Charlie's Angels DVD > Reviews > Babes at their best

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Story	Good
Characters / Performances	Outstanding
Special Effects	Outstanding
Soundtrack	Outstanding

Advantages:	So camp it's great
Disadvantages:	An extra 20 minutes wouldn't have gone a miss !

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Charlie’s Angels arrived in the post on the Thursday morning; we watched it that afternoon, again on Friday with friends and again on Saturday with some more friends! I plan on watching it again, and again and again, and I firmly believe this could become one of my favourites before too long.

I had heard mixed reviews about the film whose production seemed to be plagued by mishaps and problems, and at one point was almost not made because the cast couldn’t be decided, but producer Drew Barrymore persisted with her film, and the outcome is a little cracker.

I missed this fantastic film at the cinema and was most peeved with myself, knowing this, and obviously loving me very much, Hubby ordered me my very own copy on DVD, and I put my tongue firmly in my cheek when we hit the play button.

For 99 minutes I sat glued to the sofa and watched a film that made me laugh out loud, chuckle to myself quietly and smile at the pure genius of McG’s direction.

Starring Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz and Lucy Liu as the beautiful crime fighting trio, Charlie’s Angels is a film that, although based on the popular 1970’s American TV series, could be watched and torn to shreds for it’s silliness and utter campness, but only the humourless, obtuse and die hard C.A fans could do such a thing. This is a film that takes the mickey out of itself and it’s cast, it is a movie that should be watched with an open mind, an open bottle of wine and an open box of choccies, but beware you don’t choke on the nutty ones!

Charlie’s Angels is choc a block with cheesy lines, cheesy grins and a mildly cheesy plot, and that is what makes the whole film so utterly watchable from start to finish. It is puerile but action packed, camp but full of Matrix style fighting and so bright and glossy that it almost hurts your eyes, and it needs to be watched more than once to just take everything in!

Three beautiful masters of martial arts, espionage and disguise, Natalie (Cameron Diaz), Alex (Lucy Liu), and Dylan (Drew Barrymore), are called into headquarters, having to leave their ‘normal’ lives behind them to fight in the world of crime. Eric Knox (Sam Rockwell), the brains behind a little device that can recognise and find any voice in the world, has been kidnapped and it’s up to the Angels to find him and his kidnapper. How could they refuse? Especially when asked by the infamous voice of their boss Charlie (Voice of John Forsythe – the original Charlie in the 70’s).

Of course it’s not just a run of the mill ‘find the kidnapper and go home’ type of job, oh no, just when the Angels think they’ve been really clever and found Eric Knox, a terrible secret is revealed (Dramatic music…), and the Angels become embroiled in a plot that means somebody is trying to kill them…. Arggghhhhh!!!!

For what is actually a bit of a cheesy storyline I don’t want to give much more away because I don’t want to spoil it for anyone, and no matter how lame the plot knowing what happens does actually spoil it

The DVD that I have is an American one and full of great special features, but I am sure that the British version is practically identical and will have the same stuff when released. We always watch the extra bits after we’ve watched the film, just incase there’s anything that will spoil a film we haven’t seen before, and in the case of Charlie’s Angels this is definitely the best way to go. There isn’t anything that would really ruin the film but some of the stuff is certainly better appreciated when you’ve seen the movie itself.

Director and cinematographer commentary:
Well worth viewing as you are able to get a real understanding of what they were trying to achieve, and gives insight into some of the little things that you may have missed when actually watching the film.

Set design, fashion, martial arts and stunts:
Quite a short bit but certainly worth being put in. Some of the concepts behind the set are great and they do tell you where they nicked certain ideas.

Outtakes and bloopers:
As I said before I didn’t see this at the cinema, but on the DVD when the credits are rolling they show the outtakes and bloopers, and this is just the same bit as what you have already seen, very funny though!

Wired Angels:
This was one of the best extra bits for me because you not only get to see how the Matrix style stunts were done but you also get to see the guy who taught the girls what to do, the martial arts expert Cheung-Yan Yuen.

McG featurettes:
This guy is pure genius, and comes across as a really down to earth funny, funny man. The cast say a few things about him in this bit and it is obvious that he is a well-respected and liked director.

The other extras include Music Videos, Theatrical trailers, Talent files, Audio in English and French, Subtitles in English and French, and are all fairly self-explanatory so I won’t bother with too much about them.

Lucy Liu – Alex Munday
Cameron Diaz – Natalie Cook
Drew Barrymore – Dylan Sanders and Producer
Bill Murray – Bosley
Sam Rockwell – Eric Knox
Tim Curry – Roger Corwin
Kelly Lynch – Vivian Wood
Directed by – McG
Martial Arts choreographer - Cheung-Yan Yuen
John Forsythe the voice of Charlie

A little bit of stuff can be found at the Charlie’s Angel’s website, but not a lot if I’m honest, except that they do have some great merchandise.

http://www.spe.sony.com/movies/charliesangels

As you have probably gathered I loved this film and would say that you shouldn’t believe everything that you’ve heard about it, and even if you watch it and aren’t that keen at least you have your own opinion and not somebody else’s!

P.S – Watch out for a great little role by Friends star Matt Le Blanc!