(Credit: www.dvdsoon.com)
Director:
Rob Cohen
Cast:
Vin Diesel……….Xander Cage
Samuel L. Jackson……….Agent Gibbons
Asia Argento……….Yelena
Marton Csokas……….Yorgi
Teejay Boyce……….Janelle
Columbia Pictures Presents a Neal H. Moritz production. Written by Rich Wilkes. Running Time: 132 Minutes. Unrated (For Violence, Nonstop Action Sequences, Sensuality, Drug Content and Language).
The movie:
“XXX” is a new type of secret agent man. Instead of being suave or sophisticated (a la James Bond), a XXX is a bit of smart-ass, a guy with a bad attitude. A guy that would hurl a shaken martini at a bartender and ask for an ice-cold Corona. Vin Diesel stars as the all-American antihero Xander Cage, an extreme sports outlaw, who has a personal vendetta against a California state senator. He’s upset because this politician wants to ban rock music and pull videogames from store shelves.
After being hunted down and apprehended for base-jumping off the senator’s Corvette as it is careening off a 700-foot bridge, Xander is shot with a knockout dart. When he awakens he finds himself in a small diner. This is a test set up by Augustus Gibbons (Samuel L. Jackson), a National Security agent who has a deep scar on the left side of his face. Gibbons is searching for a new type of agent. One who is street smart and lives by his wits. Gibbons believes Xander, with his tough guy persona, shaved head, and multiple tattoos, is a prime candidate.
Xander passes the test, but the proud moment is short-lived. Gibbons gives him an ultimatum. Either Xander goes to prison for the extreme shenanigans he has committed or Xander agrees to go to Prague and stop a madman with aspirations of world domination. The arch nemesis is named Yorgi (Marton Csokas). He doesn’t look like a threatening fellow, with his thin, wiry frame, but you know what they say about looks.
This movie reunites Diesel with director Rob Cohen and producer Neal H. Mortiz. The summer before XXX‘s release, all three joined forces to create the blacktop racer flick The Fast and the Furious. It was a surprise hit and it got Hollywood executives talking about the box office potential of Vin Diesel. When Mortiz received the first draft of the alternative-secret-agent-action-popcorn flick, XXX, he passed it on to Cohen. Visualizing the Xander Cage character, Cohen thought Diesel fit the mold.
He may not be James Bond, but Xander Cage follows the same protocol. He has a villain whose sinister lair is inside a mountain. A beautiful girl, former KGB operative, named Yelena (Asia Argento), falls for Xander. (So would this make her XXX material, a Xander chick, or a Cage Babe?) Every secret agent needs help and help comes in many forms. Bond had “Q”. Xander has Agent Shavers, a techno-wiz who supplies him with a GTO with the works – guns, rockets, and other ballistics. Then you have to have exciting stunts and getaway chases. Xander has quite a few of those; his stunts are more extreme sports oriented – outrunning an avalanche on a snowboard, jumping over a barn on a speeding dirt bike. The climax of a secret agent film always involves that last gasp chase near the end of the movie that saves the world from impending peril. Throw in the scene where the hero makes out with the beautiful babe at the end, and there’s your secret agent movie in six easy steps.
Popcorn entertainment has its ups-and-downs. Some directors find their niche and stay there. Michael Bay is one of those guys. However, his popcorn entertainment is iffy. For every Rock we have Pearl Harbor and Bad Boys II. Rob Cohen’s XXX, much like his street racing action movie, works because it doesn’t take itself too seriously. The actions and consequences are downright idiotic; but you don’t care. So Yorgi thinks he can sail his poison gas out of the landlocked Czech Republic, go right ahead.
The movie is well done, overall. Diesel is crotchety but his character complements the aggressive “shoot first, ask questions later”-type action. There are some stunts that I have never seen before – the escape scene from the drug farm, for instance – that are quite impressive. The music styles of Rammstein, Gavin Rossdale, and Hatebreed, only help to enhance the adrenaline rush you feel while watching the movie.
Sure, Vin Diesel may have gotten top billing, his name on the marquee; but the real star is the special effects. When stuff goes ka-boom, you know it. Nothing is safe when Xander Cage is on the prowl.
Score: 6/10
The DVD:
VIDEO: How does it look?
The new DVD release of XXX has gotten a bit of an upgrade with its video transfer. Most of the video imperfections (i.e., spots and particles) have been taken out. Moreover, before there was a small problem with color tones. Some scenes were oversaturated with light. I found no evidence of this problem with this release, however. The deleted scenes that were added to the director’s cut have been cleaned up and look good along with the rest of the movie. XXX has its theatrical widescreen viewing presentation (2.40:1) and it is enhanced for 16 x 9 televisions.
Score: 9/10
AUDIO: How does it sound?
The previous release had English 5.1 and French 5.1 audio options. For the director’s cut, Columbia Pictures has given us 5.1 capabilities for English, French, and Spanish speaking languages. Also included is an audio track designated for the director’s commentary. I could have done without either the French soundtrack or Spanish soundtrack. Or better yet, have the English 5.1 track be 6.1 or DTS. 5.1 is still good, but for a popcorn movie of this magnitude we need the best.
Score: 8/10
SPECIAL FEATURES: A director’s cut with eight more minutes of footage, a free movie ticket, a director’s commentary, and numerous featurettes!!!
