Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8490 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-01-17
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Dubbed, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English, Spanish
• Subtitled in: English, Arabic, Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Swedish, Turkish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 115 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Collateral offers a change of pace for Tom Cruise as a ruthless contract killer, but that's just one of many reasons to recommend this well-crafted thriller. It's from Michael Mann, after all, and the director's stellar track record with crime thrillers (Thief, Manhunter, and especially Heat) guarantees a rich combination of intelligent plotting, well-drawn characters, and escalating tension, beginning here when icy hit-man Vincent (Cruise) recruits cab driver Max (Jamie Foxx) to drive him through a nocturnal tour of Los Angeles, during which he will execute five people in a 10-hour spree. While Stuart Beattie's screenplay deftly combines intimate character study with raw bursts of action (in keeping with Mann's directorial trademark), Foxx does the best work of his career to date (between his excellent performance in Ali and his title-role showcase in Ray), and Cruise is fiercely convincing as an ultra-disciplined sociopath. Jada Pinkett-Smith rises above the limitations of a supporting role, and Mann directs with the confidence of a master, turning L.A. into a third major character (much as it was in the Mann-produced TV series Robbery Homicide Division). Collateral is a bit slow at first, but as it develops subtle themes of elusive dreams and lives on the edge, it shifts into overdrive and races, with breathtaking precision, toward a nail-biting climax. --Jeff Shannon

Synopsis
Jamie Foxx plays Max, a Los Angeles cab driver who has a pretty wild night in this thriller from Michael Mann (HEAT, THE INSIDER). First, Max picks up, flirts with, and gets the number of Annie (Jada Pinkett Smith), an attractive District attorney. Next, Vincent (Tom Cruise) climbs into his cab. He is a professional hit man who reserves Max for the night with a whole shopping list of victims he needs to visit. As the night moves forward and the body count rises, Max must wrestle with the question of how to do the right thing while staying alive. Gradually the two men bond in unlikely ways, as each learns survival mechanisms from the other, and it all doubles as a metaphor for morality vs. capitalism. Mark Ruffalo and Peter Berg play cops who eventually get on Max and Vincent's trail, leading to a spectacular action set piece inside a night club. Irma P. Hall (2004's THE LADYKILLERS) gets laughs as Max's hospitalized momma, and Javier Bardem (BEFORE NIGHT FALLS) is a sinister drug lord. With a capable director like Mann at the wheel, this remains a smooth, enjoyable ride while also being fast, bumpy, and full of twists and turns. The streets of urban, nighttime Los Angeles--captured via a specially modified digital camera--never looked so beautiful or desolate. As typical of the director, the film is both artistic and action-packed; operatically over-the-top while never skimping on the little details.

Customer Reviews

Very good camera shots and excellent set pieces
Tom Cruise plays Vince a silver haired 'gun for hire' on a mission to eradicate five targets in a single night. Jamie Foxx is Max, the cabbie given the job of ferrying him around the city to the five stops. Max realises that Vince isn't saying a quick hello and eventually tries to escape to alert the authorities. Intense action scences and some fantastic set-pieces which display Tom Cruise at his best (he must have had some sort of training and it shows in the way he handles the pistol he carries). Cruise is fantastic and Jamie Foxx is once again very impressive. The opening sequence reminded me very much of Heat in a certain way and there is no doubt that this is a Michael Mann film. It has his distinctive touch all over it. Very enjoyable and well worth owning.

A fantastic film
Don't know what film rrnp was watching but it sure wasn't Collateral. It was a great movie and to answer his question, the cop was not about to listen to anything the character in question was about to say, as he was holding him at gun point, having just discovered a dead body in the trunk of his cab. Watch the movie, both Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx are great.

Whiz-bang thriller with some substance
And some fine acting by Jamie Foxx and Tom Cruise.

This stylish, atmospheric thriller is yet another Hollywood ode to the hit man. I mean, what is with this sub-genre? Consider these engaging hit man movies from the 90s:

2 Days in the Valley (1996) Danny Aiello as an over the hill hit man turned pizza baker.

Grosse Pointe Blank (1997) John Cusack as a cute whimsical amoral murder artist with Dan Aykroyd giving some comedic support in an over-the-top portrayal of a rival hit man always making with the jokes.

The Professional (1994) Jean Reno stars as Leon, a cold-blooded professional hit man sans people skills who doesn't know how to read (but has a heart).

La Femme Nikita (1990) Anne Parillaud plays a bitter, drug-dependent, unsocialized child of the streets who becomes a highly skilled hit woman.

Point of No Return (1993) starring Bridget Fonda, is a kind of Americanized La Femme Nikita.

And there are more I'm sure that I've missed.

I think this sub-genre came about when film makers got desperate to do something besides "on the lam" movies and mafia glorifications. I also think this sub-genre has something in common with "the whore with the heart of gold" flick. It would appear that these days an actress doesn't really feel fulfilled and accomplished unless she has played a prostitute. Can it be that actors in general will feel unfulfilled until they have played a hit man/woman?

Surprisingly enough Collateral is also a buddy movie of sorts, or at least Tom Cruise's Vincent thinks he is making a friend, in as much as he is capable of making a friend. Jamie Foxx doesn't think so since he clearly divines that Vincent is one very sick psychopath.

But what makes this movie stand out, aside from Foxx and Cruise doing such a great job, is how stylish is the development, how worldly wise the dialogue, and how crisp the direction. The fact that Jamie Foxx could have and should have gotten away from Cruise half a dozen times is really the only flaw in the movie.

Another good film directed by Michael Mann is The Insider (1999) starring Al Pacino and Russell Crowe.