Eraser (DVD) > Reviews > The day we caught the train

Author's product rating:   

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

Advantages:	Full throttle action; Groundbraking special effects; Rail Guns
Disadvantages:	Poor Direction; Cheesy Lines; A two way plot to distinguish

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

For those of us who are quite hooked on the good action films: Die Hard, Terminator 2, Aliens to name a few. We seem to feel the need to delve deeper into the archives and fish out a few films of the same actor and expect the same level of perfection as their most accomplished movie.

When the word action film pops into our minds we generally think of the greats: Steven Seagal, Jean Claude Van Damme and of course the mighty Arnold Schwarzenegger. Arnie's progression through various action films in his career has given him the unique opportunity to try out and act various roles such as: Marine, Ex-Commando, NSA spy, Terminator (Both good and bad), appear to have gained him the valuable experience to basically pull off any action suit in style.

Anyway, about the film:

************ The Plot ***********

The role of Arnie in this particular action film is of John Kruger, a high up the ladder Washington official of the Witness Protection programme, which if if i would take a guess is some branch of the FBI. John is a legend, he thinks fast, improvises and gets the job done quicker and more efficiently than any of his co-workers. John is responsible for 'erasing' witnesses past identities/lives and providing them with a new identity. John Kruger's boss and ex-mentor is Jimmy Caan who is a high up the ladder politically connected official of the Witness Programme of Wit-Sec for short.

As the plot continues it rapidly transpires that Caan is a corrupt mind who is responsible for the murders of various witnesses in the programme that could testify against those involved in the production and exportation of the Rail guns. One of which is Lee (Vanessa Williams), who worked for the producers and manufacturing company of these 'Rail guns' and suspected that they were involved in illegal exportation and supplying terrorists and mercenaries with them.

As the plot progresses, Caan continues to 'fit up' or frame Kruger for a string of random murders to turn those who trust Kruger, including his boss against him. While having to dodge the police and Caan's thugs, Kruger has to protect his witness and prove the innocence of them both whilst simultaneously implicating those who are guilty of treason.

*********** The Acting ***********

I found the acting to be fairly spot considering it's an Arnie action film, which do tend to be full of those famous one liners. The acting involves three specific main actors: James Caan, Arnie and Vanessa Williams.

James Caan : The best actor in the whole film, it's disbelieving how quite an accomplished actor has little recognition. Most memorable performance would be The Godfather, he plays the sneaky character so well it's almost a surprise to learn how corrupt he is. Scenes like when they're on the plane in mid air shooting at Arnie who somehow manages to jump out of the plane to chasing a parachute and survive. Another exceptional performance are the scenes when he's in the car talking raw efficiency tactics with a high up the ladder corrupt senator. 7/10

Arnold Schwarzenegger : Much better than his previous role in 'True Lies' he delivers a full throttle performance but the mere fact that his facial expressions don't vary much throughout seems to give the impression that you'd be a fool to be scared of him. The one liners from his earlier days are replaced dramatically with full speeches, some being comical with high hilarity, other down right sullen. He does appear to warm to Vanessa Williams really well though, and the bond between the two characters in the film is delivered to perfection. 6/10

Vanessa Williams : Playing the role of Lee an ex-worker for a high-tech military weapons developing company, she suspects foul play and agrees to testifies against those in charge. In the way of great acting it's hard to say anything but average, the hapless damsel in distress awaiting Arnie's rescue and coming close to death on various occasions doesn't help. She does warm to John Kruger the character who Arnie plays and they bond well. Unfortunately every memorable scene in the film either included Caan or Arnie so a grudging 5 out of 10 will have to do. 5/10

********* The Action ********

The action scenes are a real treat in Eraser, the special effects are a real feat in action films in general and make the film well worth a watch on a Saturday night perhaps. Two memorable scenes include one where Caan's drones with their rail guns advance around Lee's house under orders to kill her, Arnie then comes to the rescue and hides them both behind a thick fridge out of the sights of the rail guns. Then the a cronie fires a rather impressive mega nail bomb into the room, which shoots up and then shoots out razor sharp nails in all direction while impaling Arnie's hand which urghh looks sick when he tries to pull his hand off. He then rips a gas pipe in half and sets a fuse to blow up the house seconds after a hasty departure, the house explodes rather impressively in a cloud of smoke and a barrage of flames.

Another great scene comes rather appropriately towards the films climatic end. Arnie and his crew intervene in an illegal exportation of the illegal rail guns to various terrorist groups worldwide on Baltimore docks. A barrage of gun fights progress up to the climatic scene in the warehouse where Kruger takes out a few soldiers and grabs the rail guns while going out with guns a blazin. The way the bullets come out of the guns is down right incredible graphics wise and it's amazing to witness Arnie blow up an oncoming truck, which flies over his head rather miraculously. Eraser is incredible as far as special effects go and I would recommend it as an entertaining option for a film.

********* The Rail Gun **********

The stunning rail guns tend to crop up now and again in the odd shoot em up action game i.e. Red Faction (PS2). But they rarely appear in action films, I would guess because the special effects and film budget would need to be very high to produce something special and that's what Eraser has managed.

The Rail Gun is a gun that had an infra-red/ night vision scope that can zoom through any wall, fence or building and locks onto the heart of a target human. It fires unlimited rounds at almost the speed of light instantly causing a cardiac arrest. From being mounted on a battleship, Cyrez which is the rail gun manufacturer Lee worked for were ordered to scale them down to heavy but rather manageable weapons.

********* Bonus Features *******

Offering no special edition DVD, Eraser only comes in a rather tacky cased 1-disc edition with no booklet. The only features being production notes and an amazing theatrical trailer with a great soundtrack to accompany. Eraser is a very cheap film to buy and is often on sale in various DVD shops including the top names Virgin and HMV for a fiver or less. The Internet would be the best option where you could get the DVD off amazon for a few quid.

********* Conclusion ********

Eraser is a stunning action film, and one of the finer moments in Arnie's acting career I would say. A 15 age limit is slightly harsh, if it were released now in the cinema I'm sure it would get a 12A rate so I would allow kids 12 or above to watch it. It is a great family thriller for a Saturday night with dinner, so sit back and relax, order a Chinese and grab an Eraser DVD and let Arnie blow your mind.

******** Technical Information **********

Duration: 107 Mins. Approx
Certificate: 15
Release year: 1996
Genre: Action
Publisher: Warner Brothers

Director: Charles Russel

Screenplay: Tony Puryear and Walon Green
Producer: Arnold Kopelson and Anne Kopelson
Music: Alan Silvestri

Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, James Caan, Vanessa Williams, James Coburn, Robert Pastorelli.

 

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Eraser