---------------- INTRODUCTION ---------------- Released in 2001, THE ONE is a short (84 minutes) action movie starring Jet Li.
---------------- THE PLOT ---------------- Rather than a single universe, there is a multiverse, which is many parallel universes existing side by side. Gabe Law (played by Jet Li) is a criminal who has discovered that by moving from one universe to another and killing his parallel selves, he gains more power and in effect becomes superhuman. As the film begins Law has one more self to kill and then he will become 'The One'. The plots involves him trying to do just this, as he is chased and opposed by two agents (played by Delroy Lindo and Jason Statham) whose orders are to bring him back alive.
------------------- THE MAIN CAST ------------------- Jet Li has a great many fans due to his many appearances in various Chinese martial arts films. His most famous and successful Chinese work is in the ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA series, where he has appeared in 4 of the films. Li made his American debut in LETHAL WEAPON 4, the belated sequel to the original LETHAL WEAPON trilogy. He has appeared in a number of other Hollywood movies, and is also due to play the baddy in the new Mummy film which is currently being made, directed by Rob Cohen.
Carla Gugino plays the good Li's love interest and is wasted in this film. She is well known for her role in the movie SIN CITY but is better known to me as the lead role in the TV series THRESHOLD, which showed her battling an alien invasion.
----------------------- THE SOUNDTRACK ----------------------- Trevor Rabin, the soundtrack composer for THE ONE, has made a name for himself composing music for this kind of action movie, including work for GONE IN SIXTY SECONDS, TORQUE and both the original NATIONAL TREASURE and the upcoming sequel. Here the music is overpowering and highly intrusive. It is very loud, in a hard-rock style, and this music combined with the action on the screen often made me feel that I was watching a music video as opposed to a movie. As my partner said when we watched the film together "there's nothing like headbanging along to a movie." I don't think she meant it in a good way.
-------------------------------- THE DIRECTOR & WRITER -------------------------------- THE ONE was written by Glen Morgan and james Wong, and directed by Wong. Both were writer/producers of THE X-FILES television show but, apart from being of the same genre, THE ONE shares little with that classic series.
----------------------------------------- - WHAT IS GOOD ABOUT THE FILM? ------------------------------------------ I have to say that, in my opinion, very little. The special effects are good, although nothing new for anyone who has seen THE MATRIX or any of the sci-fi derivatives of that movie. I suppose that the masses of action in the film would appeal to those people who like action movies.
---------------- THE AWARD ---------------- For some godawful reason THE ONE was nominated as Best Science Fiction Film in the 2002 Saturn Awards (awarded by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films, USA). Thankfully it did not win, with the award instead being awarded to Steven Spielberg's film A.I. - ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.
-------------------- THE DVD -------------------- THE ONE is available on DVD from Columbia Tristar Home Entertainment, and Amazon currently have it available for less than £5. Features include a commentary by the director, various featurettes, and a trailer.
-------------------- THE DETAILS -------------------- Directed by James Wong Written by Glen Morgan & James Wong Produced by Glen Morgan, James Wong, Steven Chasman (amongst others) Music by Trevor Rabin Starring Jet Li, Carla Gugino, Delroy Lindo, Jason Statham
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
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Sorry for the H, but if this is to be a full DVD review, I would prefer to see a review of the extras in similar detail to the way you've reviewed the film, rather than just a brief mention of them.
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![The One [DVD] [2002]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78534567.jpg "The One [DVD] [2002]")
Dec 13th, 2007
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