Compare Prices
Postage & Packaging: £1.​21
Postage & Packaging: £0.​00
Postage & Packaging: £0.​00
SHOPPING > DVDs > Action & Adventure > Charlie's Angels (DVD) > Reviews

Charlie's Angels (DVD)

from (4 offers) · Product Information

Charlie's Angels (DVD)

Quote-start

BOOBS, BIKINIS AND BIMBOS

Quote-end

1 May 31st, 2001 

56 Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful

Advantages:
None

Disadvantages:
Lots

Recommendable No:

Detailed rating:

Did you enjoy it?

Story

Characters / Performances

Special Effects

Soundtrack

LostWitness

LostWitness

About me:

'Allo! I'm not contributing to Ciao for the time being but if you are bored / desperate / weird enou...

Member since:15.07.2000

Reviews:694

Members who trust:826

Every once in a while a film comes along that is so unbelievably awful I fail to understand how the production team can hold their heads up in public. Charlie's Angels is one such film - evidence that it doesn't matter how much money you throw at a film, it can still be shite.

Charlie is an elusive millionaire who, for reasons unknown, hires an elite force of female undercover agents who undertake top secret assignments for paying clients. In this tale, the Angels have been hired to help locate and rescue a millionaire computer engineer who has apparently been kidnapped. They soon recover the engineer, but subsequently discover that it was not the engineer that the kidnappers were after, but some top secret personal identification software that would enable the owner to track anyone around the world. Things all start to become a bit hectic as apparent allies become enemies, and the girls find themselves in a race against time to rescue their supervisor, and the elusive Charlie.

I quickly concluded within the first three minutes that the film was going to be ridiculous. The opening sequence shows us the Angels in action, in a completely inexplicable mission that appears to have no purpose other than to throw in one of those "peels the face off to reveal.." kind of sequences that Hollywood thrives on. The action is like a combination between Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and The Matrix gone wrong, and is part of a movie that never fails to go for the "bad-ass girl power thang".
In one sequence, the girls have to break into the competitions high security head quarters, which they achieve through a combination of ridiculous Ant and Dec style disguises, coupled with Lucy Liu in full dominatrix gear - yoikes!

Fans of the 70s/80s television series will be highly disappointed with the modern-day counterparts of the original Angels:

Drew Barrymore looks as dumpy and plain as ever, with as much sex appeal as a soiled Wellington. Her ample proportions are clumsy, and she seems consistently uncomfortable with all her action scenes.

Lucy Liu gives us the cliched oriental mean machine routine, pouring herself into as much skintight leather and PVC as she can possibly imagine. She exhibits her usual lack of personality and exudes absolutely no warmth whatsoever.

Cameron Diaz is perhaps physically the most likely Angel, although her impossibly thin waistline and impossibly pert backside are a far cry for the voluptuousness of the original angels. She moves well, and is a convincing fighter, but for some reason is credited with the brain capacity of lichen. Her giggly "Little Miss Innocent" routine may have endeared her to some - I was praying for her to get her head kicked in.

Bill Murray (one of my least favourite actors) does what Bill Murray can (very little) and bumbles along as the teams' loopy leader - ultimately providing yet another candidate for a big slap.

The good guy turned bad guy is played by Sam Rockwell who, in true Hollywood fashion, turns from mild mannered Internet geek (glasses, Hawaiian shirt, baggy trousers) into the mean baddie (tight black vest and jeans with shades). It becomes quite apparent that the movie makers realise that the film is so dumb and pointless that they have to revert to simple wardrobe clichés to enable the audience to work out who's good and who's not. Matt Le Blanc from Friends even turns up as Liu's dumb boyfriend - sounds familiar doesn't he?

There were moments of potential uplift. Crispin Glover is well cast as a psychotic hitman with a penchant for martial arts and tufts of the Angels hair and there are some genuinely well-choreographed fight sequences that lend themselves heavily towards the Matrix. There are plenty of bangs and explosions to keep the kids happy, but that is about as far as it goes. Even the soundtrack seems lost, as the groans of the viewer far outweigh some of the tracks being played (Destiny's Child's Independent Woman plays has a surprisingly small presence in the film).

What's so completely ridiculous about the film is that Charlie's Angels is completely self-contradictory in its aims of promoting girl power. Rather than showing us a skilful, mature, slick band of female agents we are instead subjected to a trio of hormonal immature girlies, who use their breasts and pencil like figures at every opportunity to get their own way. The Angels have absolutely no presence whatsoever - they don't stand out from any other group of teenage females that you might dread ending up next to on the bus.

The DVD presentation contains plenty of extras - various mini-documentaries, outtakes plus a director's commentary, but frankly the film is so piss-poor I'd be surprised if anyone makes it that far.

If you've half a mind to watch this film - that's all you'll need…..
 

