Director Michael Mann's career has taken him into the life of Muhammed Ali for Ali and all the way back to the mid-eighteenth century Native America for Last Of The Mohicans. But this battle of strong verses weak is possibly one of his best!
Cabbie Max (Jamie Foxx) strikes up a bond with lawyer Annie (Jada Pinkett Smith) after they argue over the quickest road to take. In the opening conversation, they they get along better than the usual cabbie and passenger, with Max opening up about his dream of running a limo company and Annie talking about her meltdown before a big case.
After swapping numbers and dropping off Annie, Max goes on to the airport to pick up his next fair. Into Max's cab slides Vincent, a hitman, Tom Cruise with grey hair and designer stubble. His suit shimmers with a silver silk thread, anticipating the coyotes that we will later see prowling the Los Angeles intersections. He also looks cool, calm and collected just as you would expect a stone cold killer to look. Cruise also looks as if he has no remorse just like Samuel L Jackson in Pulp Fiction. Just the meeting between the two men shows a clash of personalities, with Max being a decent good willed person and Vincent being the cold hearted person that cares for no-one.
Vincent is in town to kill five people and wants Max him to drive him to each one. Slowly cop Fanning (Mark Ruffalo) wises up to what is going on. Witnesses to the indictment of a major player are being bumped off. When the police, the Feds, mobsters and Vincent clash in a nightclub, Mann gives us one of his trademark action takedown sequences, matching the famous street gun battle in Heat. Collateral leaps into life with each report of Vincent's pistol, the bullets have life-giving qualities to a set-up that can sometimes feel schematic, to an aesthetic that is outstanding.
The movie goes full circle in that a small, low key story at the beginning becomes reality when Max has to decide whether he, of all people should put an end to what is going on. His decision is finally made when he realises that Vincent's next target is lawyer Annie...
One of Cruise's best films, however Jamie Foxx steals the show with an Acadamy Award nominated performance that allowed him to go on to such Oscar winning films as Ray!
!Special Features!
Audio Commentary from Michael Mann Making of Collateral Featurette Shooting on location featurette Combat training with Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx Scene access
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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
Action/Adventure - Director: The Wachowski Brothers - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring:Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, Monica Bellucci, Jada Pinkett
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
Production Year: 2008 - Action/Adventure - Director: Christopher Nolan - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring:Maggie Gyllenhaal, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Heath Ledger, Gary Oldman, Christian Bale, Michael Caine
I'm sorry for the H, but for this to be a full DVD review, I would prefer to see a review of the extras in the same detail as your review of the film, not just a list of them.
Collateraloffers a change of pace for Tom Cruise as a ruthless contract killer, but that's ... more
just one of many reasons to recommend this well-crafted thriller. It's from Michael Mann, after all, and the director's stellar track record with crime thrillers...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Collateraloffers a change of pace for Tom Cruise as a ruthless contract killer, but that's ... more
just one of many reasons to recommend this well-crafted thriller. It's from Michael Mann, after all, and the director's stellar track record with crime thrillers...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Vincent (TOM CRUISE - Minority Report, Mission: Impossible: 2) is a cool, calculating ... more
contract killer at the top of his game. Max (JAMIE FOXX - Ray, Ali) is a cabbie with big dreams and no results. On this fateful night, Max has to transport Vincent on...
Advantages: Classy direction, intelligent script, sumptuous photography and impeccable peformances Disadvantages: Conclusion leaves a little to be desired.
micdmaloney 01.10.2004 (01.10.2004)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Collateral (DVD)
Advantages: Well written script, Brilliantly directed and perfect choice of actors Disadvantages: It's not the usual Tom Cruise I'm happy he's a hero role, which is actually an advantage IMHO
Andy.mack 21.09.2004 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Collateral (DVD)
![Collateral - Single Disc Edition [DVD] [2004]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78497274.jpg "Collateral - Single Disc Edition [DVD] [2004]")
Feb 25th, 2009
(Feb 19th, 2009)
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