Deja Vu
|
List Price: Our Price: $6.10 You Save: $8.89 (59%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $1.40 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
Movie Reviews of Deja Vu
Movie Review: What If You Could Change The Past...
Summary: 5 Stars
So, what does it take for a movie to get my attention? It's an assortment of factors, some of them would be the following: a story that appears intriguing, a director attached that has a solid record of hits, a star or group of stars that I'm a fan of, or merely be a sequel to a movie that I enjoyed. Many times it only takes one of those items to get me interested in a movie, but sometimes it helps to have more than one factor working to a movie's advantage. This is the case of the action-packed thrill ride "Deja Vu" that stars Denzel Washington (one of my favorite actors), is directed by Tony Scott (director of "Man on Fire"), and is produced by uber-producer Jerry Bruckheimer (whose movies I thoroughly enjoy 9 times out of 10). With all of those factors together in one movie, this was definitely one film that I wanted to see from the moment I saw the first trailer.
"Deja Vu" focuses on federal agent Doug Carlin (Denzel Washington) being called in to recover evidence from a deadly ferry explosion that rocked New Orleans. While working the case, Doug is pulled aside to aide in a top-secret government experiment dealing with time-shifting surveillance, basically they can watch events of the past as if it were in the present. The team behind the experiment is hoping that this revolutionary technology will allow them to see the crime before it happened in hopes of catching the person(s) responsible for the heinous act. But can this technology assist in changing the past or merely watching it from the sidelines?
Here is a movie that caught me completely by surprise. I was fairly confident that I was going to be in for an enjoyable action-packed thrill ride, based solely on the facts that Jerry Bruckheimer was producing (a man known for delivering the best action movies in Hollywood) and Tony Scott was directing (whose use of quick cuts and groundbreaking camera work has created some of the most thrilling sequences put to film). Sure this movie delivered explosive action and intensity, but what I didn't expect was the use of so much science fiction with the concept of bending time and even some time travel. Surprisingly, the sci-fi aspect actually worked for the film, which couldn't have been easy to execute due to time-themed science fiction being rather difficult to pull off in a way that makes sense, and doesn't create plot holes within the story. But the writers of this movie managed to craft a story that was filled with plenty of action, intriguing drama, and some sci-fi thrown in to mix things up a little bit without allowing the story to become bloated and clunky. Another aspect of this movie that surprised me was Tony Scott's seemingly more reserved direction. After filming both "Man on Fire" and "Domino" with such frantic camera work, extremely fast cuts and stylistic color manipulation, it was somewhat relaxing to watch a much more straightforward approach to movie making from this talented director.
Denzel Washington was superb as always in his role as federal agent Doug Carlin. He handles the action and drama with great ease, and even the science fiction aspect seemed like second nature to him, which is a genre he's had very little experience with (his last foray into sci-fi was the lackluster film "Virtuosity"). The main supporting cast comprised of Val Kilmer and Jim Caviezel provided interesting, three-dimensional characters from a script that seemed to have them painted very thinly, based on their roles and screen time, but these two talented actors made the most of what they were given. It was nice to see Val Kilmer back on the big screen, he's a gifted actor that it seems like we don't see much from anymore (though that may have something to do with his apparent weight gain, a career ender for some in Hollywood). The remainder of the cast were all solid, but weremade up of fairly run-of-the-mill filler characters that were used mostly for exposition.
"Deja Vu" is a surprisingly original, entertaining thril-ride that grabs you from the opening sequence and never lets go. This is a movie that is a definite must-see, and one that is fun to watch time and again.
"Deja Vu" is rated PG-13 for violence, language, and brief nudity/sensuality.
