It looks fantastic. The photography is really outstanding--mostly LA at night, lit by streetlights and neon, with windows reflecting the headlights and streetlights, a dark color pallete and half-lit streets. He really captures LA well here, as he did in Heat.

The gunplay is good. Vincent has some nice tactical tips he shares with us, and he does some picture-perfect mozambique drills.

I thought it was excellant. The directing, acting, and cinematography were all top notch. The gunplay was impeccable, as you would expect from a Mann film.

I didn't see a firearms guy credited, but they scrolled by pretty fast.

Did "Vincent" have a .40 or a .45 H&K? I think it was a .45 by the hole size, but the gun looked too small.

BTW, I think it is unfair that the bad guys can buy cool Euro guns that we can't get.

Hows this for a spider?


Oh, you said spoiler...

Saw one of those stupid "HBO First Looks" about this movie...showed Tom Cruise at the range shooting pistol and having a good time doing it!

going to see it today

Phone Booth in a cab… That's Collateral in a nutshell for you.  The two things keeping this movie from being as embarrassingly stupid as Phone Booth are Michael Mann's direction director of Heatand Tom Cruise's presence.  If you are a fan of either, or both, it is probably a worthwhile diversion, otherwise just skip it.



The story is that cab driver Jamie Foxx gets picked by professional assassin Cruise to relay him to five targets in the city of High Concept.  The implausibilities pile up faster than the body count, and by the final act we're down to cat-and-mouse stalking of the last victim, an attractive and conveniently black female prosecutor whom Foxx has taken a shine to.  Mann does a yeoman's job directing an abysmally stupid screenplay in which a supposedly experienced hitman tags a random stranger to transport him through his night's work.  There's really no point detailing the plot holes as they're all readily apparent from the trailer itself and the movie is only sustained by Mann's patented, edgy, night-in-L.A. mood.



For all that it's not the disaster it should be, although Foxx provides no help whatsoever in a role that admittedly would have had all but the best actors floundering to remain upright.  He is routinely blown off the screen by Cruise, who has attitude to spare throughout.



Mann should have his head examined for stooping this low.  In the end he shamelessly cribs Hitchcock but without having invested any of the characters with the solid personae necessary to make such trickery work.



I went in with plenty of reservations but the meal left me unsatisfied.  The pity is the principles involved could have worked this story into proper form but opted to pile on garnish around a cheap burger instead.  You have to wonder why any self-respecting filmmaker would want to waste months of his career on this of all projects.  In the end there's just no excuse.

www.udolpho.com

Quoted: Phone Booth in a cab… That's Collateral in a nutshell for you.  The two things keeping this movie from being as embarrassingly stupid as Phone Booth are Michael Mann's direction director of Heatand Tom Cruise's presence.  If you are a fan of either, or both, it is probably a worthwhile diversion, otherwise just skip it. The story is that cab driver Jamie Foxx gets picked by professional assassin Cruise to relay him to five targets in the city of High Concept.  The implausibilities pile up faster than the body count, and by the final act we're down to cat-and-mouse stalking of the last victim, an attractive and conveniently black female prosecutor whom Foxx has taken a shine to.  Mann does a yeoman's job directing an abysmally stupid screenplay in which a supposedly experienced hitman tags a random stranger to transport him through his night's work.  There's really no point detailing the plot holes as they're all readily apparent from the trailer itself and the movie is only sustained by Mann's patented, edgy, night-in-L.A. mood. For all that it's not the disaster it should be, although Foxx provides no help whatsoever in a role that admittedly would have had all but the best actors floundering to remain upright.  He is routinely blown off the screen by Cruise, who has attitude to spare throughout. Mann should have his head examined for stooping this low.  In the end he shamelessly cribs Hitchcock but without having invested any of the characters with the solid personae necessary to make such trickery work. I went in with plenty of reservations but the meal left me unsatisfied.  The pity is the principles involved could have worked this story into proper form but opted to pile on garnish around a cheap burger instead.  You have to wonder why any self-respecting filmmaker would want to waste months of his career on this of all projects.  In the end there's just no excuse.

who wrote that?

Quoted: Quoted: Phone Booth in a cab… That's Collateral in a nutshell for you.  The two things keeping this movie from being as embarrassingly stupid as Phone Booth are Michael Mann's direction director of Heatand Tom Cruise's presence.  If you are a fan of either, or both, it is probably a worthwhile diversion, otherwise just skip it. The story is that cab driver Jamie Foxx gets picked by professional assassin Cruise to relay him to five targets in the city of High Concept.  The implausibilities pile up faster than the body count, and by the final act we're down to cat-and-mouse stalking of the last victim, an attractive and conveniently black female prosecutor whom Foxx has taken a shine to.  Mann does a yeoman's job directing an abysmally stupid screenplay in which a supposedly experienced hitman tags a random stranger to transport him through his night's work.  There's really no point detailing the plot holes as they're all readily apparent from the trailer itself and the movie is only sustained by Mann's patented, edgy, night-in-L.A. mood. For all that it's not the disaster it should be, although Foxx provides no help whatsoever in a role that admittedly would have had all but the best actors floundering to remain upright.  He is routinely blown off the screen by Cruise, who has attitude to spare throughout. Mann should have his head examined for stooping this low.  In the end he shamelessly cribs Hitchcock but without having invested any of the characters with the solid personae necessary to make such trickery work. I went in with plenty of reservations but the meal left me unsatisfied.  The pity is the principles involved could have worked this story into proper form but opted to pile on garnish around a cheap burger instead.  You have to wonder why any self-respecting filmmaker would want to waste months of his career on this of all projects.  In the end there's just no excuse. who wrote that?

Me?

No, I edited the original to include the link.  He's one of my favorite bloggers, and the only one I know who does movie reviews.

i will wait for the vid

An outstanding film  I especially loved Vincent's blink-and-you'll-miss-it shootout in the alley with the two thugs.  A gunfight like it's SUPPOSED to be.

Quoted: i will wait for the vid

Suit yourself, but Mann's films are best enjoyed on the bigscreen. Heat, while very enjoyable in a home theatre, is not the same experience as it was in the cinema. Collateral, I suspect, would be the same.

Did anyone else notice the similarity in the scenery at the end of Collateral and the opening shot in Heat?

The night club scene where the cops got shot was the least believable part of the movie.


Also, he was pretty spry towards the end for a guy who'd been shot and in a 80+ mph rollover accident without a seatbelt.

I saw a "making of" thing a couple of nights ago. I can not remember who was doing the training but Cruise did get some pretty extensive looking live fire time. His form was pretty good actually. Even his reloads were fairly fluid which, IMO, is hard for a noob.

Maybe all of that fun time with guns will make him more sympathetic to the cause? Doubtful, eh?

Anyway, I was impressed at the training. Leaps and bounds greater than must Howwwierd BS but that's Mann for you.

Quoted: Did "Vincent" have a .40 or a .45 H&K? I think it was a .45 by the hole size, but the gun looked too small. BTW, I think it is unfair that the bad guys can buy cool Euro guns that we can't get.

For the first question: according to a firearms director who posts on another board I visit, it was probably a .45. He says a .45 ACP is easier to set up for blanks.

For the second question: HUH???? Since when is an H&K USP unavailable here in the U.S.?

Quoted: Quoted: Did "Vincent" have a .40 or a .45 H&K? I think it was a .45 by the hole size, but the gun looked too small. BTW, I think it is unfair that the bad guys can buy cool Euro guns that we can't get. For the first question: according to a firearms director who posts on another board I visit, it was probably a .45. He says a .45 ACP is easier to set up for blanks. For the second question: HUH???? Since when is an H&K USP unavailable here in the U.S.?

Not the H&K, but some of the bad guys had some PDW's that aren't imported for civvies here.
H&K created USP's just for Americans!

Quoted: Phone Booth in a cab…This was my take on the previews also. Ill wait for cable to pick it up That's Collateral in a nutshell for you.  The two things keeping this movie from being as embarrassingly stupid as Phone Booth are Michael Mann's direction director of Heatand Tom Cruise's presence.  If you are a fan of either, or both, it is probably a worthwhile diversion, otherwise just skip it. The story is that cab driver Jamie Foxx gets picked by professional assassin Cruise to relay him to five targets in the city of High Concept.  The implausibilities pile up faster than the body count, and by the final act we're down to cat-and-mouse stalking of the last victim, an attractive and conveniently black female prosecutor whom Foxx has taken a shine to.  Mann does a yeoman's job directing an abysmally stupid screenplay in which a supposedly experienced hitman tags a random stranger to transport him through his night's work.  There's really no point detailing the plot holes as they're all readily apparent from the trailer itself and the movie is only sustained by Mann's patented, edgy, night-in-L.A. mood. For all that it's not the disaster it should be, although Foxx provides no help whatsoever in a role that admittedly would have had all but the best actors floundering to remain upright.  He is routinely blown off the screen by Cruise, who has attitude to spare throughout. Mann should have his head examined for stooping this low.  In the end he shamelessly cribs Hitchcock but without having invested any of the characters with the solid personae necessary to make such trickery work. I went in with plenty of reservations but the meal left me unsatisfied.  The pity is the principles involved could have worked this story into proper form but opted to pile on garnish around a cheap burger instead.  You have to wonder why any self-respecting filmmaker would want to waste months of his career on this of all projects.  In the end there's just no excuse. www.udolpho.com

Quoted: Not the H&K, but some of the bad guys had some PDW's that aren't imported for civvies here. H&K created USP's just for Americans!

Bad guys don't care about living within the law. Hence their being bad.