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This smart, tautly directed thriller from Wolfgang Petersen is about the cat-and-mouse games between a Secret Service agent named Horrigan (Clint Eastwood) and the brilliant, psychopathic assassin (John Malkovich) whos itching to get the President in his cross hairs. The back-story--Horrigan is haunted by his inability to prevent John Kennedys assassination (Eastwood is computer-generated into archival footage)--is more than a little hokey, but the plotting itself is smartly, even ingeniously, constructed. Petersen manages a viselike grip on the tension and Eastwood even gets to deliver an ever-more-timely lecture on the diminished nature of the office of President. Eastwoods as gruff and as infuriating to the by-the-book Powers That Be as ever, and Malkovich oozes delightful menace. Renee Russo capably costars as a colleague with whom Horrigan gets friendly. --David Kronke
Product Description
A veteran secret sevice agent haunted by his failure to protect john f. Kennedy from assassination gets a chance to redeem himself thirty years later when a brilliant psychopath threatens to kill the current president. Studio: Sony Pictures Home Ent Release Date: 08/23/2005 Starring: Clint Eastwood John Malkovich Run time: 127 minutes Rating: R
Rate Points :4.5
Binding :DVD
Brand :Sony
Label :Sony Pictures
Manufacturer :Sony Pictures
MPN :COLD52317D
ProductGroup :DVD
Studio :Sony Pictures
Publisher :Sony Pictures
UPC :043396523173
EAN :9780767848787
Price :$14.94USD
Lowest Price :$6.53USD
Customer ReviewsMovie: 4/5 Picture Quality: 3.254.25/5 Sound Quality: 4/5 Extras: 2.25/5
Rating Point :4 Helpful Point :2
Version: U.S.A / Region Free
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
MPEG-4 AVC BD-50
Running time: 2:08:36
Movie size: 35,30 GB
Disc size: 39,52 GB
Total bit rate: 36.61 Mbps
Average Video bit rate : 24.95 Mbps
Audio Formats
English 1435Kbps (48kHz/16-bit) / French / Portuguese Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Surround
Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
Subtitles/Captions
English / English SDH / Bahasa / Chinese (Mandarin)
Chinese (Simplified) / Korean / Dutch / French
Portuguese (Brazilian) / Spanish (Latin American)
# Audio Commentary
# The Ultimate Sacrifice (SD, 22 minutes)
# Behind the Scenes with the Secret Service (SD, 20 minutes)
# Catching Counterfeiters (SD, 5 minutes)
# Howd They Do That (SD, 5 minutes)
# Deleted Scenes (SD, 5 minutes)
Malkovich Steals The Show
Rating Point :4 Helpful Point :0
Heres another entertaining Clint Eastwood action-suspense film. I am not a particularly fan of his but I have to hand to him: he knows how to make entertaining movies. It didnt hurt, either, to have John Malkovich as his co-star. Now there is an intense actor!
In this story, Malkovich plays an assassin, and he is fascinating to watch, thanks to his different disguises and the terrific dialog he was given. He also has a interesting voice.
Rene Russo is fairly low-key (for her), but thats fine and Eastwood plays the usual loner-cop role, not appreciated by his superiors but showing them all up in the end. I guess he couldnt stop playing the "Dirty Harry"-type figures, but he played them well.
There were some negatives this film, however, namely: credibility. The climatic scene, in particularly, had too many holes in it. There also were too many verbal blasphemes in here.
Overall, however, this is good, escapist fare.
First class thriller
Rating Point :5 Helpful Point :1
John Malkovich is convincingly creepy and vicious in his role as an assassin turned maniac who wants to kill the president. Next to him, Clint Eastwood is a secret service man who failed to protect JFK. Their demons drive this excellent film, which is convincing and very involving.
Its an excellent movie and first class entertainment.
Malkovich at his best!
Rating Point :4 Helpful Point :1
Though the first billing of this show was Clint Eastwood, John Malkovich was the real star deservedly earning himself the Best Supporting Actor nomination. No offence to Mr Landaus impeccable performance in Ed Wood but I bet the Oscars are going to do the same to Malkovich some time when hes a senior too. Its your usual run-after-the-bad-guy thriller but Malkovichs evil portrayal of the screwed up assassin maniac will keep you watching, even if you know hes going to die in the end (typically Hollywood!). Hes a bad guy you love to hate and though hes supposed to be the evil one, you cant help but like him simply coz hes just so evil, you know like Alan Rickman in Robin Hood or Gary Oldman in Dracula. Brilliant movie for both guys and gals to watch together.
A Must Have For Any Eastwood Fan
Rating Point :5 Helpful Point :1
A Must Have For Any Eastwood Fan
Great extras with commentary from Rene Russo, John Malkovich, and Clint of course and interesting footage of real Secret Service agants