handcuffing upon finding out Vincent's final target would be Annie), it just felt very odd when Max ran loose with Vincent's briefcase, flipped the switch to bad-ass mode at Felix's club, and ended the car ride after Vincent insulted his inability to enjoy life and his lack of career determination... Then after each transformative episode ended, Max would just return to his beckoning cave once again.

Also, just a nitpick, but the ending felt a little too conventional (genre-confined, I suppose), with the good guy prevailing in that subway shootout despite Vincent being a professional killer and ready (not as if he were blindsided)
 

JohnS

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I thought this right away, but when one of the cops mentioned a cab killer a few years back.
and that it seemed odd that a cabbie would flip out and kill people, so he must have had a passanger with him.

did anyone else think maybe Cruise's character(Vincent) was in LA years back doing the same thing he is now?

Vincent was doing this killing thing for 5-6 years.
And has visited LA previously.

I think that killing the cops mentioned was Vincent years back!
 

Richard_D_Ramirez

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From what I remember the previous incident happened in the Bay Area. But Vincent did mention he has been in L.A. before, so I wouldn't be surprised if Vincent has used the "cabbie" technique in L.A. previously.

8^B
 

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