Collateral: Special Edition (2004)

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General		Extras
Category	Thriller	Main Menu Introduction Menu Animation & Audio Audio Commentary-Michael Mann (Director) Featurette-Making Of-City Of Night Featurette-Special Delivery Deleted Scenes-With Director's Commentary Featurette-Shooting On Location: Annie's Office Featurette-Tom Cruise & Jamie Foxx Rehearse Featurette-Visual FX: MTA Train Easter Egg-5
Rating
Year Of Production	2004
Running Time	115:03
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (58:21) Dual Disc Set	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Language Select Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Michael Mann
Studio Distributor	Paramount Home Entertainment	Starring	Tom Cruise Jamie Foxx Jada Pinkett Smith Mark Ruffalo Peter Berg Bruce McGill Irma P. Hall Barry Shabaka Henley Richard T. Jones Klea Scott Bodhi Elfman Debi Mazar Javier Bardem
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Dual
RPI	$39.95	Music	Tom Findlay James Newton Howard Zachary Koretz

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) Italian Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.40:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	Greek English Spanish Hebrew Croatian Italian Portuguese Slovenian Serbian English Audio Commentary Spanish Audio Commentary Italian Audio Commentary English Titling Italian Titling	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     Max, played by Jamie Foxx, is an ordinary Los Angeles cab driver who has been driving cabs for 12 years. His shift begins like any other, but he is blissfully unaware of the true profession of his next fare, Vincent, played by Tom Cruise. Vincent appears to be nothing more than an ordinary businessman, in town on an overnight real estate deal, or so he says. Not long after the first of Vincent's five stops Max discovers, rather abruptly, that Vincent is in fact a contract killer in town to assassinate five unsuspecting police witnesses. Max's life as he knows it is thrown into complete disarray as he is forced chauffeur around Vincent who has a contract to complete and a talent for killing.

     As he did in Heat, director Michael Mann has once again transformed the urban landscape of Los Angeles into a thing of perplexing beauty. Having actually been to LA, however, I can say with authority that it is anything but, yet somehow Mann's composition of the frame transforms it like that of an artist's canvas.

     Among the brutal slayings and constant threat of violence in which the city of LA seems to thrive, there are some truly magical moments in the film, like that of the coyotes crossing the road which send you into an uneasy state of rest. It is a rarity in American films these days for a director to hold on a shot like this, which is in essence inconsequential to the overall story. Too often these days movies are catering for an attention deficient audience, holding on shots for little more than a second or two and cutting out anything that doesn't drive the story forward at 200 kilometres per hour - The Bourne Supremacy is recent example of this. While Bourne was enjoyable it just needed to slow down - it needed to be less MTV - it needed Valium! The editing of Collateral is a refreshing deviation from much of what Hollywood has had on offer lately - I can only hope that we'll see more of it in the future.

     The range and depth of Tom Cruise's performance far exceeds that which we've come to expect from a contract killer. It is after all a character that has been portrayed in many a film but never quite as intricately as this. The pinnacle of Cruise's performance takes place in the jazz club (SPOILER ALERT: highlight with mouse to read) moments after Vincent has assassinated Daniel, the jazz musician. It is here that we witness a brief yet significant moment of remorse from Vincent, but it's not for killing a human being, it's for killing a musician. He had in an instant taken the life of someone in possession of a skill which he strongly admired. For a moment there we sense that there is heart and compassion to this contract killer but it is only revealed in mysterious ways. Vincent has been portrayed by Cruise, particularly in that scene, with incredible grace and dexterity, something which I appreciate more and more with every subsequent viewing. Tom Cruise in my opinion delivers the performance of his career in Collateral.

     The performances from the rest of the cast are also highly commendable. Jamie Foxx plays a very convincing cab driver, who has spent his life playing it safe and being conservative - that is, until he meets Vincent after which his life is turned upside down. Supporting actors Jada Pinkett Smith who plays Annie, Mark Ruffalo who plays Detective Fanning and Bruce McGill who plays Sergeant Frank Pedrosa also leave very prominent footprints in the movie despite their relatively short screen times.

     Of the film as a whole I have but one minor reservation - the ending came uncomfortably close to becoming 'Hollywood'. My grievance is with one particular shot above all else - the push in to Vincent immediately after he boards the train. It always takes me out of the film, if only for a second, because it is very much unlike the rest of Mann's work. It's a shot that draws attention to itself because it draws attention to the movement of the camera. While a shot such as that works in other films, it just seems to be out of place with the rest of Collateral.

