DVD Review: Vantage Point

June 30, 2008

Writer: Barry Levy
Director: Pete Travis
Cast: Dennis Quaid, Matthew Fox, Forest Whitaker, Bruce McGill, Edgar Ramirez, Saïd Taghmaoui, Ayelet Zurer, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, William Hurt
Rating: PG-13
Studio: Sony
Release Date: July 1, 2008

**I’m going to warn you right now – This review possibly contains spoilers.

Once again the box office and the critics disagree. I am one of those critics that usually won’t go with the flow. I liked Vantage Point. A thriller in the best sense, the interwoven storylines, while inevitably predictable in theory give you just enough information throughout each segment to keep you wanting more.

While I thought I had figured out part of what happened I didn’t know why it had happened. The simple reality of the why left me slightly shell shocked. Could it be that a film was echoing the sentiment of the millions of Americans who spoke of the embattled and embittered war we’re going through right now?

I hate to give away what’s going to happen. Still, down to the vary last seconds of the film, all of the stories that tie into what seems like one event come together to paint one whole picture. When watching Vantage Point, I sort of felt like I was looking at one of those puzzles you have to figure out. Every few minutes a foggy piece of the puzzle becomes clear until every piece is revealed. With every second that passes in this heart pounding drama, new information comes into light and the mystery of ‘who’, ‘what’, and ‘why’ eventually is revealed.

I don’t know what critics seem to want from these types of movies because I felt Vantage Point hit the nail on the head when it came to getting down the “thriller” aspect of the film without pause. Either way, I liked this film and I’m already going to recommend it though for more information on the film, you should continue to read my review.

Release Information:
Vantage Point was originally released in theaters on February 22, 2008. While the movie was panned by critics the box office sang another tune. The film debuted at #1 during its opening weekend at the box office grossing $22.8 million. Since then, the movie has grossed over 171 million worldwide.

Vantage Point is being distributed by Sony Pictures. The movie is set to be released on DVD on July 1, 2008. Vantage Point will be available in most local retailers after the first. You can order the movie online at Amazon for $22.99 USD in a Two-Disc Special Edition and $16.99 in a single disc edition. What’s funny is the only thing added on the two disc set in terms of bonuses is the fact that the second disc includes a digital copy. All the bonus features otherwise remain the same. This review is for the single disc widescreen edition.

Vantage Point Plot
Vantage Point tells the same 23 minutes of a central event from eight different character perspectives. The story revolves around a terrorist plot to kill the president of the United States. During a summit on terrorism in Salamanca, Spain, the president of the United States, Henry Ashton (William Hurt) is shot. What is soon discovered is the plot is much more complicated and involved than just a simple assassination attempt. With the president of the United States hoping to announce a peace agreement, a terrorist organization has infiltrated the summit and will stop at nothing to destroy all peace talks by provoking U.S. retaliation.

The story for Vantage Point adds every layer together and connects certain storylines to one another until they overlap and the greater picture can be found. This is an unusual but effective way to tell the story. With each montage playing out, the urgency to know the bigger picture becomes greater. I was quite impatient with this movie because I wanted to know why the events were happening and how everything worked out in the end.

The first montage tells the initial story of the summit and the shooting of the president through the eyes of Rex Brooks (Sigourney Weaver). Brooks is a news producer for the GNN network. Through her perspective, we see the events unfold from the control station where Rex is instructing cameramen and anchorwoman, Angie Jones (Zoe Saldana) to tell what is happening throughout various moments during the 23-minute span of the montage. It is here where we see the initial moments of the attack and the damage caused specifically at the square where the summit has been held.

From here, the perspective changes to that of Secret Service agents Thomas Barnes (Dennis Quaid) and Kent Taylor (Matthew Fox). This obviously gives another perspective and introduces the audience to new characters who will later share their own perspectives. There are further perspectives including that of American tourist Howard Lewis (Forest Whitaker), who catches the events on his camcorder, a police officer sent to protect the mayor of Salamancha, Enrique (Eduardo Noriega) and the perspective of the president, Howard Ashton.

