Genres

Visitors Review

izzy4reel 2012-05-25 10:04:03

Get ready for Arnold as you've never seen him before. (really!)

This is NOT your typical Arnold fare. I was shocked. Arnold has emotion,feeling. He actually acted. I am a big fan of his, but everyone knows thathis acting skills are mediocre at best. Not here. He was ACTING. This is adifferent Schwarzenegger experience. He wasn't a superman with a machinegun.He was an average musclebound human being. He could be hurt and killed. Thisis one of the key reasons this movie carried well with me. It did, (as inmost Schwarzenegger's) have it's lame and cheesy moments. In fact, The filmdoesnt really get that exciting until the second half, But when you getthere, hold on. It packs more and more heat until it hits you with a meantwist of an ending. The other actors were great in their roles, and thestory is a whole let more believable then your typical 100 on 1 Ah-nuldformula. This is a movie can enjoy without being a Schwarzenegger fan. Thistruly is Arnold as you've never seen him before. See this movie, Arnold isso different, you may not even recognize him. He deserves the title at last,Actor.

2012-05-25 01:14:37

Typical Arnold action movie... nothing new but okay...

Most people know that this movie was scheduled to be released in Oct of 2001 until the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In the wake of that tragedy, this movie seems a bit anachronistic. By itself, it is a typical Arnold actioner. While Schwarzenegger is billed as an average Joe -- a heroic fireman -- he remains the indestructible hero that he's played countless times before. Somehow, he takes on an entire terrorist organization -- you can figure out how it ends. In any case, it isn't a bad movie per se. Some good action sequences and thrills with an interesting plot twist -- one that isn't too hard to see coming as the movie progresses, but it's still interesting. The movie attempts to be even at times -- humanizing the terrorists and problematizing the "heroes" -- but it is never with any sincerity and the good guys and bad guys are still pretty clear-cut. Would have been a better movie, I think, if Arnold's character was a bit darker and his antagonists, a bit more multilayered (they attempt to provide backstory for the bad characters, but without any real depth so it is hard to feel conflicted -- which is fine for an Arnie movie but for this subject matter, you wish there were more complexity). In any case, it's okay but clearly one of his weaker efforts. Francesca Neri does a great job as Selena, the heavy's wife, however. Extras on the DVD are okay. Includes a 'making of,' which is fine -- nothing spectacular.

The man with no name 2012-05-19 10:32:46

Arnie's worst film yet!

The previews lead you to believe it will be a great action movie, but theylie. This has to be one of the most boring movies I have ever seen. therewas no apparant structure to the plot, and there was a d-grade plot twist atthe end that we all cringed to. If you walk in expecting nothing, you'll notbe disappointed!

MTree 2012-05-19 00:37:26

The fifth nail in the career coffin

Jingle All The Way...Batman & Robin...End of Days...Sixth Day...and nowCollateral Damage. This may well be Arnold's worst film in the past tenyears. Not since Last Action Hero have I come out of an Arnold film and beenso disappointed. The film is badly shot, with weak and preposterous actionscenes that made me wince in embarrassment. The opening fire scene ispointless and ends abruptly...the river scene is laughably fake...most ofthe fights are dull, and the end is head-slappingly stupid.This will do nothing to resurrect his career and will end up as a low pointon his resume. OK...maybe he isn't as big as he used to be, but he still hasto be the top action guy out there. Where are the good scripts and the gooddirectors? Andrew Davis only made one good movie (the Fugitive) and that's because itwas a good script with two great actors. Here he shows that he's still theguy who directed "Code of Silence" and "Above the Law". In fact, thosemovies are better.Arnold has only made two good movies since T2 - "True Lies" and "Eraser" -and even they weren't top notch. Hopefully he reteams with Cameron orVerhoeven soon, or most of his fans won't be back.

2012-05-17 11:34:18

Ahhnold gets the revenge he seeks!