     While I think Heat will always remain Mann's master work, Collateral will take its place alongside The Insider as two incredible pieces of cinema from a highly talented and gifted filmmaker. The performances, the cinematography and the sound are all outstanding. If you haven't yet seen Collateral I implore you to check it out on DVD.

Video

     Around 90% of Collateral was shot using the Sony HDW-F900 CineAlta High Definition video camera, and the remaining 10% was shot on 35mm film. The main motivating factor behind the decision to shoot in HD was its inherent superiority in low light sensitivity over film - which was a definite advantage as 95% of the movie takes place at night. As Mann explains in the commentary and featurettes, he wanted definition in the night-time backgrounds which could only be achieved with HD - that, or lighting several city blocks at a time with many hundreds of kilowatts of light. One more prominent example of the low light sensitivity of HD occur at 47:14 where you can see the silhouettes of trees against the night sky.

     The video transfer is presented in the theatrical aspect ratio of 2.40:1 and is 16x9 enhanced. All evidence suggests this transfer has been sourced directly from the digital intermediate. Film artefacts are non-existent throughout the entire transfer, even during the scenes that were shot on film. The credits at the end are also rock solid, and I mean completely rock solid with absolutely no telecine wobble - you need simply to use your player's zoom to confirm this (if you have one).

     While the movie has obviously been shot at 24fps (frames per second), the norm for motion pictures, there are a few moments where I detected what looked like an increased frame rate in the image. I noticed this during the theatrical run too. At 18:33, when Max is scurrying out of the cab after Vincent's first victim does his high dive, you can clearly see that the image movement is a lot smoother than 24fps is normally, suggesting that a higher frame rate was used. This is quite perplexing as the HDW-F900 is incapable of shooting at variable frame rates like a film camera, that is other than at 24, 25 and 30fps. Was this scene shot at 30fps? It seems unlikely as normally when an increased frame rate is used in film the frame rate remains divisible by 24 - i.e. 48 or 72fps - that is, at least to my knowledge. If by some chance someone from the production reads this would you mind commenting on this smooth movement phenomenon, as it is not something I've seen in other HD productions like Star Wars Episode II. Having pointed this out, I have to say it is by no means a bad thing, in fact it adds to the realism I think.

     The transfer is incredibly sharp throughout - with the majority of the footage remaining as 1's & 0's from the camera to DVD this comes as no surprise. There are some critics that have a tendency to bag HD saying that the resolution is not up there with film, and while there is an element of truth to that statement it is a little misleading. HD 1080/24p does not have the same resolution as a 35mm film negative, but industry tests have shown it does have the same resolution as a 35mm theatrical film print - which is all most of us ever see anyway. Having said that, it is very hard to definitively compare the two as they both have different methods of measuring resolution - simply one has grain as the lowest common denominator and the other has pixels. Shadow detail is excellent and I reiterate this is why the movie was shot in HD. There is an astonishing amount of detail present in the backgrounds, clearly exceeding the level which could ever be captured on film. There is even detail in the night sky - that is, the sky isn't black. The light pollution refracted in the atmosphere over LA at night is low level by any photography standards but the HD cameras were still sensitive enough to record it. Just have a look at the sky during the coyote scene. In spite of the excellent shadow detail there is minimal low level noise. The noise that is present is completely forgivable given the video source and is far better the film grain seen in similar night time shots in Heat - the night-time helicopter footage is a good example. In this instance low level noise must be considered as the HD version of film grain, nothing more. It is an inherent by-product of shooting in low light and there is no way to avoid it without sacrificing the shadow detail.

     As the film takes place almost entirely at night the colour palate is often very cold and metallic. This is intended and clearly reflects how the image was meant to look. It is only during the opening scenes which occur during daytime that we see a broader colour palette consisting of warm afternoon colours. Rather surprisingly, the HD material matches very well with the film material, both colour-wise and as a whole. For the record, all exterior night-time footage both inside and outside the cab has been shot in HD. There are number of interior shots which have also been shot in HD. Behind-the-scenes footage during the documentary on Disc 2 reveals that some of the night club scene was shot on film. Judging by the minute differences between the film and HD I'm guessing the jazz club scene and the opening day scenes were also shot on film.

     The are no MPEG artefacts to found anywhere in the transfer - the compression is solid. There is minor aliasing present throughout but nothing remotely serious. As previously mentioned, telecine wobble is simply non-existent as are film artefacts. I spotted what looks like a few missing frames at 51:55 after Max has thrown Vincent's briefcase onto the freeway but having also seen (or not seen) these frames during the theatrical run I can safely say that that's the way it is meant to be. It just looks like Mann has tried to tighten up the scene or cut out a line - unfortunately, it isn't explained in the commentary.

