/20th Century Fox Home Entertainment .
R4 . COLOR . 140 mins .
MA15+ . PAL
Feature
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A person is kidnapped every 60 minutes in Latin America, 70% do not survive.
Creasy (Denzel Washington) is a man with a chequered past; haunted by the things he has done and seen, he has turned to the bottle and his life is a mess. He visits his old friend Rayburn (Christopher Walken) in Mexico who lines Creasy up with an easy job as a bodyguard for a wealthy family who are afraid of having their daughter Pita (Dakota Fanning) kidnapped for ransom.
I have cable. sit. enjoy.
Initially Creasy is unsociable to his young charge but as time goes by he warms to her and he becomes somewhat of a mentor.
Of course, the worst happens; Creasy is shot and badly wounded while trying to prevent Pita from being kidnapped and she is eventually killed after the ransom drop off is bungled. Creasy promises vengeance against all who profited from her murder in an unconscious effort to redeem himself for his past sins.
I got my sunnies at Target.
Man on fire is a based on the original movie made in 1987 of the same name which has a similar plot but was set in Rome rather than Mexico City. The main character though was working his way up through the ranks of the Mafia rather than a criminal ring supported by crooked police. There is another connection between the two in that Tony Scott was offered the 1987 version but the studio pulled out at the last minute and he states in the commentary that when the chance to do the remake came up he jumped at it.
If there was a genre for “Revenge” movie Man on Fire would be right up there in the list. It delivers it by the bucket load.
"Forgiveness is between them and God. It's my job to arrange the meeting."
Video
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Man on Fire is presented in the original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and is enhanced for widescreen displays.
The video transfer is pretty close to reference quality apart from a few minor gripes. Some very minor compression artefacts exist as does some minor grain but never to the point of distraction, in fact the casual viewer will most likely not even notice these problems.
Armageddon is coming and you're in its path.
The colour levels within the movie are deliberately muted and there are some stylistic filming methods used which make it hard to tell if it’s a problem with the transfer or not. I’ll go with not and stick by the reference quality rating. This is an excellent transfer.
Audio
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While not strictly audio related, one of the most distinctive aspects of the audio presentation in this movie is the burned in subtitles. During the commentary Tony Scott describes the subtitles as one of the major characters in the movie and I’d have to agree, they do add a unique feel. It is something you have to see to really appreciate the impact they have on the movie as a whole.
The audio track for Man on Fire is available in Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS. The DTS track is typically a little sharper than the 5.1 track but to be quite honest without spending a lot of money on audio gear (and don’t forget thousands of dollars on cabling!) the average listener wont notice a huge difference between the two.
Having said that both audio tracks available are excellent so be confident that no matter what your equipment can handle you’re getting a brilliant audio experience.
Who's your Denzel?!
The subwoofer channel is the star of the show in the second half of the movie, with gunshots and explosions rocking the room. The same goes for the surround channels as the same gunshots ring around the room in all their directional glory. The centre channel is equally impressive and conveys and dialogue track loud and clear even when other sounds are present at the same time.
Extras
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In what I hope isn’t to become a trend the Man on Fire DVD starts with the usual piracy warning but then flows on to trailers for The Day After Tomorrow, I Robot, Alien vs Predator and Dodgeball. I don’t have a problem with trailers for other movies being included but when they are forced upon us before the menu will load it begins to get annoying.
The real extras on this disc consist of a Director’s commentary and 15 deleted scenes, including an alternate ending.
The Commentary by Director Tony Scott includes a lot of technical information regarding the processes used when filming the movie as well as the usual information on casting and story. Scott relates a lot of information about how the kidnappings were researched and even includes a story about his own experiences in a rough section of Mexico City while in pre-production. A very interesting and informative listen and probably one of the only commentaries I have a desire to listen to again.
Big badda boom.
There are 15 deleted scenes included on this disc most of which are extended versions of existing scenes but some scenes are new and illustrate how a romantic sub-plot was removed from the final edit; a good move in my opinion. Also included is an alternate ending which I actually prefer to the one used in the final version. Each deleted scene comes with an optional commentary by Tony Scott.
Overall
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As revenge flicks go Man on Fire is one of the best this reviewer has come across in quite some time, although recent competition hasn’t exactly been thick on the ground (The Punisher?). The video and audio quality on this DVD are both outstanding and with a few more extras I would have given this disc gold status, however it is still an excellent presentation of a great movie and is well worth owning.