Movie Review: Schizophrenic patriotism
Summary: 5 Stars
A strange film on a very trite and over-used theme. The dedication to New Orleans does not change that fact. After "Back to the Future" we cannot accept some of the rather sloppy elements we find in this film. A few examples. At the beginning, thanks to the machine to explore the past, we discover the car with the explosives on the boat did not have a number plate. How can security rules explain the fact that a car without a number plate was allowed on a boat transporting more than 500 people? The terrorist stole a car because he needed one. But he actually had one. So why did he use a stolen one? But the worst part is how the Doug from the future when arriving in the past does all kinds of antics, leaving all kinds of traces behind him in the past, obviously cutting short the plan of the terrorist, and yet the terrorist will fulfill his plan entirely in the first version of the attack, but in the first version still the investigation reveals the Doug from the future has already intervened in the past and hence should have changed the result of the terrorist attack by hijacking it off its normal course. If he was in the girl's apartment before the terrorist attack, leaving his finger prints and his blood everywhere, how could the terrorist succeed in killing the girl and blowing the boat up. And he the Doug from the future dies in the past, that would make him dead for the future. He could not come up alive and start everything like normal after the explosion. If the past is changed, then the future is changed too. If you die, you die and you do not exist any more. And the Doug who died in the explosion will not be able to arrest the terrorist who was killed just before the explosion, both being dead for the future. And if the girl managed to escape from the car when it fell into the Mississippi through a broken window, and she was not trained like a federal agent, how come Doug, a trained federal agent, could not follow suit and get out from the car through the same window? But we can suspend our disbelief and then consider the film as something that does not have to be logical. Pure action. Fine. What's the meaning of this action in 2006, five years after 9/11 and three years after the invasion of Iraq, not to mention today in 2008? Terrorist attacks in the USA come from white Americans who define themselves as patriots and consider they have to attack the security forces and the people of the USA to make them realize they have to start a third world war to stop the world from changing and to prevent the USA from becoming a second rank nation, and do not forget the USA became the first nation in the world after and thanks to the second world war. And in this scenario, one little bomb can kill more than 500 people. They don't need four or five Boeings to do that. One man alone, properly trained can be a lot more effective than Al Qaeda. That's what you call economy of scales. The second idea is that in such cases the terrorist, when caught, will be buried by the FBI into silence and disappearance because the government will not want details to be given on two subjects. First of all the absolute incapability of the state to protect the territory and the people of the USA. Second the fact that they possess a technology that enables them to reconstruct everything that has happened in a particular place, behind walls, closed doors and any kind of protection. There is no privacy and no protection of privacy in this new hi-tech vision. That is a lot more frightening than a few berserk patriots who consider the death of a few thousand people to be a good thing to arouse consciousness. There, beyond believability, this film is a really scary movie. "Minority Report" was frightening but they only read the future, and in the end dropped the technology for political reason. Here it is a lot worse since they can read the past, what really happened. We are trapped 100%. We are under constant surveillance and control by people, forces and agencies we do not even know exist or will exist.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines
Movie Review: Don't miss it...again
Summary: 5 Stars
I heard a lot of bad things about Déjà vu, with words tossed around like "contrived," "unbelievable," and "Jerry Bruckheimer." My parents, with their big screen television, forced me to sit down and watch the movie at 11 p.m., when I was ready to go to bed. But instead, I watched right to the end around 1 a.m. It's that good.
Déjà vu entails a terrorist attack by a really safe-kind of terrorist, the now almost-quaint homegrown American type who doesn't like America because...well, just because. Back when we didn't have enemies lurking around every corner, for a brief time America was its own worst enemy, and it's obvious Déjà vu was created from that era.
Our resident terrorist Carroll Oerstadt (Jim Caviezel, who once played a famous carpenter you might have heard of) decides to bomb a New Orleans ferry full of Navy sailors. The incident is no less horrific despite Oerstadt's unspecified reasons for the attack. Enter our hero, ATF agent Doug Carlin (Denzel Washington), invited to join the investigation by FBI Agent Pryzwarra (Val Kilmer). Since Carlin can't seem to find his partner and has the expertise to "examine the data," it seems like a good idea.
The plot thickens when Doug discovers the body of Claire Kuchever (Paula Patton), who appears to have been murdered before the bomb went off. That's when the science fiction piece comes into play. The FBI team has a device that allows them to track four days in the past. Of course, Doug figures it out soon enough--they're not just viewing the past, they're actually experiencing the past. And if one can experience the past, then maybe one can travel there...
This little restriction (only four days in the past, no more, no less) is an important plot twist. It lends a sense of urgency to an otherwise difficult concept for a thriller. Déjà vu makes the time travel element easy to accept, because the tantalizing possibilities spiral from there: other plot paths tie together (what happened to Doug's partner?) and there's even an amazing car chase where Doug must race in the present to view where Carroll goes in the past. It has to be seen to be believed.
Summaries of this film make much of Doug falling in love with Claire. But it's a borderline stalker relationship, as Doug knows Claire primarily through his time traveling surveillance. Fortunately, Déjà vu doesn't overdo it; there's not even a major onscreen kiss (more like a peck on the lips). And that's just as it should be...the events are too action packed, the pacing too frenetic. Anything more would border on camp.
Because Déjà vu is always moving, the actors primarily stay out of the way and let the action roll. There are a few clever lines ("We held hands once."), a few bad script rewrites ("I need more cowbell"? Come on guys, stop trying to be so hip) and plenty of gravely serious meditations on the existential nature of the universe. But mostly it's about blowing things up.
Déjà vu is an awesomely entertaining thriller with enough action, enough science fiction, and just enough skin to keep everybody interested. Don't miss it...again.
