Be Kind And Rewind (Vantage Point (DVD))

Member Name: utero

Product:	Vantage Point (DVD)
Date:	04/09/08 (85 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Well Paced, Great Action

Disadvantages: Repetition of Story can grate, nothing new

Taking a story and telling it from different characters viewpoints is nothing new. Vantage Point takes a sole incident and then plays it out through the eyes of several characters involved as we see the scenario played out with a little bit of twist in the plot revealed each time.

The film is set in Spain on an occasion where the world's leaders are meeting to sign to a declaration of peace, bringing an end to terrorism. There is a mass of civilians who have turned out in celebration. As the President of the USA takes the stage, shots ring out taking out the president before bomb blasts disrupt the occasion. We get to see the lead up to the events through the secret service team, the news coverage, a tourist and a number of people involved in the terrorist plot culminating in a finale which has been slowly revealed at the end of each characters arc.

As I've said, Vantage Point doesn't really put a whole new twist on things but it is a slick piece of entertainment. Just polished enough to hold your attention but not too clever as to confuse you to the point of losing the plot. At first I thought the continuous flashbacks and playing out of the same story would grate but thankfully there is some really great action.

In the final act there is a car chase through the crowded streets which in my opinion is one of the most thrilling I've seen in recent years. It's no surprise that director Pete Travis has an association with Bourne director Paul Greengrass as both seem to be from the Bullit school of filming high speed action sequences.

The film has a great cast from the always enjoyable Dennis Quaid as a haunted secret service man, William Hurt as a the President and Forest Whittaker as a family guy caught up in all the action.

The film's direction is accomplished and Travis does well with the material, making a pacy, well edited film that certainly satisfies it's audience and delivers entertainment.

- The DVD -

The films transfer is brilliant, taking a warm colour palette and faithfully re-producing it on the small screen. The soundtrack is also vibrant although the dialogue can get drowned out in all the chaos.

- Extras -

'Inside Perspective' runs for nearly thirty minutes and is one of those taking head features that talks about the film, casting etc. I found it on the whole quite informative.

Another featurette delves into the details of weaving the story together; personally I felt it was a bit of a filler.

The other featurette deals with the staging of the main action in the film and how it's stunts were orchestrated. It's the usual stuff you see on dvd but remains informative.

Aside from trailers the only other extra is an audio commentary with Travis. The track is pretty bitty and not full of continuous chatter

- Finally -

Vantage Point is well worth a rental, it's an above average action thriller that offers many thrills and certainly entertains.

Summary: Better than your average hollywood fare