I saw Collateral this past weekend and must admit that I was surprised at how good it was. I really enjoyed Michael Mann's first directorial effort in The Insider but was a bit disappointed by Ali. However I think both Jamie Foxx & Tom Cruise really hit a homerun in Collateral. It was funny, entertaining, and most of all - gripping. I barely swallowed for the last 45 minutes (from the club scene on) and walked out of the theater silent. If a movie can shut me up that's a good sign I figured I'd start a thread on this movie since it's getting a good bit of press due to Tom Cruise's first real "baddie" role and Jamie Foxx's breakout role (and it looks like he'll be excellent in Ray!), and thought others may have seen it this past weekend. Two thumbs up from me!
I loved the movie as well...the camerawork was really incredibly well done, and the way the night scenes were shot was second-to-none. I read that realism on the side of the night shots was due to Mann using digital cameras that need less light and thus can capture night without having to be lit artifically. The twists were definatly some good ones, and I was certainly biting my nails a bit. I was a little let down by the ending, though. That whole last segment of the movie, involving the last hit, got to be way too cliche for my tastes. I didn't really think about that until after the movie, though, because it was such an intense movie with top-notch acting, a fun script, and amazing camerawork. It takes its place at the top of my list of favorite hitman movies, beating out previous number one, Road To Perdition :mrgreen:
Yeah, it was nice that is was done in Hi-Def Digital rather than Film. Mann was able to get a better focus with digital than he would have with film due to the constant car scenes. The use of the natural lighting of LA was great too. Ending was cliche, yes, but it was something you should pretty much expect from the beginning. This is what I think would have been awesome (highlight to read - contains spoilers): Cruise is so intent on finishing his job (like he talks about the whole movie) that instead of shooting at Foxx while Foxx is shooting that him that he shoots into the right, killing Jada. Then he dies having completed what made his life worth living - his job. Fade to black.
Ah yes, now that definatly would have been a much more rewarding...and more true to the character that Cruise plays...ending.
i too thought it was a great movie and one of the best 1-2 punches in the lead roles that i have seen in a long while. but as far as best assasin movies goes, The Jackel with Bruce Willis and Richard Gere may never be topped!!
I read two reviews so far and they BOTH helped ruin the ending for the movie. Shouldn't this be illegal or something? If someone writes a spoiler review for a major newspaper, shouldn't I be able to legally punch them in the face or something?
Which reviews? I read reviews a bunch before movies, and they rarely ruin a movie. I read plenty of ones for this movie too, and still no ruining.
Just got back from seeing this one - I really liked it, reminded me a lot of "Heat". It was pretty easy to guess how the movie would end, but as others have said, it was a totally gripping ending. Slight spoiler below: Cell phone batteries running low at THE critical moment of the film are a bit cliche though. And there are more of the same cliche moments upcoming in (you guessed it), \"Cellular\". Hard to hide spoilers on the dark blue background - we need another colour choice Dan Dave.
the background is lt blue on my computer. im using Mozilla if that makes a difference ( i doubt that it does). i had to highlight the text to read it.
I'm using Mozilla too, and I have the same colors as you...and the same colors as when I was using IE a few weeks ago.