How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines

exceptional

very helpful

helpful

somewhat helpful

not helpful

off topic

Products you might be interested in »

The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy (Box Set) (DVD)

The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy (Box Set) (DVD)

(+) best dvd collection you can own,
(-) need plenty of time to see the film

User reviews (14)

Buy now for only £ 9.55

Gladiator (DVD)

Gladiator (DVD)

(+) Rousing action sequences, excellent acting, beautiful score, fast paced, gorgeous cineamtography.
(-) Graphic violence may put some off.

User reviews (407)

Buy now for only £ 2.62

Cypher (DVD)

Cypher (DVD)

Production Year: 2002 - Action/Adventure - Director: Vincenzo Natali - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring:Lucy Liu, David Hewlett, Anne Marie Scheffler, Joseph Scoren, Matthew Sharp, Jeremy Northam

User reviews (2)

Buy now for only £ 2.46

The A-Team - Series 4 (Box Set) (DVD)

The A-Team - Series 4 (Box Set) (DVD)

Action/Adventure - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring:Mr T, Dirk Benedict, George Peppard, Dwight Schultz

Rate it now

Buy now for only £ 1.23

The Lord Of The Rings - The Two Towers (DVD)

The Lord Of The Rings - The Two Towers (DVD)

(+) Yet more great special effects
(-) far too long & dull

User reviews (202)

Buy now for only £ 4.43

Zulu (DVD)

Zulu (DVD)

Production Year: 1964 - Action/Adventure - Director: Cyril Endfield - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring:Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth, Michael Caine, Nigel Green

User reviews (14)

Buy now for only £ 1.96

Comments about this review »

bubblegum_princess 01.02.2004 13:15

Ha! I loved it (and particularly liked your description of Cameron Diaz having the brain capacity of lichen!)

pinkprincesskt 08.09.2002 20:24

I didn't think it looked very good, but I think it may be okay!! I'm still not sure about it.

tekk 20.06.2001 13:49

Okay... it was trashy, sexist and borderline pathetic but (in my opinion anyway) it was still a hell of a lot of fun! :) I own the DVD and have seen it a few times... a good movie as long as you don't like to actually think whilst viewing! :) Dave

Compare prices for Charlie's Angels (DVD) »

1 to 4 out of 4 offers for Charlie's Angels (DVD)   sorted by: Price 
Charlie's Angels [DVD] [2000]

Charlie's Angels [DVD] [2000]

HappilyCharlie's Angelsis a surprisingly successful TV-into-movie update of the seminal ... more

1970s jiggle show. Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore
(who also produced) and Lucy Liu star as the
hair-tossing, fashion-setting, kung-fu fighting
trio employed by the my...

amazon dvd

Postage & Packaging£1.21
AvailabilityUsually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
 Visit Shop  >
amazon dvd
Charlie's Angels

Charlie's Angels

Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu are Charlie's Angels - a trio of elite private ... more

investigators who, with the latest in high-tech
gadgets, martial arts techniques and a vest array
of disguises, unleash their state-of-the-art
skills on land, sea ...

LOVEFiLM.com

Postage & Packaging£0.00
AvailabilityIn Stock
 Visit Shop  >
LOVEFiLM.com
Charlie's Angels-DVD

Charlie's Angels-DVD

thehut.com

Postage & Packaging£0.00
AvailabilityUsually dispatched within 3 days...
 Visit Shop  >
thehut.com


More reviews »

Charlie's Angels (DVD) - review by bigkenny

Advantages: Very funny, great action, Drew Drew Drew
Disadvantages: A bit slapdash on the story

Charlie's Angels (DVD) - review by bigkenny bigkenny 22.05.2001 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Charlie's Angels (DVD)

Charlie's Angels (DVD) - review by chocoholic

Advantages: see op
Disadvantages: see op

Charlie's Angels (DVD) - review by chocoholic chocoholic 03.08.2001 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Charlie's Angels (DVD)

Charlie's Angels (DVD) - review by Staggly

Advantages: Good DVD, great special effects
Disadvantages: Silly film that could have been so much more

Charlie's Angels (DVD) - review by Staggly Staggly 21.05.2001 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Charlie's Angels (DVD)

Charlie's Angels (DVD) - review by Spudrik

Advantages: Everything
Disadvantages: Nothing i can think of

Charlie's Angels (DVD) - review by Spudrik Spudrik 06.03.2001 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Charlie's Angels (DVD)

Charlie's Angels (DVD) - review by nicanddarrell

Advantages: The soundtrack
Disadvantages: The cast...the plot...the performances....anymore???

Charlie's Angels (DVD) - review by nicanddarrell nicanddarrell 24.01.2003 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Charlie's Angels (DVD)



Are you the manufacturer / provider of Charlie's Angels (DVD)? Click here