Collateral
February 2005 Reviewed by: Vince Hanada Format: DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

I am used to seeing Tom Cruise as a nice guy. In my recollection, he has always played a good person, or at least there was something likeable about the characters he played. In the movie Collateral, Cruise takes on the unlikable role of Vincent, a cold-blooded contract killer. This movie is directed by heavyweight Michael Mann. I love Michael Mann films, but at times I find that his scenes are too long. Collateral, however, has slick pacing, which makes for a mesmerizing and exciting DVD-watching experience.

When Vincent arrives in L.A., he hires cabbie Max, played by Jamie Foxx, to drive him around to see real-estate "clients" and hang with friends for the evening. These clients are people whom Vincent has been hired to kill. Initially, Max does not know what’s going on. Vincent appears to be just another fare in his 12-year "temporary" job as a bored cabbie. This soon changes when Vincent carries out his first hit of the night and the body inadvertently lands on the roof of the cab. Max seeing the hit is not part of the plan, but as Vincent tells Max later, "You adapt to the environment, Darwin. Shit happens. I Ching, whatever man, we gotta roll with it."

For the rest of the evening, we see both Vincent and Max adapting to the situation. Vincent tries to complete the killings and Max tries to find a way out of helping him. What made this movie so enjoyable for me was the dialogue and psychological game between Max and Vincent in the cab as they drive around L.A. I found myself wanting to like Vincent, to find justification for his killings, as Max tries to do. Jamie Foxx’s performance is wonderful, and with it you can see he is destined for superstardom, if he isn’t there already.

This movie was shot in high definition, and Mann has tried to use as much natural lighting as possible. The resulting picture quality on this DVD is gorgeous, with some of the most natural and detailed night scenes I’ve ever seen. For example, faces in the alleyway crime scene of chapter 8 do not have the characteristic and usual Hollywood spotlighting effect.

The soundtrack of this DVD is very well recorded, but with subtle use of the surrounds. There is ample bass when called upon, especially from the DTS 5.1 track. Dialogue was well recorded, although I did find myself straining at times to hear some of the words.

I was excited to see that there was a second disc included with this DVD, but I was disappointed with the quantity of extras. "The Making of Collateral" documentary, however, has some insightful comments by director Mann. Also included are featurettes with Tom Cruise as a FedEx guy, others about shooting on location, visual effects and rehearsals, along with a single deleted scene, a few trailers, biographies and production notes.

Collateral has great acting, snappy dialogue and direction, and beautiful video quality. It is one DVD you will want to watch repeatedly.

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