Collateral Damage(Feb/02)stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as an L.A. fireman Gord Brewer,who gets unexpectedly caught up in the drama of a Columbian drug cartel as he seeks revenge for the horrible death of his wife and young son.It's a well made film,despite the fact it was slighly re-edited in keeping with the 9-11 attacks that occurred just before it was to be released in Oct.of 2001.Instead it was pushed back to Feb/02,released and was considered a flop because it didn't make back its' initial investment.This is unfortunate as the film I think deserved better.But,as they say,timing is everything;it either works for you or against you.The plot involves fireman Brewer meeting his wife and son at a plaza.He is just yards away when an explosion goes off killing his family.Inconsolable he retreats into his home after he is released from hospital having overcome injuries he himself sustained during the bombing.He vows revenge and starts probing into the bombing and supplies government officials with info which they ignore.Frustrated but armed with much information and a bit of under the table help,he flies to Columbia to kill the Columbian drug lord responsible for the death of his family.It is a long journey fraught with difficulties but he eventually makes it.One night he plants a bomb,but just before it is to go off a woman and a young boy happen on the scene and he saves them.He is subsequently captured and held prisoner.It turns out the woman and boy he saved is the wife of the terrorist he seeks.He convinces the women to bring her child with her,with him,back to Washington to testify against her husband.They make it back and are at FBI headquarters being questioned.When the woman excuses herself to go to the washroom and gestures for her boy to come with her he refuses.However this tweaks something in Brewers mind and it turns out he is right.She is in fact the terrorist who planned the explosion in L.A.which killed Brewers family and as she escapes to the basement Brewer is in hot pursuit as a bomb goes off in the building.In a huge maintenance tunnel the womans husband is waiting on a motorcycle and both speed off to escape.Closing all escape doors the pair are forced to return to Brewer who is waiting for them.In a final pitched battle Brewer does them both in;one by electrocution and the other by an axe to the chest.The film ends as Brewer carries the terrorists son out of the FBI building.Well supported our Ahhnold breezes through this thriller quite well as he gives up with alot of great action sequences.There are some brief scenes with John Leguizamo and John Turturo and New Zealand actor Cliff Curtis plays the suspected Columbian terrorist Claudio wonderfully;he being known from the Xena/Hercules series.The film has few slow spots and is well edited to keep the pace at a fairly even level.Technically the film is in its 1:77:1 a/r and the picture is clear but it can be a little grainy at times.In conclusion a worthwhile film by Schwarzenegger with a fast moving plot and good action scenes.A man who loses his family,gets his revenge and gains a partially new family in the end.Violent,but we're with him all the way.Recommended.

Jamie Marolla 2012-05-16 20:10:47

Bomb here, bomb there....

(POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT!)Don't get me wrong... I enjoy watching Arnold Schwarzenegger in an actionflick, and this one being his first in a year or so, I was expectingsomething a little better than what I saw. The beginning of the movie iswhere we meet Arnie's wife and kid. We don't become too emotionally attachedto them, though, so when they die, I pretty much didn't care. So now Arnieis very mad, and decides to catch the terrorist who killed his family. Assoon as he steps foot in Colombia, it's all action, and no acting. There's adead guy here, another one over there, and...BAM!!! He kills the bad guy andthe movie is over. If you're the type of person who is more into theemotional side of the characters (ME!), I recommend not seeing this movie.But, if not, there's plenty of action here to keep you entertained for the105 minutes it runs. Nice try Arnie. I wonder what Terminator 3 is gonna belike....MJR

madstevie01 2012-05-16 11:32:11

Something of a dissapointment ........

This movie is good but I expected a lot more from it.For a Schwarzenegger film the action scenes are very limited.Indeed, upuntil the last half an hour of the film there is hardly any action atall.Arnie plays a firefighter who's wife and son are killed in a terroristattack.The terrorist is Claudio 'The Wolf' Perrini - played by CliffCurtis- who is a Columbian extremist who wants the Americans off Columbianland.Arnies character - Gordy Brewer - becomes frustrated by the govermentslackof effort in trying to catch his families killer so he takes the law intohis own hands and goes on a revenge mission.The Director of the Movie is Andrew Davis who has previously directedfilmssuch as Under Siege,Nico,The Fugitive and A Perfect Murder.He is one ofmyfavourite directors because his movies have a good amount ass-kicking inthem.Sadly I can't say the same about Collateral Damage.I must say I have been dissapointed to Arnies recent movies such as TheSixth Day,End of Days and Batman and Robin.Arnies last good movie was True Lies which was 9 years ago!!!I am looking for a big improvement from Arnie in Terminator 3 - which Ican't wait to see.My Rating For Collateral Damage - ****** out of **********

Klaatu-33 2012-05-16 08:11:02

What more is there to say?

