Firewall (2006)

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General		Extras
Category	Thriller	Main Menu Audio Featurette-Firewall Decoded: A Conversation With H. Ford & R. Loncraine Featurette-Firewall: Writing A Thriller Theatrical Trailer
Rating
Year Of Production	2006
Running Time	100:32
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (53:04)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Richard Loncraine
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Harrison Ford Paul Bettany Virginia Madsen Mary Lynn Rajskub Robert Patrick Robert Forster Alan Arkin Carly Schroeder Jimmy Bennett Gail Ann Lewis Matthew Currie Holmes Candus Churchill David Lewis
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$37.95	Music	Alexandre Desplat

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.40:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	Yes
		Action In or After Credits	No

    It is not often that I get to see an action film where the hero is an IT expert in a bank. As an IT expert in a bank myself, I must say this is a refreshing change from firemen or policemen always being the heroes. Why not the humble IT expert? This fact alone makes me well disposed towards this film, which even without this excellent choice of hero is a competent and entertaining action thriller. It does not break any new ground and in some ways harkens back to a simpler era of action films before CGI was king and gore and violence went completely over the top.

    The plot involves Jack Stanfield (Harrison Ford), mild-mannered IT expert for a small bank based in Seattle. His specific area of expertise is IT security and he heads up that area for the bank, responsible for combating internet scams, spam mail and electronic fraud. The bank is being merged with a larger bank and a new management team are starting to take over, including the security head for the other bank, Gary (Robert Patrick) who annoys Jack due to his lackadaisical approach to security. Jack best friend at the bank is the head of physical security, Harry (Robert Forster), who knowing Jack is annoyed introduces him to Bill Cox (Paul Bettany), who has an employment proposition for them both. Unknown to Jack, while he is having a drink with Bill his family is being kidnapped by associates of Bill. Once he leaves the bar to drive home, he finds Bill in his car with a gun and proof that Jack's family has been kidnapped. He forces Jack to drive home and tells him that his family will be killed if he does not help then steal millions of dollars from the bank. Jack is scared for his wife Beth (Virginia Madsen) and children Sarah 13 and Andy 8 and agrees to go along. He soon realises that if he just does what they want he and his family will end up dead anyway. He decides to find another way...

    Harrison Ford does his usual good job in his role and they sensibly make his actions believable for a man of his age, although the final fight might be stretching it a bit. Paul Bettany is the highlight as the refined yet evil Bill as he was in The Da Vinci Code. Interestingly, this film is directed by Richard Loncraine whose work such as My House in Umbria I have enjoyed previously. It is fair to say that this is his first action film and in the extras he and Harrison discuss how they used Harrison's experience in action films to their benefit. The opening credit sequence was especially effective. As I mentioned above the violence levels are kept to a reasonable limit allowing for an M rating. Luckily, the child characters are not overused for dramatic tension which benefits the film. According to IMDB, the version of this film included on the DVD is different to the theatrical version with a slightly different ending. The version on the DVD certainly matches what IMDB describes, so I can only assume this is the DVD version of which it speaks. The difference has no real effect on the story.

    Overall, this is a competent and enjoyable action thriller which is well worth a rental for an evening's entertainment. I am not sure how much replay value it would have.

Video

    The video quality is very good.

    The feature is presented in a 2.40:1 aspect ratio 16x9 enhanced which is the original aspect ratio or very close to it.

    The picture was very clear and sharp throughout, with no evidence of low level noise. Shadow detail was very good. There was some occasional very light grain in backgrounds.

    The colour was wonderful, rich and solid throughout.

    The only noticeable artefact was aliasing which was generally mild in nature such as on blinds at 6:45, buildings at 5:13 and others.

    There are subtitles in English & English for the hearing impaired. The subtitles were clear and easy to read.

    The layer change occurs at 53:04 and was not noticeable. It is located in a black section between scenes.
    

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    The audio quality is very good.

    This DVD contains an English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack only encoded at 384 Kb/s which is slightly disappointing.

    Dialogue was clear and easy to understand and there was no problem with audio sync.

    The score of this film by Alexandre Desplat is the third of his which have been on films I have recently reviewed. The others were Casanova & Syriana. Unfortunately, this score did not grab me as much as those two, being pretty standard action film music. Nothing wrong with it, just didn't stand out.

    The surround speakers added some atmosphere and occasional surround effects such as at 93:35.

    The subwoofer added bass to music, passing trucks, explosions and tension adding rumbles.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

    A very small collection of extras are included for such a new film.

Menu

    The menu included music and the ability to select scenes, languages and subtitles.

Firewall Decoded : A Conversation with Harrison Ford & Richard Loncraine (15:26)

    A worthwhile extra which is an unscripted and reasonably open chat between the star and director about the process of making the film, script problems and rewrites on set, studio interference, the story, Ford's approach to the part, the fight scene, the use of the children, what you lose with CGI and some goofs. There is no inane interviewer which is certainly a blessing. Presented in non 16x9 enhanced widescreen with optional subtitles.

Firewall : Writing a Thriller (3:16)

    Short interview with the writer, Joe Forte. This is his first major film and he discusses the genesis of the ideas and the research he conducted.

Theatrical Trailer (2:10)

    Presented 16x9 enhanced with optional subs. Includes some spoilers.

Weblink

    The Region 1 Standard definition release is essentially the same as this, although there is also a HD DVD version available (with the SD version on the other side) and a Blu-Ray version. All editions have the same extras. If you are set up for HD then you should currently look to Region 1, otherwise there is no reason not to go for the local product except if you want a French or Spanish soundtrack. Draw.

    The video quality is very good.

    The audio quality is very good.

    A small selection of extras are included.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall