HTF REVIEW: "Training Day" - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED (1 Viewer)

[Butch C]

Denzel Washington -- who I know can act, because I've seen him do it before -- with a script in which such ghetto nonsense as "It's all good" is repeated over and over and over. You could play a drinking game for all the times he says "Dog" or "It's all good" in this movie. That is lazy and sucks -- the writer took the easy way out, and it was offensive. Denzel should know better, and he shouldn't be getting an Oscar for this kind of dreck

Maybe people dont talk like that in Baltimore but in NY and apparently LA that is incredibly realistic dialog...you may love Mammet and hate Training Day but I prefer my movies that actually sound like real life.

BTW Ron, Your review made the impression that it was Hoytes first day on the job...It actually was his first day trying out for a new unit.

 

[Jerry Gracia]

Quote:

Hmmm...last time I checked, eveyone has an opinion...right?

 

[Micah Cohen]

Jerry, my FLAME SUIT is protecting me! It is!
Yeah, I knew you all would leap on me. But I just felt that, "real" or not (and I suspect not, even tho I grew up in NY and here in Baltimore City it's very "urban"), constantly saying "It's all good" was sort of lame. The writing really was not top notch. I wish I could off-hand find a "realistic" urban drama -- MENACE II SOCIETY? -- that doesn't rely on that kind of writing short cut for its impact. Dialog can still be "realistic" without resorting to stereotype, I believe. I have no problem with "that type of speech," except that it doesn't really convey much when used in extremis. MENACE II SOCIETY is very convincing, very effective and realistic. And yet, it doesn't resort to stereotyping at all.
And I just hate Ethan Hawke -- you caught me. He's lame. He's really not as great as actor as everyone in this thread has made him out to be. In my opinion, of course. I compared him to Nick Nolte; when Nolte eats scenery it's really cool acting. Ethan Hawke is just a wimpy guy. There's nothing great there. In my opinion, of course.
And I'm a stickler for stuff like too-obviously fake rain and mics in the shot. I am perfectly willing -- overly willing, most of my friends say -- to suspend my disbelief for the weakest of premises. But the director has to reward me by not making even these seemingly small gaffes. They trip me up. They spent a lot of money making this film, how come they didn't catch these little things? Will there now be a future DVD SE that will "correct" the mic-in-the-shot thing (like they corrected the crew-guy's-head-in-the-shot in THE FUGITIVE)?
IN MY OPINION, I think it's sad that Denzel -- GLORY! MALCOLM X! -- won an Oscar for this movie. He's a great actor -- GLORY! MALCOLM X! -- but this was not his finest hour. Or two hours. Two hours I want back!

MC

 

[Michael Reuben]

IN MY OPINION, I think it's sad that Denzel -- GLORY! MALCOLM X! -- won an Oscar for this movie. He's a great actor -- GLORY! MALCOLM X! -- but this was not his finest hour.

I'm not a big fan of the movie, but I do think Washington deserved the Oscar for it. When an actor is as consistently excellent as he is, it's sometimes difficult for them to surprise people (call it the Meryl Streep Syndrome). With Training Day, Washington shocked a lot of people by doing something completely different and doing it with utter conviction and believability. He even used our expectations of what a Denzel Washington-character typically is (intelligent, charming, charismatic) as a way of making Alonzo that much more powerful and sinister.
Focusing on the dialogue misses most of what's happening in the performance. Alonzo doesn't talk for the sake of communicating; he talks to distract, manipulate and misdirect. That continuous, repetitive patter is one of the many ways he tries to mask the 20 other things he's really doing. Think of that exchange in the Oscar clip, where Hoyt says, "I don't know what to think", and Alonzo replies, "Good", and smiles in a way that's amusing, intriguing and chilling all at once. Throughout the film, Washington to get all these conflicting nuances across and still manages to leave you with the feeling that you're missing something (which is the feeling that Hoyt has for most of the day).
Until the very end of the movie, Alonzo is in constant motion; if all you're doing is listening to the words, you're missing most of what's happening.
M.

 

[Juan Castillo]

Watched it last night for the first time. IMHO, with my background it is a good movie, true to the streets. That is not something you guys have touched on, probably because its irrelevant to you for not knowing what its like out their, or because you didn't pay much attention to the movie as a whole. I liked the fact that Denzel played an outsider to both the brothers in the hood, and to the high and mighty wise men. A lone ranger per say. Great transfer and a/v quality.

Last note: This is the only movie you will ever hear or see get a AA nomination that also starred, co-starred, or chameo'd Snoop Dogg, or Dr. Dre : )

 

[Michael Reuben]

This is the only movie you will ever hear or see get a AA nomination that also starred, co-starred, or chameo'd Snoop Dogg, or Dr. Dre : )

They're still young guys. You never know.
M.

 

[Edwin-S]

This was not a bad movie and had a pretty good feel of authenticity...........right up until the last twenty minutes where it started to get preposterous.

 

[James FT]

This is the worst film that I have seen for 2002. The storyline is inconceiveable for anyone in the enforcement field. With all the checks and balances in the juducial system a situation as portrayed in this film would not and could not exist in to days society.The storyline is completely far fethched

I admire Danziel Washington as an actor and have seen many of his past works however I do not like the chararcter he portrays in this film. Although he won an academy award for the part he portrayed in the film I would not recommend this dvd to anyone.

This dvd has no entertaining or interesting aspects about it.

I was eagerly awaiting the release of the dvd as there had been many positive comments about it,however I was grossly disappointed. After watching the dvd halfway my wife left the room. I viewed the dvd to the end to see the predictable outcome.

There are many other current dvds with entertaining merit and value to them avaialable to day but this is not one of them.

 

[Dalton]

James FT,

You are certainly entitled to your opinion but I disagree. I thought the DVD was excellent and the movie was good. For me the film did what it was supposed to do - entertain me. I liked it and would recommend it as Ron did.

Take Care,

Dalton

 

[James FT]

Dalton

I presume that's what makes the world an interesting place we are all entitled to our opinions,and we have the ability and freedom to communicate them.

However I still of the opinion that it was not an entertaining film and I was grossly disappointed after reading several of the reviews.

 

[Jon Sheedy]

Finally got around to watching Training Day on DVD and I couldn't have been any more impressed! Brilliant direction...this guy has extraordinary talent and I can't wait to see more work by him in the future. Denzel Washington has always been one of my very favorite actors..and his work here is on a par with his best, namely Malcolm X...extremely powerful. I'm very glad he won Best Actor oscar this year, 'cause IMHO he is THE GREATEST ACTOR ON THE PLANET!
I loved everything about Training Day and heartily recommend it to anyone who has not yet experienced it. I was spellbound from the first minute till the very last!
This movie F****** ROCKS...BIG TIME!!!!!!!!!!!
:star: :star: :star: :star: :star:
Jon

 

[John Geelan]

Just watched it and yes it does look good and the acting is fine but the story is your typical over-the-top cop stuff like Internal Affairs.

Fun to watch but certainly not realistic (letting rapists go free?) that would be quite a collar.

I do like the ever present helicopters always flying just out of sight most of the time. At one point in the film I thought a heicopter was outside my open window but that was the surround speaker (cool!).

Denzel was great and so was Ethan, an all around good job done here and the price of $14.99 at BB was right on.

JohnG

 

[Henry Carmona]

Some people shouldnt go by reviews since they obviously have a different taste than most other movie goers
I loved the movie and knew it wasnt going to be a documentary

 

[Ron-P]

Finally got around to watching this last night. Good movie, not great. I will say, Denzel was good, better than his past few films, not bland at all. But, Oscar for best actor...far from it. I thought Ethan stole the show in this one, much better acting than Denzel. A good one time rental.
All-n-all, I'd give it :star: :star: 1/2 out of :star: :star: :star: :star: :star:
Peace Out~

 

[MichaelZema]

the movie was just ok, i think since so many people were saying how great it was, i hyped it up too much in my mind. however, denzel washington was good in this movie, but i do not believe that he beat russell crowe whose preformance in A Beautiful Mind was extraordinary. i think they just gave it to him because he has been nominated so many times before or something.

 

[Dharmesh C]

Excellent film, only the ending was weak. Denzal and Ethan were both equal in terms of performance and acting.

The quality of the transfer is amazing, virtually clean.

 

[Holadem]

Micah, no offense but I don't think you have any idea of what you are talking about. Denzel's part of the dialog was absolutely spot on. I am no fan of that way of talking, but that is exactly what it sounds like, extremely repetitive. Heck, listen to a DMX song.

Michael says it best:

Focusing on the dialogue misses most of what's happening in the performance. Alonzo doesn't talk for the sake of communicating; he talks to distract, manipulate and misdirect. That continuous, repetitive patter is one of the many ways he tries to mask the 20 other things he's really doing.

--

Holadem

 

[Henry Colonna]

This disk slipped by me and wound up in my mailbox because I forgot to log onto the Columbia House site and tell them "no." Looks like it's going to be a keeper, though, unlike Juraissic Park 3, the DVD I got the last time I didn't stay on top of their offers.

 

[Dean DeMass]

I enjoyed Training Day a lot and I felt that Denzel's Oscar win was very deserving. IMHO, his role as Alonzo was one of the best performaces ever by an actor. Ethan Hawke's performance was also very good, but in no way did he outdo Denzel.

You may say Crowe's performance was better than Denzel's, I don't know because I haven't seen that film yet, but in no way was Crowe deserving of the Oscar last year for Gladiator. I love Gladiator, but IMHO, that was one of Crowe's weaker performances. Tom Hanks should have won for Cast Away, but we all know he will never win another Oscar, just like Spielberg will never win another Best Picture Oscar.

-Dean-

 

[Paul_D]

Quote:

Wow. You can see through time? Ludicrous statement.