I'm not going to review this film as just about everything I experiencedwasarticulated by "The unemployed Critic".This movie is awful! I can live with incredulous scripts and plots when thefilm is sci-fi or fantasy. Nobody expects anything of reality to occurthen.This film is ridiculous!For starters, how come there's never any explanation, not even a hint, astowhy someone called Gordon Brewer, presumably American, has an accent asthick as my thigh?He's a fireman for crying out loud! He gets hit in the head with riflestocks about half a dozen times and doesn't show any signs of even a slightconcusion.... or is that the sublime hint as to how he got hisaccent??Reading some of the reviews in here I was pleased to see that evenAmericansdidn't fall for this psueuo-patriotic rubbish.... unlike the case with theGod awful Pearl Harbour.Nobody ever claimed that Arne could act, but in films such as TerminatorandPredator he's in his element....let him stay there!PLEASE!!!1/10

2012-05-10 10:34:19

Arnie to the rescue...AGAIN?!?!?!?

A terrorist explosion at a city café must be avenged, and they expect us to believe that Arnie is the one to go all the way to Columbia to save America, with the unlikely aid of the bomber's wife. This unusually ambitious but embarrassing action yarn tries to create explosive entertainment using a very serious issue, and a predictable plot twist and a finale involving an explosion at a Federal building which takes the emergency services a good fifteen minutes to respond to doesnt even come close to being worth your time.

buiger 2012-05-10 06:21:33

Hasta la Vista Baby...

I tend to agree very much with James Berardinelli's review of thisfilm. It is high time for Arnold to retire from movie-making before itis too late, before he becomes ridiculous. He was great in the 80-ies,let us remember him like that.In other, this film was slightly below average, especially because ofthe screenplay, which was far too simplistic and not thought out. If byany chance you take the trouble and think about it a little, you willfind many of the happenings are to say the least, very unlikely. Butalso the special effects are rather cheesy, especially for a movie madein the 21st century.Too many clichés, too many things that are physically impossible,especially for a man who is (and looks) 54... I am convinced he will bea much better Governor than he ever was an actor.

2012-05-07 07:08:36

Arnold's fight on Terrorism

It's surprising that films such as Collateral damage and Behind Enemy Lines were filmed before September 11th. Collateral Damage which is about a fireman (Arnold Schwarzenegger) who loses his wife and son to a terrorist bombing. He seeks revenge and trys to find the man responsleable for what happend. The film was pushed back after September the 11th, I guess that was sort of smart. I mean I doubt it's the type of movie people would rush to see after what happend. But what his character does is pretty much what anybody would of liked to done to Bin-Laden after what he did. So in some ways this is sort of a feel good movie, lol. Well anyway the movie is always engaging and suspenseful and Arnold is actually very good. There's some nice twists at the end too. The movie is sort of silly and not very realistic of course but at least Arnold doesn't turn into Commando and kill an entire army by himself like he does in.....Commando. If you want to see something like that then you should be looking forward to Stallone's fight on Terrorism. As it's been rumored that Rambo 4 will be set in Afghanistan. Next Steven Seagal and Van Dame will probably have a movie like that too, lol.

2012-05-06 22:03:23

Gordon Brewer is out for . . . COLLATERAL DAMAGE!