If the movie was a hit in theaters and a sequel is on the way, typically, then, Columbia Pictures will re-release the original film on DVD. XXX is no exception. This all-new, special uncensored, unrated director’s cut release transfers a lot of the features from the previous release, but adds some new ones. Some are fun, others are just a bore.
When you unwrap the packaging you will find a free movie ticket for XXX: State of the Union inside. So if you were a fan of the first XXX, but don’t think Ice Cube is the right replacement, you won’t have to worry about buying a ticket.
Moving on to the first disc.
The first extra on disc 1 is a director’s commentary by Rob Cohen. It is the same exact commentary from the movie’s first release on DVD. The only difference is when the deleted scenes are playing. There are no comments by the director, only the movie’s audio is heard. According to Cohen, his film had “visual effects up the ying yang.” Because of this, Cohen gives the listener an in-depth look at some of the stunts and editing used in creating the movie.
Up next is Starz! On the Set – The Making-Of XXX (14:30). This was a behind-the-scenes extra that first aired on the Starz! network. Most of the topics discussed are inconsequential. The fact that there is music underscoring the cast and crew’s sound bites let me know that I shouldn’t take it seriously. Definitely a fluff piece feature. (It should be noted that some of the sound bites reappear in a documentary on the second disc.)
There is a multi-angle stunt feature that you can view with the help of the “angle” button on your DVD controller. Two stunts are viewable. The first stunt is “The Exploding Barn Jump” (1:21). The second stunt is “The Bridge Jump” (1:14). Multi-angle stunt sounds like an interesting feature, but it really isn’t. When you change the camera angle, sometimes – most times, really – you will get a black screen with white letters that read “Camera Roll Out”. This means that the camera has stopped rolling. Better hurry up and pick a different angle before the jump is over.
Other features include enticements to see the XXX sequel. Sneak Peek: XXX: State of the Union is a three-minute commercial that tries to convince the unimpressed that it is good popcorn material. If that doesn’t help there is a scene from the film. It is a small portion of a scene where Agent Gibbons tries to convince Ice Cube’s character to be the new “XXX” agent.
The last set of the extras on the first disc are previews for other Columbia Pictures releases. The previews include: XXX: State of the Union, D.E.B.S., and a “Full Throttle” commercial advertising the home video releases of TV’s American Chopper, Monster Garage, and Motorcycle Mania 3: Jesse James Rides Again.
You can find the rest of the special features on disc 2.
First up is XXX: A Filmmaker’s Diary. It’s a two-part documentary that you can watch as one entire feature or two separate parts. Part 1 explores the U.S./Pre-Production. Running a little over 15-minutes, this section briefly discusses the bridge jump at the beginning of the film and the action set pieces at the drug farm.
Part 2 turns its attention to the Czech Republic and Post Production. I found this feature to be more informative. Rob Cohen explains his love for the city of Prague as well as his love for his cinematographer, visual effects gurus and editor. Topic of discussion range from the high-speed chase sequence between Xander’s GTO and the AHAB sailing vessel to the countless hours it took to cut the film and get the sound effects and musical themes just right. Probably the worst moment of the documentary is the brief mention of Harry O’Connor. He was a stunt man who died during one of the movie’s many action sequences. While the action sequences are exhaustively described, this stunt man only gets a few sentences said about him.
The Final Chapter: The Death of Xander is one of the worst special features I have ever seen. Such a lame idea. So bad that Vin Diesel wanted no part of it. Instead, Khristian Lupo plays Xander Cage and Leila Arcieri plays Jordan King. Like the title implies, Xander dies. An explosion occurs and all that’s left of him is skin from the back of his neck with the XXX logo displayed. Nice touch.
In the featurettes section you will find four small features. Building Speed: The Vehicles of XXX. shows the vehicular eye candy of the movie. (Namely, the GTO and the AHAB speedboat.) Gavin Bocquet, the production designer, Rob Cohen, and other crewmembers talk about the look and feel of this X-generation action movie in Designing the World of XXX. In case you didn’t know that Vin Diesel was the main character in the movie, Diesel Power has the crew reflecting on the acting prowess of Diesel. Okay, not really. But they do say he is “the next big thing” and that this movie will make him a star (…still waiting.) The last featurette is Agent Shavers’ Gadget Presentation. It’s just him showing off some of the gadgets used in the movie. Nothing intellectual gained here.
Visual Effects How To is another underwhelming feature. If you want to learn how to create a mountain avalanche or make a shack explode via a computer, look elsewhere. Three effects are shown and they run a combined three minutes. Only three minutes!! You have to be kidding me.
Thankfully, the extras rebound with The End Credit Sequence – Raw & Uncut. This was one of the few ending credit sequences that glued people to their seats. (Or was it the melted Milk Duds underneath them?) Here you can watch the entire sequence without interruptions. You won’t find any names in this sequence.
Completing the extras in this new-and-improved edition are storyboard comparisons of the avalanche and drug farm scenes and music videos for “I Will Be Heard” by Hatebreed and “Adrenaline” by Gavin Rossdale.
I know it probably won’t matter to some, but my biggest complaint with this re-release is the animated menus (or lack thereof). The original release had great, animated menus to navigate you through the DVD.
Score: 5/10