Movie Review: Deja Vu: To Be Remembered Among the Best
Summary: 5 Stars
Déjà Vu, starring Denzel Washington, is a heavy action, suspenseful thriller that will keep viewers captivated and pushes them to the edge of their seats as Doug Carlin (Washington) is racing against time to do the impossible: alter the past. The film in located in the southern United States, where several crimes fueling the movie's story line, take place. Déjà Vu is packed with action, romance, and the thrill of a time governed adventure.
The movie starts abruptly with the explosion of a ferry carrying hundreds of celebrating southern folks celebrating a return from war. Doug Carlin, an investigator in the area is located at the scene of the crime where he meets a girl, Claire Kuchever (Paula Patton), who will later evolve into one of the main protagonists of the movie. Carlin is turned on to the criminal responsible for the death of Claire a little bit later in the movie. Throughout the film, Carlin seeks to find the corrupt suspect. Happening to come along a top-secret government project involving a highly intricate time altering system which can see into the past, Carlin teams up with a few of the guys working there to try to solve the mystery. The time device sees exactly 4 days into the past, which is a highly time sensitive disadvantage. Using the film captured from the past, Doug traces the criminal who plans to kill Claire. Carling must keep up with him in order to halt his operations before they turn deadly.
Several important factors prove crucial in the plot and desired suspense of the film. The ingenious concept of the delicate fold in time adds a bit of positive confusion for the viewer. This allows the viewer to contemplate the concept to fully understand the film. This unique trick gets the audience thinking deeper into the complexity of the movie. The director, Tony Scott, does very well in this aspect, but also the acting. Denzel Washington played an exemplary part in the movie, his ability to create an extremely convincing illusion of sheer skill and adventure. Washington's convincing performance did well drawing in the theatergoers to keep them intrigued as to what will happen next. James Cavielzel played the part of the antagonist in the film, Carroll Oerstadt. Caviezel's performance, too, was very convincing and creates a harsh tension between Washington's character as well as the audience.
Déjà vu, as a whole, drew me into the action. Throughout the film, I found myself drawn into the action, complete with a pulsing heart rate and a real connection to the characters. The special affects and the all around hair raising experience gave the movie a great feel. The advanced technology featured in the movie was laid out so well, it would have been surprising to know it was not real. In my personal opinion, Déjà Vu is a must see for any avid adventure film addict. The movie never ceases to amaze in the way that you never really know just what will happen next. I challenge anyone who doubts the quality of this movie to see it, I guarantee, you will not regret it. Undoubtedly, four stars. ****
Movie Review: Bruckheimer and Scott deliver an excellent science fiction action thriller
Summary: 5 Stars
Déjà Vu brings together actor Denzel Washington, producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Tony Scott. This movie is a well-balanced blend of science fiction and action that appeals to both the average film viewer and the science fiction fan.
Washington plays ATF agent Doug Carlin, who investigates a terrorist bombing in New Orleans post-Katrina. An explosion aboard a ferryboat kills over 540 people, including many U.S. sailors. The body of a young woman washes up, but does not fit with the other victims of the blast. Though the body appears to be a victim of the explosion. Carlin learns it had actually been discovered minutes before the bomb was detonated.
During the investigation, Carlin meets FBI agent Andrew Pyzwarra (Val Kilmer) and his team of experts who invite him to join their group. Using top-secret surveillance technology, they are able to look back in time over the last four days by coordinating security cameras and heat detectors from satellites.
As Carlin examines watches the events leading up to the terror attack, he begins to fall in love with the victim Claire Kuchever (Paula Patton). He also begins to suspect there's more to this technology than his colleagues are telling him. Carlin begins looking for a way to go back in time to prevent Claire's death and stop terrorist Carroll Oerstadt (Jim Caviezel) before he can blow up the ferry.
Washington turns in a very good performance as Carlin, Patton is likeable as Claire, and Caviezel is very chilling as Oerstadt. But it is Adam Goldberg who steals the show providing humor as Denny, a lab technician on Pyzwarra's team. The screenplay is well written by Bill Masilii and Terry Rossio (Bruckheimer's Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy).
DVD bonus features include the featurettes "The Surveillance Window," which takes the viewer "back in time" to witness behind-the-scenes moments with the filmmakers. This documentary examines the film's stunts, the ferry explosion, a split-time car chase, as well as filming in New Orleans. The DVD also contains deleted and extended scenes.
Altogether, Déjà vu is a very good action thriller with some science fiction thrown in. The film is well written, produced and directed, and the cast members turn in some very good performances. This is the third film in which Denzel Washington and Tony Scott have worked together. I really enjoyed this film, and I look forward to seeing Washington and Scott work together again.