It’s hard to give any more details about the storyline for Vantage Point without giving away the plot. The movie is fast paced, intense and interesting. The acting was excellent, especially by Dennis Quaid. With as many big name actors as there are in this film, it should be good. It’s hard to say Forest Whitaker did an awful job or Sigourney Weaver just didn’t nail her part because these are the actors that consistently go out there and show their acting prowess.

I don’t think some people will like Vantage Point simply because the formula for the film isn’t traditional. People expect to see a movie that has the beginning, middle, and end all in a row. It’s often the films like this, that go in obscure sequences (21 Grams is a good example – excellent film, but it was very frenetic in the way it jumped back and forth between sequences until the bigger picture was revealed) and only reveal so much information per sequence. I liked this film and I’m not one to listen to other critics. Make your own judgment with this film, because there is something there. It’s not the best film I’ve seen all year, but it holds exceptional promise and kept me quite entertained throughout.

While many critics are spouting off about the believability factor to this movie, I have to wonder if we’ve forgot the entire point of movies. Isn’t it in our best interest, in most cases, to suspend our beliefs and skew our sense of reality? Sure, maybe this exact plot wouldn’t happen, but that’s the beauty of movies. Anything can happen. It doesn’t have to be realistic in the real world because for the 1-2 hours it is on the screen it is all the reality anyone needs. The creators are enthusiastic about the story in Vantage Point and so are the actors. This comes through clearly and adds to the quality of the storytelling.

Storyline/Plot:
Replayability:
Acting:
Directing:

Audio/Visual:
The visual quality is quite good save for some minor compression errors and multiple instances of edge enhancements. Otherwise, the color palette is good with a full range of colors. The black has depth to it and the rest of the colors are vibrantly realistic. The video for Vantage Point is presented in an anamorphic widescreen format at a 2.40:1 aspect ratio. Overall, the quality is decent though it would have been nice if the film was a bit cleaner when it comes to the visual errors. Still, unless you’re looking for errors you probably won’t notice them.

The sound for Vantage Point comes through loud and clearly. Sound effects, musical elements and dialogue all come through evenly so volume toggling isn’t an issue. The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack in English features closed captioning. It sounded excellent for a fast-packed, action thriller. There are various other sound tracks available on this DVD. The language options are Dolby Digital 5.1 in Spanish, Portuguese and Thai and Dolby Digital Surround in French. All soundtracks are available with closed captioning. There are subtitles for the film, which are available in English, Spanish, French, Thai, Chinese, Korean and Portuguese.

Visual:
Audio:

Bonus Features:
There are quite a few, in depth features added to the single DVD release of Vantage Point. The first is a commentary with the director of the film, Pete Travis. Travis is a bit too enthusiastic and appreciative of his filmmaking for my tastes. Sure, I liked the movie, but there is nothing like patting yourself on the back, too much. There is also a lot of praise for the film in an extensive interview section with the cast and crew in a featurette called “An Inside Perspective”. It is clear the actors are all passionate about the film’s message and their part in making this movie.

While labeled as outtakes, the featurette, “Surveillance Tapes”, is actually a gag that was pulled by the director of the film. It would have been much cooler to see a gag reel with outtakes of the cast and crew. This was the most disappointing featurette in the bunch. There is your standard, run of the mill, making of featurette known as “Coordinating the Chaos”, and more behind the scenes information is provided in the final featurette called “Plotting an Assassination”.

Bonus Features:

Bottom Line:
Most critics didn’t seem to like Vantage Point, but I’m not most critics. I found the fast paced drama to be wholly enjoyable and despite some minor predictability there were plenty of surprises that I had not anticipated. Sure, the storyline seems almost manic in its quick paced movement and differing perspectives, but that is a part of the movie’s charm. Vantage Point isn’t your typical film and therefore, it isn’t going to be liked by everyone. While I would purchase this DVD again in a heartbeat, others may scoff at the film’s very existence. I recommend renting before buying just to make sure it’s the kind of movie you’ll want to own.

Overall Rating:

Technorati Tags: Vantage Point, DVD Review, Conspiracy, Dennis Quaid, Matthew Fox, Forest Whitaker, Thriller, Political, Terrorism

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