     There is a swag of subtitles present on both discs. I sampled the English track and found it to be highly accurate although at one point the word 'favorite' revealed the spelling to be American spelling.

     Disc 1 is RSDL disc with the layer change occurring at 58:21 - the exact same point as the Region 1 disc. Surprisingly, this is one of the few layer changes my Pioneer DV-676A actually makes visible - I'm unsure why that is. It is barely noticeable and should pass by most viewers. The file size of the main title is 6884Mb. Disc 2 is single layered.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     The audio is presented in English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kbs). This is pretty much a flawless audio transfer featuring some truly astounding gunshot effects, reminiscent of the bank robbery scene in Heat. Each shot packs an incredible low end punch which you can literally feel if you're within a few metres of your subwoofer. The gun shots are also extremely dynamic meaning they're significantly louder than the median sound pressure level of the rest of the movie. This is what I think makes Mann's gun shots distinguishable and vastly superior to everyone else's. Nearly everyone else heavily compresses the level of gun shots, reducing the dynamic range and keeping the level close to median. While some compression is obviously necessary to record gun shots in the first place, Mann minimizes it, thereby maximizing the dynamic range and improving the impact and overall realism.

     Dialogue quality is excellent. The location sound has been masterfully recorded - that or the ADR recordist is a genius. There are no audio sync issues at any point.

     The music is by James Newton Howard with additional music by artists including Elliot Goldenthal and Audioslave. In fact, two of these additional pieces of music were used in Mann's previous films Heat and The Insider. Howard provides a very unique score which at times really accentuates the action by creating a heightened sense of urgency. The highlight cue for me occurs in the final moments of the movie. The energy of the music in this moment is astounding and provides a fitting end to a most powerful movie - it very nearly equals that of Moby's God Moving Over The Face Of The Waters used in the closing moments of Heat.

     The surround presence is for the most part subtle but effective. There are occasionally some directional effects sent to the rears including one instance of EX use at 71:25 with a plane flying from front centre to rear centre. The majority of the time the rears are used for ambience and music reinforcement. Busy scenes like at the night club is where the surrounds all come alive at once but it is still the quieter moments and the moments that take you by surprise, like the killing of the two street hoods in the alleyway, that remain the most impressive sound-wise.

     The subwoofer as mentioned heavily supports the gun shot effects but for the most part supports the lower end of the score and music. The music during the night club scene in particular drives the sub quite heavily.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

     The menus and all the extras are presented in 1.78:1 and 16x9 enhanced with Dolby Digital 2.0 (surround) audio. All the extras, barring the commentary obviously, are presented on Disc 2. The main feature has Disc 1 all to itself.

Menu

     This a well themed animated menu with audio. It includes slightly long lead-in animation but thankfully this is skippable, unlike the previous Paramount DVD I reviewed (Top Gun SE).

Commentary - Director Michael Mann

     I have been dying to hear a commentary from Michael Mann for many years so I am thrilled to say that not only did this one reach my expectations but it exceeded them. This is a very fascinating and somewhat unique commentary from one of the world's greatest directors. More than anything else, Mann's commentary is a character study, particularly of Vincent. Every seemingly insignificant action of Vincent is explained in detail, from him holstering his gun to his position in the back seat of the cab - in short there is a reason for every little thing that Vincent does. Mann also explains the history of Vincent along with other characters with a level of detail that goes way beyond the script. In fact, there are moments in this commentary where you're convinced Vincent existed in reality, and that Mann actually knew him personally - it's quite disconcerting. After listening to the commentary Vincent took on a whole new level in subsequent viewings - indeed, in hindsight the film alone reveals only the tip of the iceberg that is Vincent. Now post commentary I pay much closer attention to Vincent's actions and why he makes the decisions he makes.

     Mann does, however, deviate from the characters, albeit momentarily. Shooting HD is addressed numerous times throughout. In particular, Mann proudly points out the night-time background detail present exterior to the cab. However, after all this talk of shooting 90% of the movie on HD we never actually find out why the other 10% was shot on film. I would still dearly like to know. Tom Cruise's training, particularly his weapons training, is also addressed a few times. For instance, in Vincent's first on-screen confrontation in the alleyway with the street hoods we learn that Cruise actually fired five essentially lethal rounds in 1.4 seconds - truly astonishing. If Cruise's acting career ever flounders he may just have another career awaiting him with Special Forces. This commentary should be considered essential listening.