When I went to see Jet Li's The One I saw a preview for Collateral Damage. As soon as the reel started for the preview, people started laughing and didnot stop laughing until it finished. Arnold just isn't the box office heroor draw that he used to be in such movies like Terminator 2, Total Recall,and Predator. With that in mind also consider the fact that CollateralDamage was pushed back from its original October release date because of itscontent similarities to that of the attacks on September 11th. I have toagree with Warner Brother's decision to push the release date to February8th. The content was inappropriate at the time, and feels to be more of anenjoyment now than it would have been back in October.Andrew Davis, the guy who brought you Under Siege, directs the movie. UnderSiege happens to be one of Steven Segal's better movies. While the story issimple, it still remains entertaining. The script, on the other hand,suffers from cliché phrases, and over simplified dialogue. Although, whatArnold movie is know for its great script. Collateral Damage, an A-budget movie, delivers as the perfect B-film. Ourhero Gordon Brewer (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is introduced to us as afirst-rate firefighter who has saved a great deal of people's lives. He ishappily married with a cute son. Gordon is on his way to pick up his wifeand son at the hospital when terror strikes. A Columbian terrorist, TheWolf (Cliff Curtis of Three Kings), has planted a bomb outside of thehospital that explodes killing nine and injuring dozens. Among the ninedeceased are Gordon's wife and son. Arnold's life is destroyed by thedisaster, and Gordon Brewer is now out to seek Collateral Damage. The Wolf retreats to the safe quarters of Columbia. Arnold plots out histrip, and travels down to Columbia to seek revenge. We are treated to anexplosion extravaganza, and super-hero abilities that would rival that ofRambo. Gordon is an unstoppable force merely from his L.A. firefightingtraining. With the L.A. firefighter program being of such high caliber,they should be training U.S. Marines. During one of Gordon's struggles,Andrew Davis pays homage to Mike Tyson. Gordon is handcuffed and his onlyutensil he has at the time is his teeth. He uses his teeth to bite the earoff of one of the Columbian gorillas. We are also able to enjoy a uniqueyet chilling death with the aid of a snake. The story further evolves intoa somewhat predictable adventure, but the support of a plot twist helpschange the stereotypical ending. While not the greatest action movie of all time, it is certainly a step inthe right direction for Arnold, and his career. It is one of his bettermovies to date. Even though the critics may have bashed this movie, I'mhoping, once again, that word of mouth helps spread the news of how descentthis movie actually is. Hopefully 2003's Terminator 3 will prove to be aworthy A-movie title for Arnold.Grade: B

2012-05-02 15:55:20

Where's The Action ?

I Bought This Movie On DVD And Now I Wish I Didn't . First Of All Where's The Action And Adventure ? The Movie Is More About Arnold Searching For The Terrorist Who Killed His Wife And Child Than About Him Getting Revenge On The People Who Did It. I Expected To See Arnold Shooting It Up And Kicking Butt . Instead I Got Borring Dragged Out Scene's Of Him Going To South America , Getting Lost , Kidnaped And Then Ecscapeing Before He Finally Get's Back To The United States And Tracks Down The People Who Did It . The Only Action You Get Is In The Last 30 Seconds Of The Movie , When Arnold Kills The Terrorist's . Why Would You Pay 19.95 $ To See 30 Seconds Of Action ?? Forget It ! Save Your Money And Stay Away From This Borring Put Me To Sleep Movie !

Brandy-28 2012-05-02 09:50:54

I just can't believe it!!!!

I just can't believe the way you people trashed this movie to death. Thismovie was pretty exciting. I was totally surprised at the end, when I foundout who was the real person responsible for the bombs.And yes, a terrorist would blow up their own son or daughter for the bettergood (to blow up the FBI headquarters).The only thing that surprised me about this movie was how old Arnold looked. I think it's time for Arnold to hang up his action movie boots. He waslooking a little haggered in this one. Other than that, I enjoyed thismovie. Great fun - lot's of shoot em up bang bang and blowing up things. Very exciting.

Chris Saniuk 2012-05-02 11:42:20

Great Action Movie

This is a great movie. It was full of action and had a great story line. It is worth seeing. The first part of the movie is sad.

freakfire-1 2012-05-02 05:29:55

New Futurama movie just came out

Well, this was no Terminator movie but it had its moments. That is tosay, it had some entertainment value. And plus I do like the fact ithighlights some of the problems in Central America that are stillrelevant today.Alas, however, Arnold could not solve them. But he can act out what hewould do in that situation. He loses is family due to factions inColombia acting out their transgressions in the streets of L.A.Implausible in real life, but hey what isn't? Arnold plays his favoritecard, revenge. He goes in with the objective to kill the manresponsible. When he gets there, something improbable happens. His lifeis spared by rebels and with no real reasoning given.But at least the twist near the end was good. And Arnold can be proudhe took on rebels and won. Just like he does in real life. So, its aslightly above average movie, but nothing special. "C+"

2012-05-01 15:21:38

Wow, how far has Arnold fallen?

What an unbeleivable piece of garbage. Aside from cameos by John Leguizamo and John Turturro, this film was an unbeleivable waste of time about a fireman attempting revenge for the deaths of his family.This is a feeble attempt by Arnold to relive his glory days when he was a box office draw. The release was pushed back due to the events of 9/11, but this movie is so bad it should have never been released.

2012-04-30 19:10:02

incredible level of ignorance!

I'm not going to discuss this average hollywood action flick>But the level of igornace of the producer and the director of this movie is complety incredible. Mexican "mariachi" music in Colombia, Jungle in Bogota, Boat crossing borders between Panama and Colombia, Mexican accent soldiers in south america!!!!....Mexican folklore in colombian border......and so and so and so!!!!.......oh my god, I mean this movie only shows the high degree of ignorance of the american film industry, and of course, the american audience is even more ignorant than the producers of the film!!!...i mean...i guess all you american ignorants should be saying right now.."well ain't all the same from mexico to argentina"...first of all, is only one continent not 2 and it's name is america....yes is not only your country..and is of very bad taste to mix our culture and our folklore between spanish speaking countries...i guess you will love to have the mexican flag on the white house or iraki soldiers on the marine corps...well...we all know how ignorant you all are ...so take a good advice...do some research and study a little bit more about some other stuff outside your beautiful and almighty country and you can come up with a close to the truth movie that can help your ignorant american audience to understand a little more better our world.,,,excuse my spelling...i'm from another country....but at least i can speak your lenguage...don't worry , i'm really not interested for you to figure out how to speak mine...after all ...we are all wetbacks right!?

Jack Gattanella 2012-04-29 23:56:00

Schwarzenegger's latest film gets flack for the wrong and improper reasons

Collateral Damage, Arnold Schwarzenegger's latest action fest, got pushedback from its original release date and got flack from a number of people,one being a Reverend Brian Jordan (thanks Ebert), all in light on 9/11. While I do realize a movie about terrorism is a touchy thing now and its noteasy to look at acts such as what happened that day and isn't now, but thismovie was set to release without 9/11 in mind. Jordan is ignorant in hiscomments about the movie where he said for example (without him seeing themovie by the way) "Making the character a fireman who becomes a vigilante isan insult to firemen who became heroes after the terrorist attacks". Firstoff, why is it that firemen became heroes after the attacks and weren'tconsidered by heroes beforehand anyway, second, is it a matter of differencewhat profession Schwarzenegger has in a movie when he will do all of hisvengeance no matter what the script has him doing before his family getskilled? And why is it an insult anyway? Wouldn't some firemen be happy tosee somebody like a Schwarzenegger fighting against terrorists after all thes*** they had to put up with months back?But these are all just quandaries I though while watching Collateral Damage,which is deep down a good old A-nuld action flick with a good dose of actionprovided showing that even in his early-mid fifties Arnold can stillentertain even if is isn't as great as it was in the Terminator days. Mostof the movie is standard, but that's fine considering the awesome climax andJohn Tuturro's bit part. Grade: B+

Craig Calder 2012-04-29 15:30:09

// the reel deal (with this film)

// Arnoldt is an action star and he's going to act in action films so ifyouwatch this film waiting for a revelation of cinematic proportions ofcourseyou're going to be disappointed.// a lot better than recent AS films, (I'm not sure if this is because ofSep 11) still has gaping holes bigger than the damage created by an Arnoldcharacter. Story would have been better if they didnt play the Americanflagwaving card. (some of its laughable - AS drinking from his Americanflaggedcup).// Arnolds acting is probably his best for awhile. He is also surroundinghimself with actors of high calibre talent ( John Turturro,John Leguizamo,Elias Koteas to name a few) you have got to see both Johns in there SouthAmerican roles ( sublimely humorous ).The only acting crit i have is for the Wolf (Cliff Curtis) he may bedecentactor but i found it hard to believe that he would step on ants never mindbe a master mind criminal. i only realised this is the hard man from "Oncewhere warriors" The day after viewing the film.// overall a decent twisting action romp. decent acting (apart from themiscasting of El Lupo/or his under playing of the character as a plotdevice- allthough i did feel somewhat sympathetic to his cause.