Untraceable
|
List Price: Our Price: $3.49 You Save: $11.50 (77%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
Movie Reviews of Untraceable
Movie Review: Untraceable
Summary: 4 Stars
Based on reviews I expected something like "Saw", but that wasn't the case. This wasn't a horror, it was a crime drama like "Bone Collector". An FBI investigative team tries to track down a murderer that has a website tied to the method of murder. The problem is he hides his tracks to well on the internet. His murders are conducted based on the number of hits the website recieves. In one case the more people visit the website, the water the person he kidnapped is soaking in turns to battery acid. So this is not for the squemish or young. This is also the one thing I have trouble with in the movies given perception. Being a computer geek for over twenty-four years I know if you want someone shut down for killing people, there is a way including going to their ISP if not the networks or IPs they're bouncing through. That aside it was a pretty decent movie. In fact scarier when you consider the popularity of public websites for people to post videos. One can't help wonder if people at least initially would think something like this was a hoax and tell all their friends to check it out. Hence one facet of this is feasible. The texted graphic comments we see would then be understandable as well as I have seen people make comments like those about online game characters. When they don't think it is real, but just fake with acting and props, then you can see why it is believable. The acting was good, the directing, story, and music were all well done. Overall I would recommend it if you like movies like "Along Came a Spider" and "Kiss the Girls". Good quality DVD with decent replayability.Movie Review: 'Curiosity killed the cat' and others
Summary: 4 Stars
UNTRACEABLE is a thriller that takes our current obsession with the Internet and our hunger for the grisly 'eyewitness' matter found on certain blogsites to an extreme that is at times difficult to watch - but maybe a bit too close to apparent public interest to ignore. Written by Robert Fyvolent, Mark Brinker and Allison Burnett (a fine novelist whose 'Christopher: A Tale of Seduction' and 'The House Beautiful' continue to stir interest) and directed with unrelenting tension by Gregory Hoblit, the story revolves around a misguided youth, angry over the police and media handling of his father's recent suicide, who draws attention to his serial murders using internet techniques that make the viewers of his repulsive site co-conspirators in his streaming versions of these pertinent deaths.
Diane Lane steps out of her glamour roles to appear as a single mother cyber cop whose intelligence and intuition bring her as close as one can get to the resolution of a crime. She is ably supported by a the underused Billy Burke as a fellow policeman, Mary Beth Hurt as her grounded mother, Colin Hanks as her sidekick cop, and the disturbing character role performance of young Joseph Cross.
Yes, for those who are intimately associated with the intricacies of internet jargon and possibilities there are probably a number of misfires. But for the general audience this little film is well crafted, terrifying in its imaginative story, and acted by a fine ensemble cast. Worth watching if only to see how deadly serious computer 'games' can be. Grady Harp, December 08
Movie Review: Good Old Horror Movie
Summary: 4 Stars
If you don't know the plot, see the Amazon description. The advertising sells it as a thriller, and many of the reviews link it to Saw (definitely horror) and some of the Ashley Judd fare. But this movie is really more thoroughly connected to John Carpenter's Halloween. Watch this, then watch that. For example, the lighting. As with Halloween, most of the action takes places at night, and even the daytime action takes place in heavily overcast daylight, leaving washed out colors, and an almost black-and-white feel to the movie. Second, the music. Anyone who ever watched Halloween remembers the score, and Untraceable's score sounds eerily like it. Then there's the bad guy. With his blank white face, especially in a few scenes, he looks very much like the killer in Halloween. Then there are the lead females. Granted, Jamie Lee Curtis was twenty years old when Halloween was released, and Diane Lane is in her forties. But again, watch this, then watch that. There are a number of scenes in which Diane Lane's character looks much like the Jamie Lee character.
The story moves along quite nicely, with solid performances all around. I'm not enough of a geek to know whether the internet stuff that was being done in the movie can actually be done, but it worked in the context of the movie. The only thing that bothered me was (POSSIBLE SPOILER COMING) Marsh getting into her SUV without checking the back seat after being stalled on the bridge. That seemed implausible.
All in all, a pleasant way to spend a couple of hours.
Movie Review: Entertaining
Summary: 4 Stars
This movie has lots of actions, tense, as you would expect from a cyber-movie. The main plot is about a psychotic man who uses his taser to get the people to his "dungeon" and display the torture online. I thought the plot was brilliant. The way he does his torture where the lights increases as the viewers increases which practically baked the victim; the use of chemical (forgot what it was) on the next person; and the voice changer so the psycho can lure his victim - I thought those were all unique and high-concept.
Now adays, though, Feds can easily trace the IP address. In this movie, they have difficulty tracing the IP address of the user. I'm sure that is why the title is Untraceable. The computer forensic folks are a lot savier now. It would have added more mystery if the audience does not know who the person behind the keyboard. That would have given them something to solve.
I laughed at the ending, though. When the heroin broke loose of her captivity where she was tied upside down, one of the users posted a question: "How can I download this scene." (something like this). I thought that was hilarious as it shows us our obsession with live Interent action.
Again, this movie is entertaining enough in a different way. I would still recommend seeing it. Cold Eyes
Movie Review: Good, but could have been better
Summary: 4 Stars
Gripping no doubt but flaws and absurd incidents mar this film. The ending of the film seemed a bit too abrupt. In the scene where Diane's car is hacked it was only obvious that something sinister was going to happen. When Diane returns to her car she inspects it very carelessly. In fact she had just seen a human figure near her vehicle. This scene was poorly done. After losing her close associate to the killer, detective Box visits her and buys her dinner. After a while the next scene shows Diane getting out of the bed with Box sleeping in the bed beside her. Without any romance this scene was absurd and was totally unnecessary. Box sleeping in a nearby couch would have made a very big difference instead.
The good points are Diane Lane's good acting and the plot. In today's world of easy to access information you get the feeling of how internet viewers are no different than the spectators of the Colosseium. At least the spectators of the Coliseum weren't voyeurs. The hackers and viewers of the internet and how we have sleuths people tracking these hackers and even outsmarting them was well done. Christopher Young's good background music is also worth mentioning.
And finally don't forget to check out the killer's site in your web browser. You will be pleasantly surprised.