Featurette - City Of Night: The Making Of Collateral (41:00)

     This is an excellent making-of documentary with a running time of 41 minutes - which means the actors either got paid extra for it or it was built into their contracts. It includes interviews with Michael Mann, Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Jada Pinkett Smith, Mark Ruffalo, James Newton Howard and Stewart Beattie the screenwriter. Some of the interviews appear to have been shot using the same HDW-F900 HD cameras. Strangely, some material like Mann's interview has been shot progressive scan and other material has been shot interlaced. Once again Mann speaks about the characters and their history down to minute detail. As he says "...Tom and I had a complete understanding of what Vincent is thinking for every single moment...". We also get to see footage of Cruise's training including his weapons training where he actually fired live rounds. A highlight of this is him practicing that incredible quick draw which he used in the alleyway. All the training material has been shot on consumer DV so you will have to forgive the quality. The documentary also looks at some of the larger set pieces like the car crash at the end and the more simple things like the lighting used in the cab. Incidentally, the lights used were actually custom made out of the same material used in the backlights of mobile phones - this allowed them to be simply Velcroed to the back of seats.

Featurette - Special Delivery (1:09)

     Believe it or not, in preparation for the role of Vincent, Michael Mann wanted to see if Tom Cruise could pull off being anonymous, a somewhat critical requirement in Vincent's line of work. Cruise was dressed in disguise as a FedEx courier and sent out to deliver a package to a restaurant in a busy market area. Someone else with a hidden camera captured it on tape. Not only did he pass with flying colours, but he had sat down and had a 30 minute conversation with the restaurant owner who by the end was none-the-wiser as to the true identity of the man he was speaking to. Love it.

Deleted Scene With Commentary From Michael Mann (1:57)

     This is a single deleted scene available only with commentary from Michael Mann. The scene involves Vincent attempting to lose any possible tails he may have picked up by having Max drive through LAX. It's an interesting scene that really could have worked in the movie had it been used.

Featurette - Shooting On Location: Annie's Office (2:33)

     This short featurette looks at the scene at the end in Annie's office. Mann speaks primarily about Vincent's tactics and shooting HD with zero lighting relying only on the city lights outside as illumination.

Featurette - Tom Cruise & Jamie Foxx Rehearse (4:14)

     This is some pre-production rehearsal footage between Cruise and Foxx, shot on presumably consumer DV. The majority of the footage is presented split screen with the rehearsal and final movie footage.

Featurette - Visual Effects: MTA Train (2:27)

     This featurette looks at the MTA train scenes at the end of the film and how green screen was used for much of it so Mann could customize the backgrounds.

Easter Eggs (x5) (3:29)

     There are five Easter Eggs to be found in the Special Features menu on Disc 2. They're relatively easy to find and consist of off-cuts from the main documentary. However, I had major problems trying to play two of them. One played about half way through then skipped and eventually hung up. The other didn't even begin to play and hung up the player completely. Hopefully, this is only an error with this particular test disc. If anybody has any such problems with the retail release please let me know. There are no such problems with the Easter Eggs on the Region 1 disc. While my standalone Pioneer player failed, my Pioneer DVR-A08 DVD burner, which has truly excellent error correction, was just able to read through the errors - it did it rather slowly I might add. The point at which the read slowed down revealed the errors to be located on the outer edge of the DVD.

     The Region 4 version misses out on:

• DTS 5.1 (768Kbs)
• French Dolby Digital 5.1
• English Dolby Digital 2.0

     The Region 1 version misses out on:

• Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
• Italian Dolby Digital 5.1

     I compared two scenes - the night club shoot-out and James Newton Howard's score in the movie's final moments - to determine what, if any, improvements Region 1's DTS track provided. I found the DTS packed a little more punch in the LFE channel and provided fuller reproduction of the music, but not hugely so. In any event, this is enough for me to declare Region 1 the winner. Other than the audio differences both versions are virtually identical with the only difference being the reverse order of the Dreamworks and Paramount logos at the start of the movie. In Region 1 Dreamworks is first, in Region 4 Paramount is first - this is because Paramount own the international rights.

     Collateral is a gripping and at times brutal thriller from one of my favourite directors, Michael Mann.

     The video transfer is excellent. I only hope Collateral eventually makes it to an HD format.

     The audio quality transfer is equally excellent. It's just a shame we've been denied the DTS audio from the Region 1 disc.

     The extras package is fantastic- an additional commentary or two is the only way it could improve.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall