DVD
REVIEW: WAR
12/30/07
FILM REVIEW: In War,
two men will battle to the end in search for what they want
the most: revenge and justice. Jack Crawford, an angry FBI
agent, is on the hunt to the mysterious and deadly assassin
Rogue (Jet Li). He believes that Rogue was the responsible
for killing his partner and best friend Tom Lone (Terry
Chen). Meanwhile, the mysterious Rogue has a plan on his own
involving the Japanese mafia “Yakuza,” the Chinese mafia
“Triads” and the FBI itself. The result is an exciting and
thrilling ride that would keep the audience enjoying each
single scene from beginning to end. War will be release in
its DVD format on January 1 2008, and it is one of the best
ways to start the year.
The main story is a simple idea for any action movie:
revenge. What makes war exceptional is that it is not only
meaningless fights, gun fights, or crazy stunts between main
characters. This movie has a well thought plot adding a
sense of mystery to the end, just when you think you have it
figure it out, it will surprise you with another scene
changing all your prospective. The movie also is fast paced
and each scene is well executed to keep you interested at
all times. It opens with an excellent first scene where the
characters are introduced and continues flowing to the end
with out losing that rush of excitement that makes these
kind of movies worth watching until it reaches its twisting
ending. Character wise the movie is great, each character is
well executed and appealing to the audience, from the two
main characters: Crawford and Rogue, which are depicted as
completely opposites: the first one as an emotional,
passionate, and act first think later officer, the second
one as a cold hearted, enigmatic strategist, to the
secondary characters like the Yakuzas and triad members,
each one of them has certain characteristics that will make
the audience feel sympathy for them. Visually the movie is
fantastic each stunt and setting is well planed and executed
and the sound is impressive, each scene is well match with
the right soundtrack making the audience get into the movie
even more.
The actors did an outstanding job in this movie, I was kind
of skeptical with the match between Jet Li and Jason Statham
in a movie since both have different styles, fortunately
they pull it off giving the audience the exact amount of
adrenaline needed in each scene. Many people would argue
there is not enough martial art fighting since it has Jet Li
in it, but I think that this is what it makes war so
special, it did not required for Jet Li’s exceptional moves,
besides if you put kung fu expert Jet Li and Jason Statham
to fight in hand on hand combat it is obvious who would win.
Jet Li and Jason Stratham continue to show how good actors
they can be in this genre, living up their character to the
fullest in this movie. The supporting cast also did a great
job depicting their roles, specially the bosses of each
mafia, John Lone and Ryo Ishibashi, and Devon Aoki as Kira
Yakanowa.
Director Phillip G Atwell and his crew did an outstanding
job portraying this story keeping it as real as possible,
and also depicting some Asian traditions among the two
gangs. In war, the combination of Jet Li and Jason Statham
is almost as good as the Travolta and Cage in one of my
favorite action movies Face Off. It has all the elements
necessaries to entertain any fan of the genre. Without over
exaggerating and fancy stunts moves Mr Atwell showed that
action movies still can be produced. If you are expecting
Jet Li kill a dozen of guys with his acrobatic movements
this movie is not for you, but if you are willing to have a
Blast of fun with pure and classic action, you better be
ready for war.
VIDEO:
2.40:1 Anamorphic Widescreen Enhance for 16x9 TVs
AUDIO:
English
5.1 EX (Dolby Surround).
Subtitles - English Spanish - Optional
SPECIAL FEATURES: For
lovers of special feature, this DVD might disappoints, since
it comes with the basic special features, there is not a
deleted scenes worth watching, but it has an interesting and
descriptive option where the director explains key scenes of
the movie showing his vision.
Audio Commentary with director Phillip Atwell
Audio Commentary with writers Lee Anthony Smith and Gregory
Bradley
Audio Trivia Track
The Action Of War : this is
a great feature where it goes though nine key scenes of the
movie explaining the meaning of the story, style, stunts,
and sound used in each one. Each explanation is from the
writers, directors, actors and composer. Is the only worth
seen feature of the movie. (approximately 35 min)
Gag Reel: About two minutes
of mistakes done by the actor during the film of the movie.
In my opinion they are not that funny (2:02)
Deleted / Extended Scenes :
a total of two deleted short scenes and one extended scene
that do not adds or removes nothing to the plot., this
option should not have been included to the menu. (2:08)
Scoring War:
Probably the other feature that could be watch. It shows how
the sound for the movie was Chosen and its influences.
(8:50).
RATING BREAK DOWN:
| FILM REVIEW |
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VIDEO |
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AUDIO |
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| BONUS
FEATURES |
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Review
By Milo
milo@smartcine.com
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